São Paulo – The exhibition “Brazil meets Tunisia”, organized by the Tunisian embassy in the capital and the Ministry of Culture of the Arab country, opens this Thursday (17) at the Federal District’s state congress, in Brasília. The show presents pictures of Tunisia and its touristic points, art crafts, and paintings by Tunisian visual artists. The exhibit will be open until March 31.
To ANBA, the Tunisian ambassador in Brasília, Sabri Bachtobji, said that the purpose of the exhibition is to celebrate the 60 years of independence from France, which took place on March 20, 1956, and also the country’s new political phase. “This is a new way to celebrate the national date and also promote Tunisia. Our goal was to assemble an exhibition that would illustrate Tunisia’s more than three thousand years of history and we chose the Federal District’s state Congress to host it because it is the house of the people”, said the diplomat.
“This exhibition will present history and Tunisia’s current moment, which holds today a democratic debate, with room for freedom of expression, with a new Constitution. We are building a democracy and this gave Tunisia the Nobel Peace Prize last year”, said the ambassador.
In 2015, four institutions that worked on a political transition received the prize. The group, which became known as “the quartet”, is made up of Tunisian Order of Lawyers, the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) and the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH).
The exhibit set to open in Brasília will present pictures of the Arab country and artworks of some of its main artists. There will be works by painters Mokhtar Hnen and Sonia Drij, by the French-Tunisian architect Jacques Marmey, and Bem Marzouk, painter living in Brazil. The art crafts to be exhibited in the show are typical Tunisian pieces made in copper and ceramic.
Tunisia is going through a transition process since the start of the Arab Spring. On December, 17, 2010, street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of the confiscation of his goods by police. His death, on January 4, 2011, started the popular uprising that ended the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, after more than two decades in power. Since then, a new constitution was adopted and a new government was formed. The current president, Béji Caïd Essebsi, took office in January 2015.
Even with the achievements, the democratization process in Tunisia is still facing challenges. On last year’s March, 18, armed men invaded the country’s main museum, the Bardo National Museum, in Tunis, shot and killed 20 foreign tourists. Months later, a new attack by the terrorists killed more tourists in a beach in the city of Sousse. On Monday (7), 53 people were killed, among them 35 terrorists, in an attack in Ben Gardane, near the Libyan border.
Exhibition “Brazil meets Tunisia”
March 17 to 31, from 8 AM to 7 PM
Federal District’s State Congress – Entrance hall
Praça Municipal – Quadra 2 – Lote 5
Zip Code: 70094-902, Brasília, DF
Information: +55 61 3348-8000 and http://www.cl.df.gov.br/ultimas-noticias/-/asset_publisher/IT0h/content/cldf-recebe-exposicao-inedita-de-obras-historicas-da-tunisia?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cl.df.gov.br%2Finicio
Admission Free
Opening: Thursday (17), 6 PM – Abertura: quinta-feira (17), às 18 horas –reception
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
