São Paulo – Brazilian author and Sorbonne professor Leonardo Tonus is going back to Tunisia for a new lecture series on October 26 and 27 celebrating the World Portuguese Language Day. The date is celebrated on May 5 but celbrations were postponed this year due to Ramadan.
Tonus participates in three activities held by the Embassy of Portugal in Tunisia and Brazil’s Embassy in Tunisia. On the 26, a Wednesday, the program takes place in the Higher Institute of Languages in Tunis. The event Portuguese Language, A Universal Value starts at 1 pm and runs until 6 pm (CET).
The scholar will speak t 4:30 pm on Cultural Dialogues between the Maghreb and Brazil. The Maghreb is the western part of North Africa that includes Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. “I will talk about the Orientalist painting by Brazilians and Brazilianists Pedro Américo, Johann Georg Grimm and Dario Villares Barbosa. The lecture will also discuss the ties with this transnational dialogue of other artists like Oscar Niemeyer, Cícero Dias, Rubem Braga, Sergio Telles, and Tunisia’s Fernand Boukobza (architect), Ben Marzouk (visual artist that lives in Brazil), and poet Myriam Soufy,”, Tonus said.
Then at 5:15 pm, a literary-musical soirée will see Leonardo Tonus recite poems of the Brazilian literature as well as his own poems in Portuguese and French. He will be accompanied by pianist Ikbal Hamzaoui, who will play Brazilian and international popular and classical works. Check out the full program of the 26th.
On October 27, the lecture Writings on Migration in Contemporary Brazil takes place at the Manouba University for Languages and Literature graduate students, when Tonus will discuss the topic of migration in visual artists, photography, and literature. “I will discuss the works of photographer Mauricio Lima, artists Leila Danziger and Regina Parra and some Brazilian contemporary authors,” the professor said.
There is no cost for attending the events, and it is not necessary to register in advance. Lectures will take place in French, featuring no translation. According to Tonus, these new events in Tunisia are the result of his participation in the Sidi Bou Said International Poetry Festival last June. “The opportunity to publish Tunisian French- and Arabic-speaking authors in Brazil could possibly come from this,” he said.
Quick facts
October 26
Cultural Dialogues between the Maghreb and Brazil
Higher Institute of Languages in Tunis
Amphitheatre II
1:30–5:30 pm
R5MV+HV2, Cité El Khadra 1003
Tunis, Tunisia
Free admission
October 27
New Writings on Migration in Contemporary Brazil
Manouba University
(time and place tba)
Campus Universitaire de La Manouba, 2010
Tunis, Tunisia
Here’s more on this:
– Leonardo Tonus: Scholar of migrations in literature
– Brazilian writer to participate in events in Maghreb
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
