São Paulo – Four Egyptian queens and the Goddess Isis will be the focus of the event “Nefer, beauty in ancient Egypt”, from Monday (22) to Friday (26) at the Human and Social Sciences Center of the Federal University of the state of Rio de Janeiro (Unirio), in Rio de Janeiro. Under this theme, the university will hold an art exhibition, lectures, fashion shows and other activities, such as storytelling and Egyptian make-up sessions.
Journalist Márcia Machado (picture), who is organizing the event with a colleague, journalist Ronaldo Rosas, says that the event’s conception started out from a hieroglyph used for the term beauty, the representation of a lute. It doesn’t cover only aesthetics, however, and means “good, beautiful and happy”. “The idea is to seduce using aesthetics, but also relay a message, work people’s sensitivity for what really matters, which is the respect for the other, even if the other is completely different from us, and women’s empowerment,” says Márcia about the event.
The queens chosen as focal points for the activities are Nefertiti, Nefertari, Hatshepsut and Cleopatra. “I think it’s amazing that, at that time, they held all this power,” says Márcia. The journalist concludes that the world took a step backwards from then on, since there aren’t, currently, queens as powerful as those from ancient Egypt. To Márcia, Cleopatra was treated unjustly because she became known for being seductive, whereas she was mainly a strategist. “Of an extraordinary intelligence,” says the journalist. “Beautiful inside and out,” she adds.
Based on these four women and on goddess Isis, a figure from mythology considered the mother of all of Egypt, artists Márcio Pxe and Mônica Werneck produced the paintings for the exhibition. Pxe is one of the main names Rio’s street art scene and Mônica is a Brazilian living in the Netherlands with a work focusing on the feminine. Each made five paintings that will be in exhibition from 3 pm to 9 pm.
The lectures take place on October 23, 24 and 25, at 6:30 pm. On Tuesday, Nely Feitoza will discuss Cleopatra and the goddess Isis, on Wednesday, Regina Bibiani Morgado will discuss Nefertiti, and on Thursday, Luis Lobianco will talk about Cleopatra also. The three of them are renowned History professors. On October 26, the event’s last day, there will some other types of activities in the evening, including a fashion show and an artwork on the pyramids and another on other elements of ancient Egypt using neon lights.
The event’s opening will be on Monday, at 6 pm, with a fashion show of Arab and Egyptian attire, the exhibition’s opening, the opening of the performances space, Egyptian make-up for the visitors and a tribute to the Nacional Museum, in Rio de Janeiro, which caught fire in September and lost most of its collection. The schedule also includes storytelling by the group Filhas da Lua (Daughters of the Moon) and other children’s activities, such as having their names written in hieroglyphs and a guided tour of the exhibition. School groups will visit the event during the day.
The event is part of the project “Egypt in Brazil”, created by Rio de Janeiro-born Márcia Machado to promote activities aiming at enhancing Brazil-Egypt ties and increasing the knowledge about Egypt among the Brazilian population.
Besides Unirio, the event is also supported by Egypt’s general consulate in Rio de Janeiro. The activities will take place at the auditorium, cultural center and tent of the Human and Social Sciences Center, at Avenida Pasteur, 458, Praia Vermelha, Rio de Janeiro. The event is free. Further information at mmgates@oi.com.br.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
