São Paulo – The Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Centre (Centro Cultural Brasil Líbano in Portuguese), in Beirut, is organizing a series of exhibitions on several Brazilian states starting this month. The first exhibit, Rio with lots of love (Rio com muito amor, in Portuguese), starts on the 10th this month with images from the famous marvellous city, Rio de Janeiro.
“We are showing all the states, starting with Rio. We decided to make an exhibit about Rio because it piques the interest of the Lebanese. They love Rio”, says Samia Yakzan, director of the centre.
The exhibits will bring photos, sculptures, handcraft and even pieces made from recycled materials produced in Brazil. “It is trash transformed into art”, points out Yakzan. The next planned exhibit is on Amazonas. “We are going from North to South, including Pernambuco, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo. Each month we are showing a state”, reveals the director.
Yakzan says that the idea to hold the exhibition is to dispel the images Brazil has abroad. “We want to break the stereotype that Brazil is only about samba and football. We want to show that Brazil has a very rich culture”, she says. “It is an unusual Project in Lebanon. We are going to show Brazil in a truer, more genuine way.”
Love for Rio
The 28 images in the Rio with lots of love exhibit were created by Lebanese photographer Elio Haddad, who lived for 27 years in Brazil. “I am bringing images from Rio I took when I was there. It is a poetic view of Rio’s beauty”, he says.
In his opinion, the capital is chaotic, as so many others, but it stands out for its green areas and for the Forest in Tijuca, which permeates its landscape. Besides being a photographer, Haddad is also a visual artist and sculptor.
While he was living in Rio de Janeiro, he worked as a tour guide. “On my walks, I used to go out to take pictures both in the city centre and the forest and I had this tenderness for the city”, he remembers. He also recollects the impression the place leaves on visitors. “I could see on the tourists’ faces how awed they were with Rio’s beauty”.
Haddad has been back in his country for a year, and will be present at the opening of the exhibit in Beirut. The Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Centre is linked to the Brazilian embassy in that country.
Service
Exhibit “Rio with lots of love”
The Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Centre
Opening: April 10th, at 8p.m
Visiting up until May 10th, from Monday to Friday, from 10h to 8p.m
Address: Mar Mitr street, Trad building n176 Achrafieh – Beirut
Free Entrance
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
