São Paulo – The Brazilian graphic design firm Estúdio Lampejo is seeking support to roll out an exchange project with Lebanese parties. Hailing from Minas Gerais, Brazil, Lampejo is planning an artist residency together with NGO Waraq, a platform to connect Arab artists. The two organizations got in touch during a festival in Dubai, where Lampejo represented Brazilian graphic design.
The Beirut, Lebanon-based Waraq works to support, promote and connect Arab artists and professionals working with illustration, animation and design. It hosts art-related activities including workshops, exhibitions and lectures.
Estúdio Lampejo is owned by advertising industry professionals Filipe Costa and João Emediato. Costa was nominated for a Latin Grammy for the graphic design of an album in 2013, alongside Mateus Sá. The firm was also invited to the 3rd ING Creative Festival, where 50 artists from around the world were picked to represent their countries.
The plan for the residency project is to have Lebanese artists undertake residencies in Brazil and vice versa.
Lampejo hopes to invite at least three Waraq artists to spend at least 20 days in Belo Horizonte, so that they can engage socially, culturally, and professionally in the city and then create artworks to convey their takes on everyday life in Minas Gerais and Brazil. “It could be a catalogue, an exhibit,” Emediato says.
He explains that the Waraq artists create visual chronicles of culture and life in Lebanon and could do the same in Brazil. The plan is to have artists from the Lampejo roster travel to Lebanon as well. Emediato would like to bring the Arab artists to Brazil for residencies by next year’s Carnival.
However, the project’s activities can be tailored to the needs of companies or organizations supporting it.
Besides Waraq, Lampejo connected with several other parties at the 3rd ING Creative Festival, said Emediato, who travelled to Dubai with Costa. They sat through lectures and exhibited their work at a fair, where professionals and students came to them to talk.
They got invited to join the festival by its organizers. Their portfolio made waves with lots of shares on online platform Behance. Emediato believes that this is what prompted Estúdio Lampejo to be picked for the event.
Lampejo
Costa and Emediato have been working together at Estúdio Lampejo for three years now. They both hold degrees in Advertising from Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC) in Minas Gerais. Costa has additional training in Design from Senai. Emediato is an actor with several years’ experience as an illustrator and designer. Before Emediato joined in, Costa ran Lampejo by himself. He started out creating custom notebooks and then the firm went into design.
Currently, Lampejo provides creative solutions in communication and design. It develops corporate brands, stationery, calling cards, communication and promotional material, packaging, posters for shows, books, magazines, and unconventional communication actions. The firm does a lot of work in culture and arts, including publishing jobs and shows.
Apart from its more market-oriented work, the firm also works on completely independent, authorial projects. The first one, which is ongoing, is Breves Bandeiras (Portuguese for Brief Flags). Costa and Emediato designed flags in keeping with official flag-making guidelines, but with a bold new twist. The flags’ themes are varied, and they relate to things like fleeting states of mind. The work will be on show as of next Monday (26) at the co-working café Guaja. After seven days, they will go on an online auction. The duo’s plan is to do this artistic work in parallel with their more commercial jobs.
Quick facts
Estúdio Lampejo
Phone: +55 (31) 25559968
Website: www.estudiolampejo.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
