Campinas – On Wednesday (26), seminar "The Arab Brazil – presence of the millenary Arab culture in the formation of the Brazilian cultural identity” began in Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo. Up to next Sunday (30), the Sesc Campinas will host talks about the areas of culture, economics and society in which the Arabs collaborated to the development of Brazil.
Apart from the forecasted talks, the unit should also receive an exhibition with Arab objects, to be shown up to the end of the seminar. Even the Sesc restaurant entered the programme: in coming days, visitors will find typical dishes from the region in the menu.
According to the manager of Sesc Campinas, Evandro Marcus Ceneviva, who organized the event in partnership with Jerusalem Institute of Brazil, promoting this seminar means allowing citizens greater knowledge of the Brazilian culture and contributing for them to become better people.
"The Sesc objective is to be a permanent education institution for citizens to become better people. This project was initially aimed at bringing references of their (the Arab people’s) history to a country in which there is immense ethnical mixture (Brazil). It is also a space for each country to present its perspectives in a dialogue that is necessary nowadays,” stated Ceneviva.
The superintendent of Jerusalem Institute, Ali El-Khatib, said that this is the first seminar of a greater project for promotion of events about Arab culture in several cities in Brazil next year. "The Sesc pioneering (on promoting the seminar) was fundamental for the seeding of other events next year,” he said.
Michel Alaby, CEO at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, which is the co-promoter of the seminar, presented talk "Arabs and economic and social development in Brazil”, in which he showed the importance that immigrants had, starting in the 20th century, for development of the country. "This initiative is important to provide information about Arab culture. It also allows for knowledge about their influence in the Brazilian society and contributes to the economic and social development of Brazil,” he said.
Further talks
On Wednesday (27), at 5:15 pm, Alaby should participate in the event once again, presenting talk "The importance of the Arab Brazilian Chamber ", to celebrate its 60th anniversary this year.
Also forecasted are talks by the former Economic Policy secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and former head of Palmeiras football team, Luiz Gonzaga Belluzzo, regarding the Arab presence in Brazilian sports; by the regional director of Sesc São Paulo, Danilo Santos de Miranda, who should speak about the importance of sport as an agent for integration between people; and by the minister for Sports, Aldo Rebelo, who will give a talk about the importance of sport to the establishment of peace in the Middle East.
Also present will be the professor of the Oriental Language Department of the School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Science of the University of São Paulo (FFLCH-USP), Mamede Mustafa Jarouche, who will give a lecture about the Arab influence in Brazilian literature and theatre. There should also be presentations about the importance of Arab music to that of Brazil and also about the influence of Arab gastronomy.
Service
The Arab Brazil
Sesc Campinas – Rua Dom José I, 270/333, Bairro Bonfim, Campinas
Further information: (+55 19) 3737-1500
The complete programme is available (in Portuguese) at: http://www.sescsp.org.br/sesc/programa_new/busca.cfm?conjunto_id=10202
*Translated by Mark Ament
