São Paulo – Prince Fatek Bin Fahar Bin Timor Al Said, secretary-general of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture of the Sultanate of Oman, inaugurated this Wednesday (29th) the festival Cultural Days of Oman in Brazil at the Eldorado shopping mall in the city of São Paulo. The exhibition is admission free and is open until Sunday (08/02).
Tents were set up in one of the atriums of the mall, where craftswomen and men are making henna tattoos on the guests, working with wood for the manufacturing of miniature boats, weaving wool garments and manufacturing and displaying ornaments and typical accessories.
Also in exhibition there are paintings of Omani artists and photos of tourist attractions, cultural events and natural paradises of the Arabian Peninsula, and a group periodically presents music and folk dances numbers.
The festival, which will land in Rio de Janeiro next week, is an initiative of the ministry and of the Oman’s embassy in Brasília and has the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
The opening took place at noon and the exhibition was filled with guests from the shopping mall, which is very crowded at lunch hour. The more popular ones were the henna tattoo tent and the calligrapher’s table, where he was drawing words in Arabic. Also on display is Oman’s typical women’s clothing.
The inauguration was attended by Oman’s ambassador, Khalid Said Al Jaradi, by the undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture of Oman, Hamed Bin Hilal Al-Ma’amari, by Palestine’s ambassador, Ibrahim Alzeben – who is also the dean of the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Brazil – by the vice-president of Foreign Trade of the Arab Chamber, Rubens Hannun, by the Arab Chamber’s CEO, Michel Alaby, by the advisor of the secretary of Culture of São Paulo state, Paulo Mortari, among other personalities.
Ceremony
On Monday night (28th), a ceremony was held to mark the launching of the initiative at Sérgio Cardoso theatre in the city of São Paulo. On the occasion, ambassador Jaradi emphasized the policy of promotion and cultural exchange of his country.
“Sultan Qaboos (Head of state of Oman) has always been mindful with the culture, with the heritage [national]”, said the diplomat. “Oman is proud of having sites [heritage] that are part of the World Cultural Heritage [of Unesco]”, he added.
He pointed out that through initiatives like this one, that are usually held in several countries, besides exhibiting its traditions, Oman seeks to showcase its vocation of a land of religious tolerance, an advocate for peace and better understanding among people of the world. For the ambassador, Brazil has the same features, and that’s where the idea to promote the exhibition came from. “The initiative seeks to promote the cooperation and mutual understanding between the two countries”, he declared.
Along similar lines, undersecretary Ma’amari said that the festival displays different aspects of the sultanate’s culture “with all its intellectual and artistic dimensions”.
In the shopping mall’s first floor, copies of books, periodicals, manuscripts and letters, besides several explanatory texts about the country, are in exhibition. Among them, documents that show the relationship of Oman with Western nations throughout time.
In these terms, the head of the Middle East Department II of the Ministry of Foreign Relations (Itamaraty), Carlos Leopoldo, mentioned the old links between Brazil and Oman, since both were under Portuguese rule at the time of the Iberian expansion. He underscored the need of recovering this memory and pointed out that there are documents about the topic at the Nacional Archive in Rio de Janeiro. These documents were brought by the Portuguese royal family to Brazil in 1808.
“Culture is the cement that unites people in a permanent and long-lasting way”, said Leopoldo. The diplomat added that, however, that the Brazil and Oman relationship goes beyond this, since in the Arab nation is, for instance, the largest Brazilian investment in the Arabian Peninsula, a complex with a maritime terminal and an iron ore pellet plant owned by the Vale mining company.
In the name of the Arab Chamber, the vice-president of Management of the organization, Adel Auada, declared that Oman serves as example that “it’s possible to promote development, modernity and human dignity, preserving tradition, culture and identity”. “If possible, you should include Oman in your travel plans”, said Auada to the public at Sérgio Cardoso theatre. The executive is a businessman in the tourism sector.
For his turn, the undersecretary of Culture of São Paulo state, José Roberto Sadek, proposed to intensify the bilateral exchange in the sector; and the president of the state legislature, Fernando Capez (PSDB) offered the premises of the Legislative Assembly for future exhibitions.
Service
Cultural Days of Oman in Brazil
In São Paulo
From July 29th to August 2nd during the shopping mall business hours Shopping Eldorado, ground and first floors
Av. Rebouças, 3970 – Pinheiros
Admission free
In Rio de Janeiro
Inauguration ceremony
August 4, at 7:30 PM
Casa França-Brasil
Rua Visconde de Itaboraí, 78 – Centro
Admission free
Exhibition
August 5th to 10th
Rio Design Barra
Av. das Américas, 7777 – Barra da Tijuca
Admission Free
Further information: https://www.facebook.com/culturaoma?fref=ts
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
