São Paulo – The Immigrant’s Memorial, in the city of São Paulo, should promote, starting on December 20th, an exhibition on papers and magazines produces by immigrants in Brazil since the 19th century. Among them is publication Al-Afkar, an initiative by Lebanese doctor Said Abu Jamra, who lived in Brazil between 1899 and 1954, when he passed away. Published for 40 years, the periodical, whose title means “The Thoughts”, covered human rights and campaigned for the emancipation of Syria and Lebanon from the Turks and, later, from the French and English.
The exhibition at the Immigrant’s Memorial, to be called “A Imprensa Imigrante em São Paulo” (Immigrant Press in São Paulo), started on November 14th and includes over 50 copies of papers and magazines. Apart from newspaper Al-Afkar, the exhibition also includes publications from Italy, like Fanfulla, the Portuguese Democrático, the German Deutsche Zeitung, the Spanish El Diário Español, Czech magazine Slovan, Japanese newspaper Shukan Nambei, the Lithuanian Musu Lietuva, as well as other publications by Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Czech, Hungarian, German, Portuguese and Arab immigrants.
Apart from copies, the exhibition also includes equipment used for printing and publishing, like typewriters, presses, printing machinery, linotype and stereotype printers used at the newsroom of Italian paper Fanfulla. There are also illustrations and caricatures by Portuguese artist, caricaturist and journalist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro in paper O Mosquito. Those visiting the exhibition may take home publications issued by the current immigrant communities, as is the case with magazine Chams, by the Arab community.
The research material used for the production of the exhibition should be made into a book to be released in 2010. The curator of the exhibition is historian and journalist Marcelo Cintra. According to information disclosed by the Immigrant’s Memorial, there are currently 30 publications by immigrant communities in São Paulo. From 1870 to 1940 there were 500 Italian publications in Brazil.
Service
Exhibition: Immigrant Press in São Paulo
Up to December 20th
Site: Immigrant’s Memorial
Open: From Tuesday to Sunday (including holidays), from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
*Translated by Mark Ament
