São Paulo – The Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe), in São Paulo, promotes movie festivals every year, provides courses on Middle Eastern and North African culture and other cultural events. But the Icarabe wants more. The president at the institute since late 2012, Salem Nasser has stipulated as his "mission" the finding of a proper place for the organisation, expanding activities and organising a collection on immigration.
One of the main projects of the new president is already coming off paper as the institute has raised money to create an immigration memory centre through the Rouanet Law. The law allows companies to invest up to 4% of the income tax they owe to the government in cultural projects. The institute also tries to get state incentives to attract businesses.
"In the immigration memory centre, we will display photos, reports and interviews of immigrants on the internet. It is a way to show that narrative of immigration, to protect donations [objects] and to preserve memory," says Nasser. To put this project into practice, the Icarabe needs to buy equipment and to hire people to organize documents.
Another of the institute’s goal is to have its own headquarters. The current offices, in the southern region of the city of São Paulo, are rented. Headquarters we own are necessary for us to do our work better, so that we can use the space better with our collection, with our libraries, as is the case with that donated by Professor Aziz Ab’Saber (a geographer at the University of São Paulo, who died in 2012). São Paulo may have an Arab culture centre with spaces for activities and collections. São Paulo has space for such, and Brazil deserves it. The Icarabe believe that, and we think it is possible to combine this with the idea of having its own headquarters,” said Nasser to ANBA.
Promoting culture
Nasser said he plans to foster Icarabe relations with the government and with businesses and said the organization hopes to expand its number of associates. All these goals for the coming years do not change the goal that the institute has had since its establishment, in 2004, which is spreading Arabic culture without religious or political trends influencing activities.
A son of Lebanese parents and Professor of International Law at Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Nasser said that it is necessary to "revitalize" Arab culture in the world and differentiate it from fundamentalism. He said that "in few places" is it as possible do this as in Brazil, a country known for its religious tolerance.
"The cultural scene of Brazil and São Paulo is getting richer and people are aware of that. It would be a sin not to make use of this favourable wave [for growth]. But the will to expand the Icarabe is the key to meet the objective of rescuing culture, that which is produced here or abroad," said the Icarabe president.
*Translated by Mark Ament
