The I.C.B.I.E. Blog

Ciao a tutti,

sono una delle tappe dei nostri amici bahiani.

Si, un pezzo di Salvador de Bahia è arrivato anche nella industriosa e rossa Reggio Emilia. Tra la via Emilia e il west ci siamo ritrovati a far scorrazzare per la pianura padana i due che con la loro libertà e audacia scompigliano i nostri luoghi comuni, le regole e le abitudini che inchiodano il nostro mondo preconfezionato.

Ebbene qui hanno lasciato il segno nel tempio dell’avanguardia musicale, il Maffia. Hanno fatto volteggiare la bomboletta per più di due ore lavorando a quattro mani con due writers reggiani. E l’evento Julio & Bigod ha tenuto tutti con gli occhi puntati ai pannelli per buona parte della realizzazione del lavoro.

Purtroppo ora non ho le foto perché non sono riuscita a scaricarle. Ma il tutto è risultato di grande effetto. Con la loro mano morbida hanno realizzato delle belle figure umane a rappresentare 4 grandi fiumi brasiliani.

Ma al di la di questo aspetto abbastanza scontato (lo sanno tutti che sono bravi!!!) si sono impegnati anche in cucina: Julio infatti ci ha deliziato con una “particolarissima” tortillas e Bigod ha lavato tutti i piatti!!!!!

Beijos

Claudia

Hello everyone,

I’m one of the hosts for our Bahian friends.

Yes, a bit of Salvador de Bahia has arrived even in the industrious and “red” Reggio Emilia. Halfway between the via Emilia and the old west, we found ourselves racing around the Po valley, the two of them, with their liberty and audaciousness, overturning our normal ways, the rules and the habits that pin down our plastic world.

Well then, here they left their mark in the temple of the musical avant-garde, the Maffia. The made the spray cans dance for more than two hours, working in a team with two local writers. The novelty of Julio & Bigode kept everyone with their eyes glued to the panels during most of the work’s realization.

Unfortunately, right now I don’t have the photos because I wasn’t able to download them, but the whole show was really effective. Their deft hands brought lovely human figures to life, representing the four great Brazilian rivers. But beyond this obvious aspect (everybody knows how good they are!!!), they also worked hard in the kitchen: Julio delighted us with the “most particular” tortillas and Bigode washed all the dishes!!!

Kisses,

Claudia

Last Friday, at a second meeting between ICBIE’s faithful Roman supporters and the Eleventh Municipality of the Rome city government, the following letter was submitted, formally requesting help in establishing a Rome office.

L’ICBIE (Instituto de Cultura Brasil Italia Europa) è un’associazione senza fini di lucro con sede in Brasile a Salvador de Bahia, operativa da maggio 2005, la cui missione è diretta all’integrazione, scambio e lavoro sociale tra due nazioni amiche, ITALIA e BRASILE – come pure due continenti amici EUROPA e AMERICHE – indirizzando le proprie attività sugli aspetti della cultura, dell’arte, dell’insegnamento, della comunicazione, delle lingue, delle nuove tecnologie e della cooperazione, tenendo presente gli stretti vincoli storici e culturali che hanno mantenuto sempre vivi i rapporti tra Italia e Brasile.

L’ICBIE attraverso un programma continuativo che ha visto formarsi più di trecento allievi tra giovani ed adulti, in gran parte sottratti ad una vita di degrado ed esclusione sociale, si presenta oggi come una realtà riconosciuta dalla municipalità di Salvador, attualmente partner di progetti ed iniziative artistiche e culturali.

Alle varie attività dell’ICBIE cooperano ormai da tempo numerosi professionisti e studiosi italiani e stranieri, sia per gli aspetti organizzativi che per quelli didattici. Inoltre, presso l’Istituto è ad oggi possibile svolgere il Servizio civile internazionale, e questo ha costituito una buona occasione per coinvolgere nuove energie.

Tra gli obiettivi principali dell’ICBIE rientra certamente lo stimolo e l’impulso ad un sempre crescente interscambio di culture, esperienze e prospettive tra il Brasile ed il nostro Paese, necessità tanto più stringente in un’epoca segnata da preoccupanti chiusure culturali ed identitarie.

A tal fine, è già operativa a Roma una folta rappresentanza dell’Istituto che da tempo si occupa di informare e promuovere e far conoscere le attività che l’ICBIE svolge a Salvador. Le diverse iniziative realizzate nel tempo – convegni, conferenze, esposizioni, concerti – cui ha fatto riscontro un sincero entusiasmo e di conseguenza un sempre crescente successo di pubblico e di adesioni, ci spingono oggi a tentare di dare maggiore continuità alla nostra forma di promozione della cooperazione internazionale.

Da qui la necessità di radicare nel territorio romano e, in particolare, in quello dell’XI Municipio dove il fondatore dell’Istituto, Prof. Pietro Gallina, ha insegnato lungamente presso il Liceo Classico “Socrate”, le attività dei membri dell’ICBIE che necessitano di una sede operativa. Uno spazio fisico in cui poter dare seguito a quanto già realizzato in passato costituirebbe per un verso la possibilità di un interscambio con le altre associazioni già attive sul territorio del Municipio nel campo della cooperazione, dall’altro la possibilità di dare maggiore continuità alle nostre future iniziative, nonché di poter usufruire di infrastrutture tali da consentire un contatto più diretto con la sede principale dell’ICBIE a Salvador e con gli Enti nostri partner.

Attività da realizzare

• corsi di lingua italiana per lusofoni adulti e bambini;
• corsi di lingua portoghese per adulti e bambini;
• organizzazione di campi di lavoro e di interscambio culturale in cooperazione con le scuole superiori del territorio, nonché associazioni quali lo S.C.I. e la Rete del Viaggiatore;
• sportello di orientamento e accoglienza per i Brasiliani che vivono e lavorano nel territorio del XI Municipio;

I rappresentanti ICBIE Roma

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The ICBIE (Instituto de Cultura Brasil Italia Europa) is a non-profit association located in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, active since May 2005, with a mission focused upon integration, exchange and social work between two friendly nations, ITALY and BRAZIL — as well as two friendly continents, EUROPE and SOUTH AMERICA — basing its activities upon various aspects of culture, art, education, communication, languages, new technologies and cooperation, consistent with the tight historical and cultural ties that have always revitalized the rapport between Italy and Brazil.

The ICBIE, through a continuous program that has helped more than three hundred youths and adults, mostly extracted from a degrading life of social exclusion, is now a reality that has been recognized by the city of Salvador, which is presently a active partner in projects and cultural and artistic initiatives.

Numerous Italian and foreign professionals and academics cooperate in the ICBIE’s activities, helping on both the organizational and the didactic aspects of our work. Furthermore, within the institute it is now possible to carry out International civil service, and this has been a good opportunity to recruit new forces.

Among the ICBIE’s principal objectives is a firm desire to stimulate an ever growing interchange of cultures between Brazil and our country, a necessity that is ever more pressing at a time when a frightening sense of closure threatens different cultures and their very identities.

For that reason, a large group is already representing the Institute in Rome, helping to spread information and to promote the activities of the ICBIE in Salvador. The various initiatives that have been held — meetings, conferences, expositions and concerts — have been met with sincere enthusiasm and consequently, an ever growing success with the public that has drawn new people to join our cause, pushing us to attempt to give a greater continuity to our efforts toward promotion and international cooperation.

Hence the necessity of establishing a operative base for the activities of ICBIE supporters in the Rome area, and, in particular in the Eleventh Municipality, where the Institute’s founder Pietro Gallina taught for many years at the Socrates High School. A physical space that can build upon all that we have already done in the past would facilitate both the possibilities of exchange with other cooperative associations working in the municipality and the possibility of giving a greater continuity to our future initiatives, as well as being able to use the resources to permit a better channel between the main seat of the ICBIE in Salvador and our partners and associates.

Planned Activities

• courses in the Italian language for adults and children who speak Portuguese as a native language;
• courses in the Portuguese language for adults and children;
• organization of camps for volunteer work and cultural exchange, in cooperation with the high schools in the municipality, as well as with associations such as Civil Service International and the Travelers’ Network;
• a center for orientation, welcoming Brazilians who live and work in the Eleventh Municipality.

Representatives of the ICBIE in Rome

The stars must be aligned just right for the ICBIE, with so many new and exciting developments. Just the Italian tour of Julio and Bigode, and the subsequent opportunities to forge friendly relationships with the city governments of Salvador and Rome would be sufficient reason for optimism, but other big opportunities have been brewing, and it’s time to spill the beans.

Shortly after I returned from Salvador in late August, I received an email from an American lady named Elizabeth Caiva, who runs an organization called Voluntour, which organizes holidays in Salvador that include social work, and shortly thereafter, she met with Pietro at the ICBIE and they discussed possible collaborations. She also mentioned the ICBIE to another American, Phillip Wagner, who leads a group called Rhythm of Hope, which operates in Salvador, India and Nepal. Phillip then began an intense email discussion with Pietro, who, after a couple days of agonizing over his written English while answering Phillip’s detailed questions, politely delegated the correspondence to me. For the last three weeks, multiple daily emails have flown between Italy and Bloomington, Indiana. Phillip is an instructor at the University of Indiana, and his specialty is the African diaspora, which naturally drew him to Salvador, the focus of both his prolonged study and his growing determination to initiate a more meaningful breed of social activism, forging partnerships with the Projeto Dida, Ilê Aiyê, Projeto Axê, Circo Picolino, etc. With Rhythm of Hope, he has organized the construction of a human sewage disposal system in a blighted area of Itaparica island, where he enlisted the Engineers Without Borders for the execution of the work. As soon as we discussed ICBIE’s needs, he encouraged us to approach EWB for the construction of our theater. The two of us compiled a 26 page long application, which has already been sent.

Phillip is convinced that the ICBIE can be extremely useful for his projects. He has long been dissatisfied with the academic study of Afro-Brazilian culture, where the venerable professors bring their grad students to the Pelourinho and lecture them about life in the favelas… without ever setting foot inside one! He envisions developing a Center for Afro-Brazilian Culture inside the ICBIE, where academics can stay in our apartments and use our students as guides into the nearby favelas. We have agreed to build a small office and living quarters for Rhythm of Hope in our back courtyard, and plans are afoot to bring volunteers who would work on both ICBIE and ROH projects in Salvador.

As we worked out the details of this partnership, Phillip continued to weave his web of contacts, and soon he had an even bigger plan. He has joined with a big tour agent named Michael Eiseman, head of VIP Brazil, famous for its lavish personalized tours of Bahia, catering to wealthy Americans from New York, Atlanta and Florida. Michael is committed to helping the poor people of Bahia, and is intrigued by the possibilities inherent in the Rhythm of Hope and the ICBIE missions. Finally, we brought in Elizabeth and Voluntour, forming a large conglomerate of common interests that is big enough to obtain the coveted 501(c) status with the American Internal Revenue Service, making us a bona fide non-profit organization.

Last Sunday night, Michael and Phillip organized a conference call between India, Rome, Barcelona, New York and Bloomington, where we were all able to introduce ourselves and to agree on a common plan of action. The structure of the new and enlarged Rhythm of Hope can be summarized by the diagram below.

As you can see by the diagram, the ICBIE remains an independent entity, outside the new organization, but with me on the board, and the new organization will offer the ICBIE an umbrella for 501(c) coverage. This will open up many new possibilities for fundraising and donations, and the synergy between Rhythm of Hope, Voluntour, VIP Brazil and the ICBIE cannot help but bring fresh ideas and resources to our project. Evviva!!!

Roy Zimmerman

Amidst all the excitement of the last week, it’s been hard to find time to write up all the important developments. As mentioned earlier, two officials from Salvador’s city council have come to Italy to show off their prize street artists Julio and Bigode. The Rome ICBIE supporters immediately saw this as an opportunity to forge a working relationship with the Rome city government, so we informed them of the arrival of Edvando Luiz Castro Pinto (Tucunaré), the municipal director of urban decorum, and Edvaldo Evaristo dos Santos Filho, the municipal director for tourism (and Salvador’s giant carnival). Rome’s city government is divided into twenty local districts, and due to Pietro’s roots in Garbatella, the eleventh district agreed to help us, providing the Factory as the venue for our Oct. 3 benefit evening, and a meeting-reception with the district’s “mini-mayor” Andrea Catarci was set for 12 noon on October 4th, and the whole ICBIE crew showed up to participate.

After the introductions and an overview of ICBIE’s strong Roman roots, the visiting officials presented their innovative Salvador grafita project (with Julio providing the simultaneous Portuguese-Italian translation), and a lengthy discussion ensued. The issue of graffiti is a hot one in Italy, and in Rome in particular, and the general stance of the government has been leaning towards ever harsher repression, so the Salvador initiative, which identifies young writers, provides them with training and materials, and then hires the best ones, who receive R$ 400 per month, plus transportation costs, a daily meal ticket and materials, was given an encouraging degree of consideration. The overwhelming success of their project provides progressive Roman politicians with a valid model that can resolve this urban problem in a positive way, creating artists rather than criminals.

The officials of both Rome and Salvador expressed their appreciation for this encounter, thanking the ICBIE for providing this important exchange of ideas. And Mr. Catarci has been formally invited to visit Salvador, to see firsthand the many wonders of Salvador grafita.

Ciao a tuttti. Posso dire che c’ero, c’ero anche io!!!

Dopo la piacevole scoperta dell’ICBIE a Salvador devo ammettere che è stata un’altrettanto picacevolissima sorpresa scoprire l’ICBIE in Italia. Anche qui si muove un gruppo nutrito di gente entusiasta e che crede nel lavoro dell’ICBIE. E per questo riesce ad organizzare eventi come quello del 3 ottobre e per questo si mobilita affinchè Julio e Bigode e tutti gli ospiti che arrivano ed arriveranno da Salvador si sentano a casa propria anche in Italia e possano partecipare ad eventi come il Bahia Festival di Bassano o la festa del 5.

E’ importante per chi lavora a Salvador sapere di essere sostenuti anche qui dall’Italia e credo che tale supporto, visto i risultati di queste ultime (solo in ordine di tempo) attività, non possa far altro che crescere e rafforzarsi ogni giorno di più!!
Forza allora, rimbocchiamoci le maniche che c’è sempre qualcosa da fare, da organizzare, da inventare!!!!

Con entusiasmo

Marcella

Hi, everybody:  I can say that I was there, I was there, too!!!

After the pleasant discovery of the ICBIE in Salvador, I have to admit that it was an even more delightful surprise to discover the ICBIE in Italy. Here, too, a hearty group of enthusiastic people who believe in the work of the ICBIE is moving forward. And that’s why they can organize events like that of October 3rd, and it’s why Julio and Bigode and all the guests that have arrived (and will arrive in the future) from Salvador also feel at home in Italy and can participate in events like the Bahia Festival in Bassano or the AOSR day on the 5th.

It’s important for those working in Salvador to know that they are being supported, even in Italy, and I believe that that support, in the light of the results of these most recent activities, can’t do anything except to grow and get stronger, more every day!!

Come on, let’s roll up our sleeves: there’s always something to do, to organize, to invent!!!

With enthusiasm,

Marcella

Friday, October 5, 2007: ICBIE Day at AOSR! Although, thanks to the Bridge to Bahia project, there have been numerous AOSR events where the ICBIE has been present, never before was a whole school day enlivened by the presence of real Bahians, together with ICBIE president Pietro Gallina. And the real stars were our delightful street artists Julio and Bigode, who spent most of the school day decorating the wall of the gymnasium that faces onto the quad at the entrance to the High School, where all the students, big and small, have to pass by, whether on their way to gym classes or to go to the cafeteria. And Joyce Dunn’s high school art classes were assigned to work as their assistants, so many kids got a chance to make their own contributions to the mural.

The first direct contact between ICBIE students and AOSR students couldn’t have gone better, and the laughter and smiles brought everyone together instantly, despite the enormous difference in origins, schooling and, especially, affluence. From the start, the Bridge to Bahia project has aimed for exactly this, a fostering of bonds of friendship and community between these very different communities.

Oi. I´m Mary Overby the new English teacher at ICBIE. I´m an American, originally from Florida, but I´ve spent the last twenty years living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I worked for many years as a computer programmer. I play drums for fun and have traveled throughout the world studying African-based percussion. I love Brazilian music, especially Samba. This is my fifth visit to Salvador. I was introduced to the folks at ICBIE by a Brazilian friend from Salvador who also lives in the USA. I studied Portuguese during a previous trip to Salvador and am improving each day.

I enjoy teaching. After teaching computer classes in the USA, I decided to get some training in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). I have a CELTA certificate and have taken TESOL courses at Duke University.

I am teaching two English classes at ICBIE: Basic English and Pre-Intermediate English. Each class meets three evenings a week for 90 minutes. The classes will run for eight weeks (September 24 - November 18, 2007).Our first classes were on Monday evening. My students were all eager, participated fully and seemed to enjoy the class. I have seven students (so far) in the Basic class and eleven students in the Pre-Intermediate class. We have been having fun (and working hard) learning each other´s names, finding out about each other, practicing listening, speaking and pronunciation. I use a communicative approach to teaching English and hope to make learning English a fun and pleasant experience for my students.

I plan to write more for the ICBIE blog and welcome email from any of you. My email address is sempremao@yahoo.com.

Rome’s tribute to the ICBIE couldn’t have gone better! It was a perfect warm and balmy night, the Factory was a great location that allowed us to make as much noise as we wanted late into the night, the music was terrific and a huge crowd of 700 people turned up. By the end of the evening, the donations box was stuffed with over 2000 Euros, and after expenses, half of that will go directly to the ICBIE. It was wonderful to see all the old friends and new faces. Pietro arrived straight from Brazil, together with two city officials from Salvador, while Julio and Bigode did a great job on a large mural that they painted, despite the scant illumination and the huge crowd that was watching them.

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Rosalia de Souza dished up a spicy mix of bossa nova classics that had the crowd swaying in delight. We are so grateful to her for her generous performance, wedged into a very busy schedule of appearances. Then all alone, Riccardo Sinigallia gave an intense set of his songs, and the night warmed up.

The Trio for Bahia, composed of the fine jazzmen Francesco Forni on guitar, Filippo Gatti on bass and Ivo Parlato on drums played on and on, with vitality and verve, also backing Lucariello, who is well known to Italian fans as a member of the band, Almamegretta.

There was even time for a rousing Capoeira performance by the Gruppo Soluna, and the whole crowd pressed tight in a big circle as the congas and berimbaus worked their magic of the twirling arms and legs of the sparring dancers. Even though it was after 1 o’clock in the morning, no one wanted to go home, so musicians took the stage and jammed on.

Julio’s contribution to the Factory mural.

Bigode’s enigmatic contribution. (A Bahian Conan the Barbarian?)

For more photos, click here.

Truly a night to remember! And special kudos to the great team of ICBIE supporters who did such a fantastic job in putting it all together: Anna Foglietta, David Angelelli, Monica Bernardi, Paolo Mauriello, Marcella Sgura, Marco Raganella, Loona Tirabassi, Elena Ritondali, Chiara Giusto, Ivan Prado Longhi, Livio Ciappetta, Luigi Maiello, and Pina Madonna (if I forgot someone, forgive me!). In the course of an exhilarating series of emails—more than a hundred—, they came up with the ideas, made the contacts, designed the publicity poster and organized the strategies for plastering it all over the city. They forged a new level of cooperation between the ICBIE and the Rome city government, and championed the ICBIE cause with the Brazilian Embassy (which responded enthusiastically). Thanks to them, ICBIE’s fame continues to grow in the Eternal City… more on that tomorrow!