São Paulo – The National Day of the Arab Community in Brazil will be celebrated this month at the Immigration Museum (pictured above) in the city of São Paulo. On March 26 and 27, Saturday and Sunday, there will be special activities at the venue focused on the date. The initiative is a partnership with the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC).
On the 26, there will be an in-person event, starting at 2:30 pm, with the screening of four short films on the theme. The films were the finalists in the ABCC competition and are ’25 de março – A Memória do Mundo Árabe’ [‘March 25 – Memoir of the Arab World’], directed by Gustavo Brandão, ‘Ao Mundo Novo’ [‘To the New World’], with screenplay by Pedro Jorge and Thaís Medeiros, ‘Arabescos – Do Mascate ao Doutor’ [‘Arabesques – From Salesmen to Doctors’], by Beatriz Le Senechal, and ‘O Cheiro de Zattar’ [‘The Scent of Zattar’] by Zeca Miranda.
Before the screening of the short films, leaders of the involved institutions and specialists will discuss Arab immigration. The president of the ABCC, Osmar Chohfi, and the executive director of the Immigration Museum, Alessandra Almeida, will open the event, followed by a brief presentation of the history of the arrival of the Arabs in Brazil by Arab historian Silvia Antibas.
There will be a presentation of a census carried out by H2R Pesquisas Avançadas and Ibope Inteligência, at the request of the ABCC, on the Arab presence in Brazil. H2R commercial director and ABCC director Alessandra Frisso will speak on the topic. The project to digitalize the memory of Arab immigration to Brazil, carried out by the ABCC and Saint-Esprit de Kaslik University in Lebanon, will also be presented. The project coordinator, Heloísa Dib, will give details of the initiative.
On the 27, at 3:00 pm, there will be an online exhibition of the play “Lebanese Letters” on the Immigration Museum’s YouTube channel. The play narrates the story of the character Mighel Mahfouz, a young Lebanese who moved to Brazil in 1917 and tells the audience about his daily life, dramas, and accomplishments as a traveling salesman and Arab immigrant in Brazil. He also shares with viewers the letters through which he communicates with his wife, who stayed in Lebanon.
Read more on the play: Lebanese traveling salesman on stage in São Paulo
The Immigration Museum is located in the complex of the former Immigrant Pension, which received foreigners who arrived in Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The pension mainly housed immigrants who came in an organized way in agreements between governments to work on farms. “Arab immigration was different; it was spontaneous immigration,” says Antibas, giving a hint of what she will talk about at the event.
Arab immigrants worked mainly with commerce, so the National Day of the Arab Community is celebrated on March 25, since it was the street of the same name, in the capital of São Paulo, that received the first Arab stores in Brazil. “Arabs are part of the immigrant community in Brazil, so the Immigration Museum was interested in having this celebration with us,” says Antibas.
Read more on Arab immigration:
- Influx of Arab immigrants to Brazil remains constant
- From 1500 through to 2020, Arabs find a new home in Brazil
In addition to members of the Arab colony, who usually participate in activities to commemorate the date, the organizers expect this year’s celebration will also attract the regular public of the Immigration Museum. Participation in the March 26 event is free. On Saturdays, admission to the museum is free. However, it is necessary to present proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in digital or physical format.
Quick facts:
National Day of the Arab Community
March 26 and 27, 2022
São Paulo Immigration Museum
Free
Schedule
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
