São Paulo – To those interested in learning more about Arab culture and art, the Social Service for Commerce (Sesc) offers opportunities up to March 15th. At the Belenzinho unit, in São Paulo, there will be workshops called Universos Árabes (Arab Universes), in which those participating are taught about printing, production of necklaces and carpets, painting and marquetry.
Vanessa Souza, cultural programmer at Sesc, says that the objective of the workshops is to show aspects of the Arab world that are different from those portrayed by the media. “There is a great influence of Arab culture on Brazil, like the food and decoration, and the workshops are a way of bringing the population closer to this culture in a different point of view,” she explained.
The activities began on January 15th, all are free and each workshop offers 10 to 20 seats. It is necessary to enrol in advance and the groups are usually full. “Most of the seats in the workshops are taken up rapidly. There is much demand and people are enjoying it. There is not much offer in the city of activities of this nature, mixing technique and culture,” said Souza.
Event Universos Árabes brings talks about varied themes, which promote interaction with the public. “Apart from practical workshops, we have meetings with experts. We invited Isabela Raposeiras, which is a renowned barista, and she is going to promote activities with coffee, and Lygia Rocco, who is a specialist in art history is going to speak about the theoretical part of Islamic architecture,” explained the cultural programmer.
Literature is part of these meetings. In the agenda there is a talk by a University of São Paulo (USP) professor of Arabic language and literature, Mamed Jarouche, in which he will speak about the Arabian Nights, translated by him directly from Arabic into Portuguese, on Thursday (31) at 8:00 pm.
The full programme of the Universos Árabes event is available at link http://migre.me/d2pSr.
*Translated by Mark Ament
