São Paulo – Refugees and the Arab culture are the central topics of some cultural events to be held by the Santo Amaro branch of Sesc (Social Service of Commerce) in the city of São Paulo. There will be a concert with an Arab music band, a debate about refuge with Syrians living in São Paulo and the stage of a play about the Lebanese immigration.
The schedule focused on Arabs is part of a larger project by Sesc called Travessias that aims to focus, through cultural activities, on diversity. The first main topic of the project is the geographical “travessias” (journeys or crossings), which will be covered in Sesc Santo Amaro’s programming in April, May and June. The Arabs and their refuge are April’s topic, Africa is set for May and Latin America will be covered in June. The project is expected to continue in the second semester, with different subjects.
Luciana de Jesus Dias, cultural entertainer at Sesc Santo Amaro, says that Sesc placed the issue of refuge in its programming because São Paulo has been receiving more and more immigrants. “The goal is to bring a little of this that is in our everyday lives, to bring closer the speech of the refugee”, says the entertainer.
She says that one of the reasons for the Arab topic to be chosen the first one of the Travessias series is that it is very prevalent in Brazil due to the news of the war in Syria, more so than the other countries from where the refugees come. “We hear about it more and there are more questions”, says Dias, about the public’s questions on Arab religion and Arabic language. The immigrants speak Arabic, a language that is not common in Brazil, and the majority of them is Muslim.
The programming on Arabs starts this Sunday (10) with the presentation of the quarted Quarteto Mediterrâneo at 5 pm. The concert will have Arab traditional music, Brazilian pop songs and compositions based in the group’s research and the Arab origin of some of its members. The group is formed by Sami Bordokan, vocals and lute, Willian Bordokan, darbuka and vocals, Claudio Kairouz, qanun, and Maurício Mouzaiek, daff. Admission is free.
The debate takes place on Wednesday, April 13, 7 pm. Two Syrian refugees and the professor at the graduate and post-graduate levels at Department of Philosophy, Language and Human Sciences of University of São Paulo (USP), Paulo Farah, will talk with an audience. The professor will talk on history and the specificities of the refuge of the Arab people, and the refugees, Ammanuel Ouba and Salim Alkhrezati, will tell about their experience coming to Brazil. The former is a biologist and the latter has a major in Information Technology. At the end, there will be a presentation by the band Bibliaspa Musical, formed by refugees with the support of the Arab and South American Library and Research Center (Bibliaspa).
The third event, the play Cartas Libanesas (Lebanese Letters) is scheduled for April 14 and 15, a Thursday and Friday, at 9 pm. The play has been in Sesc’s programming already and is based in real stories of Lebanese immigrants in Brazil. The central character is Miguel Mahfouz, young Lebanese man that moved to the country in 1914 and left his pregnant wife in Lebanon. Besides telling his personal story to the public, the character communicates with his wife through letters.
The cultural events scheduled for the first three months of the Travessias project were developed by the Sesc and has Paulo Farah as the curator. The only paid event within the programming on Arab refugees is the play, with tickets ranging from BRL 6 to 20 (USD 1.6 to 5.43).
Concert Quarteto Mediterrâneo
April 10, Sunday, 5 pm
Admission free
Debate Travessias Árabes (Arab Journeys)
With Paulo Farah and Syrian refugees
April 13, 7 pm
Admission free
Play Cartas Libanesas (Lebanese Letters)
April 14 and 15, 9 pm
Tickes: R$ 20 (USD 5.43) – full / R$ 10 (USD 2.71) – half ticket / and R$ 6 (USD 1.6) – Sesc members
Sesc Santo Amaro
Rua Amador Bueno, 505 – Santo Amaro
Phone: (11) 5541-4000
Further information: http://www.sescsp.org.br/unidades/26_SANTO+AMARO#/content=programacao
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani