São Paulo –The 34th National Festival of Diverse Cultures (Fenadi) will be hosted by União das Etnias de Ijuí (Ueti), Unijuí and the City Hall of Ijuí, Rio Grande do Sul. The event will take place in virtual form for the first time this year. It will run from October 12 to 19, featuring lectures and virtual events streaming free on the Ueti YouTube channel. The purpose of Fenadi is to share the cultural diversity of Ijuí with the world, and to celebrate the lives and unity of different peoples. Pictured above is last year’s edition of the Festival.
Attractions will include the webinar “Arab Ethnicity – Arab-Brazilian Immigration and Emigration,” at 7 pm on Tuesday (13). Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) cultural director Silvia Antibas, who won the 2019 Unesco-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture, will discuss the history of Arab immigration to Brazil and the cultural work of the ABCC.
“I will briefly discuss Arab immigration to Brazil, a short overview – each speaker will get ten minutes. I will also discuss the cultural actions of the Arab Chamber, like exhibitions and film festivals, and our work to spread both traditional and contemporary Arab art. I will show how culture is conducive to dialogue and to mutual respect, and this is also helpful when it comes to doing business,” Antibas said.
Research firm H2R Pesquisas Avançadas director Alessandra Frisso will present the survey “The Arab Community in Brazil: Identity, Influence, Contributions and Leadership,” commissioned by the ABCC. Professor Júlio Cesar Bittencourt Francisco, the holder of a doctorate degree in History from Pontifícia Universidade Católica (PUC-RS) a Museology professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), and the author of book “Dos Cedros aos Pampas” will speak on Arabs in Rio Grande do Sul. Testimonials will be shown from Palestinian, Lebanese and other immigrants from the Amizade-Brasil group.
The event will be available free of charge on the Ueti YouTube channel. The full program is available on the Fenadi website.
Fenadi will feature virtual rooms and offline attractions including a Drive-in and a Food Festival. There will be a daily two-hour-long talk show, plus an hour’s worth of highlights from the event’s 33-year history. Simultaneous attractions, live and recorded, will be available in ten different rooms on YouTube.
Ueti president Nelson Casarin said the virtual format enables more people to attend. “This is one of the best choices we’ve made, because we are getting our great event, the thing that sets us apart, not only to our state, but to the entire world. That’s what virtual allows us to do,” a press release quoted him as saying.
Quick facts
Webinar “Arab Ethnicity – Arab-Brazilian Immigration and Emigration”
October 13, 7 pm
The full program is available here
Ueti YouTube channel
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
