São Paulo – The city of São Paulo is going to pay homage to Beirut, the Lebanese capital, which was selected World Book Capital in 2009 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). To celebrate the award, the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Association is going to promote, from August 21st to September 20th, the exhibition “Olhar o Líbano” (Looking at Lebanon), to take place at the Vila Mariana branch of the Social Service for Commerce (Sesc).
"This, to us, is a reason for pride, so we are going to have a full month of celebration," said Lody Brais, president of the Brazil-Lebanon Cultural Association. Beirut was the ninth capital chosen by Unesco to celebrate the Global Book and Copyright Day.
According to the president, the exhibition should present pictures of the Lebanese capital, historic documents and books by Brazilian and Lebanese authors, like Gibran Khalil Gibran, Paulo Coelho, Aziz Ab’Saber, Miltom Hatoum, Raduan Nassar and Roberto Khatlab, among others.
The photography exhibition is by Brazilian photographer Cristiano Mascaro, who is going to present around 60 photographs of the Lebanese capital. "He took pictures of historic sites, like Byblos, Baalbeck and lesser known places, as well as of markets and people," said Lody. According to her, the exhibition should also include current newspapers and magazines from Beirut and a catalogue about the reconstruction of the Lebanese capital.
Apart from the exhibition, there should also be two talks. On September 2nd, professor and geographer Aziz Ab’ Saber should speak about Lebanese immigration, "From Lebanon to Brazil", to be mediated by University of São Paulo (USP) Arabic Language and Literature professor Paulo Daniel Farah. On September 10th, it is the turn of writer Salim Miguel, who should cover theme "The influence of the ancestral roots on literature", mediated by USP Arabic Language and Literature professor Mamede Jarouche.
The event counts on the cooperation of the Unesco, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism of Lebanon and of the Consulate General of Lebanon to São Paulo.
More honour
The Brazilian Postal Services (Correios) also paid homage to the Lebanese capital with the release of postal stamp "Lebanon-Beirut: World Book Capital 2009", which is part of the Diplomatic Relations series. The stamp presents, on the lower right-hand corner, an image of Lebanese philosopher and poet Gibran Khalil Gibran and, beside him, standing out, is a sentence of his: "Wisdom is the only asset that tyrants cannot expropriate". On the left-hand side there are some books and a landscape of the Lebanese capital. The stamp was designed using Indian ink drawing, watercolours and graphic computing.
The second homage was paid by the Federal Savings Bank, which issued a lottery ticket with a print that recalls Beirut.
Service
Exhibition “Olhar o Líbano”
Date: from August 21st to September 20th
Time: Tuesdays to Fridays, from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm
Site: Sesc Vila Mariana – Atrium Reading Room – 1st floor
Address: Rua Pelotas, 141 – São Paulo
Price: Admittance is free. Get tickets one hour before admittance
Talks
"From Lebanon to Brazil"
Date: September 2nd
Time: 8:30 pm
Site: Sesc Vila Mariana, 1st floor auditorium
"The influence of the ancestral roots on literature"
Date: September 10th
Time: 8:30 pm
Site: Sesc Vila Mariana, 1st floor auditorium
*Translated by Mark Ament
