São Paulo – From May 14th to 23rd, the city of Tripoli, in Lebanon, will host the Iberoamerica in Tripoli Festival, organized by Safadi Foundation and Cervantes Institutes of Beirut. The festival will have the participation of nine Ibero-American countries, including Brazil.
Safadi Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 with the goal to help in the development of the Lebanese society. It’s the first time that the institution organizes a festival dedicated to Iberoamerican countries. The event will be attended by the embassies of Brazil, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, besides Peru’s honorary consulate, and is funded by the European Union.
The embassies will have stands in the event, in which visitors will be able to learn more about the culture of these nations. Among the attractions related to Brazil, there will be storytelling, the screening of the movie Rio and samba and capoeira workshops.
According to Riad Alameddine, general manager of Safadi Foundation, the culture of Iberoamerican countries is well known in Lebanon, since their embassies already perform an interaction work with the Lebanese population in commerce, tourism and cultural cooperation.
About Brazil, he says that the fact that there are millions of Lebanese descendents living in the country, and the fact that a lot of them are important figures in business and politics, contributes for a great cultural interaction between the countries.
“In addition, there are so many aspects of Brazilian culture that are global, and Lebanese enjoy these elements, such as samba, the yearly ‘carnaval’ and of course their extraordinary football skills,” said Alameddine in an email interview with ANBA.
“Many Lebanese people are enthusiastic supporters of the Brazilian team, causing parades during the World Cup with flags, music and food everywhere reflecting the presence of Brazilian spirit in our society. In general, Brazilian culture is seen as something very close to us and as something so beautiful, that we can easily integrate it into different aspects of our lives,” he assessed.
According to Alameddine, the main goal of the festival is to “foster respect for diversity and raise awareness on the value of diversity.” “We want increase the level acceptance of other cultures especially those that are present in all parts of Lebanon, with a focus on the North. In recent years, Tripoli has declined in various aspects, due to the very critical security situation threatening the economy, social life and cultural activities,” he said. In the last few years, the region has been suffering terrorist attacks.
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In addition, the image of the city has been deeply affected causing it to be viewed as increasingly conservative or “closed” to other communities. We hope to show that, although our city still has many traditional values engrained into its fabric, we are also building mechanisms for dialogue, whether through culture or other forms of interaction. We will do this involving residents in a forum for learning and celebrating different cultures in Tripoli, so that they can live and explore Ibero-American cultures and appreciate the richness they bring to Tripolitan culture,” he explained.
All activities are free and the organization expects to welcome 3,000 people to the festival, which happens at the Safadi Cultural Center. The organizers will promote the participation of students from public schools in the festival.
The full program of the festival is available at www.facebook.com/IberofestTripoli?fref=ts
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
