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

All week, the ICBIE has been churning with activity, with Marlene’s Italian courses back in session, the graffiti meeting on Thursday, and the cineform rolling along.   Saturday and Sunday promise to be the busiest of all, with several highly visible events that will form new and important ties with our local community.

On both days, the ICBIE will be hosting workshops that are presented by a state-run institution, the Cultural Foundation of the State of Bahia.  These workshops, now in their fourth edition, encourage the development of cultural initiatives, and, best of all, they explain the procedure to request financial support, describing how a cultural project should be structured, in order to be accepted.

No doubt, Pietro will be taking notes while he makes our guests feel comfortable.

For Sunday, the ICBIE has organized a big free public performance in cooperation with the Filhos do Sol Nascente, Mestre Pedro’s venerable association.  It will take place in the large square in front of his capoeira center at the edge of Uruguai, just inland from the Alagados, and it will feature music, street theater and handicrafts, to compliment the central attraction: the maculelê and capoeira shows of our great master.  The ICBIE assisted in both organizing and publicizing the show.  The major local papers ran articles, and for the first time, they had to present a cultural event taking place “at the end of the Uruguay (bus) line.”  This is an important landmark, as we strive to improve the cultural offerings of the cidade baixa: for the first time, quality entertainment (that will attract spectators from all around the city) is offered free of charge to the poor men, women and children of the Alagados, in their own neighborhood.  For them, such inclusion into the mainstream of the city’s cultural life was unthinkable, until now.

Finally, today is the last day of Paranaguá’s photography exhibition of graffiti art at the Lapa Shopping Center in Salvador.  He sent this great picture of the event:

Despite all this frenetic activity during the weekend, there will be no break, because this coming week marks the beginning of the new semester for all our new computer courses!

 ICBIE apresenta programa do Encontro Internacional de Grafite

O Instituto Cultural Brasil Itália Europa (ICBIE) realizou na quarta-feira (dia 27), a primeira reunião com os grafiteiros do Projeto Salvador Grafita, para informar o programa do1º Encontro Internacional de Grafite/1º International Graffti Meeting, que acontece de 13 a 19 de setembro de 2008, em Salvador/Bahia.

Na abertura do encontro, o presidente do ICBIE, Pietro Gallina, falou da importância do evento para a cidade, enumerou as providências que estão sendo tomadas, a fim de que o encontro seja um sucesso, além da grande oportunidade para os grafiteiros de Salvador, de pintarem ao lado de estrelas da arte de rua, como por exemplo, o paulista Binho One, o francês Kongo da M.A.C., entre outros.

Organizado pelo ICBIE e a crew Nova10Ordem, o evento conta com uma extensa atividade, incluindo intervenções urbanas, reuniões com instituições culturais e autoridades, palestras, visita a pontos turísticos da cidade e um show de hip-hop.

Estiveram presentes ao encontro: Pietro Gallina, Marlene Souza, Valdenice, Marcella Sgura e Bogus (ICBIE), Amine e Elis Ângela, representantes do Projeto Salvador Grafita, os grafiteiros Bigod, Júlio, Sank 25 e Prisk (Nova 10Ordem), Questão e Roque (Oclan/GL8), Boob (Grafqmia), Pinel e Ásia (EGS), Mônica (TFC), Baga (HRI), Covero (VUC) e Muca.

Texto e foto: JFParanaguá

On Thursday evening (the 27th), the ICBIE held a first encounter with the graffiti artists of the Salvador Grafita Project, to lay out the program for the First International Graffiti Meeting , which will take place from the 13th to the 19th of September, 2008 in Salvador/Bahia.  To open the evening, ICBIE President Pietro Gallina spoke of the importance of the event for the city, enumerating the many advantages that will arise, if everyone works to make it a success, and it offers a great opportunity for Salvador’s artists, who will have a chance to paint side by side with big stars of street art like, for example, Binho One from São Paulo, or Kongo da M.A.C. from France, among others.

Organized by the ICBIE and the Nova10Ordem crew, the Meeting will involve a lot of different activities, including urban renewal, meetings with cultural institutions and authorities, and visits to sport centers, the touristic points of interest and a hip-hop show.

Present at the get-together were: Pietro Gallina, Marlene Souza, Marcella Sgura and Bogus (ICBIE), Amine and Elis Ângela, representatives of the Projeto Salvador Grafita, Valdenice, the grafiteiros Bigod, Júlio, Sank 25 and Prisk (Nova 10Ordem), Questão and Roque (Oclan/GL8), Boob (Grafqmia), Pinel and Ásia (EGS), Mônica (TFC), Baga (HRI), Covero (VUC) and Muca.

Text and photos: JFParanaguá.

It’s here at last!  After years of talking, planning and arguing, the circumstances were finally right, and we were able to completely revamp our official website.  Roy’s extended visit to Salvador coincided with the presence of two great Italian volunteers, Marcella and Giovanna, and the arrival of Guido, an expert web designer, so together with Pietro and Marlene, we rolled up our sleeves and burned the midnight oil.  We’re delighted with the results: suddenly, our website is clean and unified:

Notice the nifty little section where you can sign up for our newsletter.  This is another innovation we cooked up, to keep our community informed of our work.  Sure, this blog is a great tool for connecting our people, but we’re all busy and it’s easy to forget to visit it.  A monthly newsletter, then, is a perfect way to remind everybody, so they can can follow all our exciting developments.

Among the other novelties, in the “Help Us” section, there is a new PayPal account for making donations.  If all our friends could make even a tiny donation from time to time, our work could expand greatly.

All the information has been updated and revised.  Be sure to check out our Curriculum page, so you can see the impressive list of cultural events that the ICBIE has promoted over the past three years.  Included are links that open windows with press reviews, programs and publicity posters:

And finally, you can use the sleek pop-up to navigate straight back to this blog!

The new layout also makes it easy for us to make further additions and updates, so be sure to visit www.icbie.com often!

Assiduous readers of this blog have heard his name come up often, because our friend Paranaguá has become a very familiar face at the ICBIE.  Now we all have an opportunity to get to know him better!  For the last quarter century, this talented artist-photographer has combed the streets of Salvador, documenting secret Bahian cultural treasures hidden in the oddest places, and this search blossomed into a precocious passion for street art, a fascination that has grown over the years, following the the city’s own ascendency, as it became a world-class graffiti capital.  Last February, his works were featured at our Ribeira das Artes festival, then in April and May, he followed Pietro and the Salvador grafita artists on their tour to France, Germany, Spain and Italy, snapping thousands of gorgeous pictures, not only of the artists and their works, but also capturing fascinating glimpses into European life, set amongst its monuments and in its museums.  Since his return to Brazil, he has frequented ICBIE courses in English and Italian, and loves to find new opportunities to show off his art to an ever wider audience.

He has opened a well-stocked website, www.jfparanagua.com, where, after a delightful introductory flash video, you can access his galleries in both Portuguese and English.  Don’t miss the great video that documents the 2nd Graffiti Meeting in Acarajé (described in this blog on August 12).

He has also announced an important exposition of his works, to be held at the big Lapa Shopping Center in Salvador from the 25th to the 30th of this month.  The show represents a retrospective of Salvador Street Art since 1983 (which is more or less when most of the city’s present graffiti stars were born).  Here is his official press release: practice your Portuguese!

Arte de Rua em exposição no Shopping

De 25 a 30 deste mês, a exposição fotográfica “A Arte na Rua” do fotógrafo e relações públicas, José Francisco Paranaguá Guimarães, volta a cartaz no Espaço de Eventos (1º Piso) - Shopping Center Lapa.

Paineis, textos e um acervo de aproximadamente 120 imagens vão contar a história da arte de rua, mostrando as variadas intervenções visuais em Salvador.

De forma cronológica, a mostra exibe os grafismos iniciais, com frases metafóricas e enigmáticas do período de 1983, até os tempos atuais, expondo os trabalhos de artistas plásticos, utilizando mosaicos com fragmentos de cerâmica e os belos grafites dos jovens integrantes do Projeto Salvador Grafita. Além disso, depoimentos de artistas plásticos, grafiteiros e pessoas ligadas a arte, sobre a importância desse documento e o novo encaminhamento de comunicação urbana.

Segundo o autor, a expo “A Arte na Rua” em sua quarta edição, mantém a proposta inicial de ser itinerante, de forma que a população e o público desses locais, estabeleçam um diálogo com as peças e conheçam um acervo do registro evolutivo da arte de rua em Salvador.

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So, to our dear friend Paranaguá:  the ICBIE wishes you a heartfelt “in bocca lupo”!

All the recent posts have described the frenetic pace of ICBIE activities in Salvador, but in the meantime, a lot of impressive work has been going on behind the scenes in Rome, where our faithful Monica has made giant steps in establishing an operative office.  For future reference, there is now an address, telephone number, and email:

Sede rappresentanza ICBIE
Monica Bernardi e Marcella Sgura
Lungotevere degli Artigiani, 28
00153 Roma
Tel. ++39-338 1479811
E-mail: icbieitalia@hotmail.it

Then, because an office is just an empty space unless it does something, Monica has put together a big kickoff event, to gather together all our faithful friends and to attract new ones.  We have a great location, one of the trendiest places on Capocotta beach, Il Porto di Enea  (Port of Aeneas), for the evening of Saturday, September 6th.  Starting at 8 PM, there will be a big Brazilian churrasco, barbicued on the beach, followed at 10 PM by a benefit performance of the flashy Samba-Enredo band Akunamatata (link) and, at midnight an endless set by dj Amião, who has worked a six month long gig in the clubs of Salvador.

We’re all charged up for this big ICBIE event, and the many others to come.  The Rome office is interested in building a cooperation with Brazilian musicians living in Rome, to offer them support and exposure by putting on events with them.  And that’s only a sample of the many plans that are afoot.

It’s been just over a week since I arrived here in Ribeira, and yet as I look back on the last days, my disorientated first moments in the airport of Salvador seem all a big blur. Between then and now, a thousand changes, discoveries, new encounters, tastes and smells, new words and melodies and unforgettable experiences have filled the days, and I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t ten days which slipped into one!

The ICBIE welcomed me like a family, with open arms and smiles and the beautiful colourful enthusiasm and warmth which everyone carries and shares. I feel enchanted to be part of this energy, of this world of interesting projects and ideas! I started my English conversation classes with a mixture of excitement and curiosity, and a little worry too! As everything, from the number of students to everyone’s level and simply my voice, was going to be a surprise. It wasn’t long before I forgot my doubts and plunged into the song I had chosen with Roy and which he had kindly offered to play for us at the beginning! Making the class start with a concert was a wonderful way to overcome any tension and shyness in our group and we finished the lesson laughing about the three little pigs in our new version of the fairytale! The students are all ages and levels and this makes the class even more dynamic and challenging, and I realise as I prepare the lessons how many are the ways to start a conversation, or simply capture a word or topic and bring it to life with everyone contributing something personal and unique to the atmosphere.

I am discovering Salvador and its culture in many ways, striking churches in the centre and the colourful Pelourinho where I spent a day, and then there are the moments which are priceless and beyond any guidebook, those created by the people you meet, the sparkle of a friendship, a place, a word and the mysterious game of circumstances which makes all these things coincide. Like the morning when Julio appeared at the ICBIE to take Guido and me to his house where three beautiful and very aged bycicles awaited us. Between the rays of sunshine and showers of rain we rode, around the wavy coast of Ribeira to Bomfim and through the labyrinth of streets in the poorer areas to the forgotten alagados, where we were invited by Julio´s friend inside his house and welcomed even here where we felt more like intruders. It was like stepping behind a curtain, and opening our eyes on another reality.

Or the night when we all went to dance forro in a very big exporural near the airport, a whole area with concerts and celebration with many farm animals.

There are also the incredible mamau, abacaxi, and acai, and this is only the beginning of a very long list!

A central focus of the ICBIE mission is to strenghten the ties between Brazil and Italy, so it is only natural that we should work to tighten the bonds between committed Italians working here in Salvador.  In order to get the ball rolling, Pietro unleashed another spectacular feast, knowing that the best way to get Italians to cooperate is to bombard them with the best culinary delights.

The fortunate guests were Mauro Porru, Carlo Loria, and his brother Alessandro.  Mauro is the head of the Italian Department at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and has lived in Brazil for decades; Carlo is a dynamic volunteer with the Projeto Vida, an association that offers education and cultural resources in the Bomfin area, not far away from us; and his brother Sandro is a scenographer and writer who is another longtime Brazilian resident.

Because two other invited guests were unable to attend, after lunch the group drove to downtown Salvador to meet with Stefano Barbi Cinti, the president of Italia Amica, which has operated for many years, and with the well known film critic Paolo Spedicato.  Stefano and Paolo were dismayed when they heard about the cuisine they had missed, and they made Pietro promise to give them another chance!

In their long conversations, these leaders of the local Italian cultural scene exchanged stories and experiences, and they agreed to find new ways of sharing their talents and pooling their resources, in order to augment the impact of their noble efforts on behalf of the local community.

Today Julio arranged to have a half a dozen kids from the Minha Vó Flor orphanage come over to the ICBIE for an afternoon of drawing lessons.  Their happy enthusiasm quickly drew together the entire ICBIE staff, and before long, Giovanna, Marcella, Guido, Claire, Lais and Roy were getting their faces painted by Julio and the children, with laughter and joy bouncing off the walls.  It was a great time for all, carefree hours when people of all ages came together in friendship.

(English translation below)
No último sábado (2), aproveitei para curtir um dia bem diferente, apesar de ter amanhecido cinzento. Horas depois, o Sol surgiu, desaparecendo as nuvens escuras, dando lugar a um céu bem azulado, modificando o panorama da manhã. Pensei: Que maravilha!! Vou poder fazer o tour com os meus amigos Pietro Gallina e Roy Zimmerman.
Normalmente passo os fins-de-semana com a família no sítio, em Pedras, município de Santo Amaro. Mas, nesse dia, modifiquei minha programação a fim de estar na companhia deles e mostrar as belezas naturais de Salvador Para Roy, presidente honorário do ICBIE e professor de música da American School of the Rome, era uma grande oportunidade conhecer outros pontos turísticos da nossa metrópole.
Às 9 horas, partimos da sede do ICBIE na Ribeira, passando pela Avenida. Caminho de Areia, Praça Cayru, Avenida Lafayete Coutinho (Contorno), Vale do Canela, Graça, Ladeira, Porto e Farol da Barra, Rio Vermelho, Amaralina, Pituba, até Jaguaribe, uma das praias mais freqüentadas e considerado um dos points da orla. Durante o percurso conversamos sobre diversos assuntos do cotidiano, política, compromissos e responsabilidades do ICBIE, dificuldade de parceiros para deslanchar projetos de cunho social, entre outros, além de reviver momentos da nossa viagem pela Europa.

Em seguida, encontramos Júlio, Bigod, Lee 27, Pinel, além de outros grafiteiros (artistas de rua), que foram  convidados por Sins e Lika da Bomb Bahia, organizadores do 2º Meeting of the Acarajé, para pintar o muro do antigo clube social do BNB, em frente a praia do Corsário, na Boca do Rio. No momento atual, o evento foi muito importante para valorização da arte de rua, haja vista, a falta de espaços livres, em decorrência das pichações de propagandas políticas.
No bairro de Itapoã, em um dos restaurantes do local, como entrada foi servido um acarajé feito pela baiana Cira. Depois degustamos um saboroso ensopado de “Peixe com Camarão”, um dos prato da nossa culinária praiana.

Em seguida, passamos em frente a residência onde morava o saudoso poeta Vinicius de Moraes e na Lagoa do Abaeté, citada nos versos do cantor e compositor Dorival Caymmi. Voltamos novamente ao local do evento, com a finalidade de observar o desempenho e a criatividade dos artistas, que pintavam diferentes estilos sobre a temática da “Pré história”.

No final da tarde, de retorno ao ponto de origem, ainda tivemos tempo  para tomar um suco feito com frutas naturais em uma lanchonete tradicional na Barra e visitar a delicatessen Perini, que funciona no antigo clube social Baiano de Tênis.
Até a próxima!!!

JFParanaguá

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A Tour of the City of Salvador

Last Saturday (2) I took the opportunity to enjoy a really different kind of day, even though at dawn the sky was overcast.  But after a few hours, the sun burned away the dark clouds, leaving a beautiful blue sky that transformed the morning.  I thought: How wonderful!!  I wanted to take a tour with my friends Pietro Gallina and Roy Zimmerman.
I usually spend the weekend at home with my family, in Pedras, in the town of Santo Amaro.  But today I changed that pattern to spend some time with them, to show off the natural beauties of Salvador.  For Roy, the ICBIE’s Honorary President and a music teacher at the American School of Rome, it was a great opportunity to explore some new places in the area.
At 9AM, we left the ICBIE in Ribeira, taking the coast road through Caminho de Areia, Praça Cayru, Avenida Lafayete Coutinho (Contorno), Vale do Canela, Graça, Ladeira, Porto e Farol da Barra, Rio Vermelho, Amaralina and Pituba, all the way to Jaguaribe, one of the most popular beaches on the seafront.  During the drive, we talked about daily life, politics, the compromises and responsibilities of the ICBIE, the difficulty of forming partnerships to launch social projects, and so on, including memories of our trip to Europe.
After the beach, we met up with Júlio, Bigod, Lee 27, Pinel and the other grafiteiros (street artists), who were gathered together by Sins and Lika from Bomb Bahia, organizers of the 2nd Meeting of the Acarajé, to paint the wall of the old BNB social club, in front of the Corsário, at Boca do Rio. These days, it’s hard to find free spaces to paint, because, due to the upcoming city elections, all the empty walls are covered with political campaign messages, so this event was an important opportunity to show off the best street art.
Then we went to Itapoã, to one of the local restaurants, and as an appetizer we were served an acarajé (a bean and onion mash fried in palm oil, an Afro-Brazilian favorite) made by the Bahian Cira. After that, we savored a tasty stew, “Peixe com Camarão”, (fish and shrimp), a gem of our beachside cuisine. After lunch, we passed by the home of the late and great poet Vinicius de Moraes, on the way to the Lagoa do Abaeté, cited in the verses of the singer and composer Dorival Caymmi.
Then we returned to our artists, in order to observe their creative work, a panorama of different styles unified by a central theme: Prehistory.
At the day’s end, as we retraced our steps homeward, we found time to stop for some juices made of fresh fruits in a luncheonette in Barra and to visit the Perini delicatessen, that operates out of the old Bahian Tennis social club.
Until the next time!!!
JFParanaguá

The ICBIE is finally enjoying a lucky streak in its English courses.  Whereas our Italian program, thanks to the ongoing efforts of Marlene and Pietro, has proceeded continuously since we opened, achieving spectacular results that have made it the finest in the city, English instruction has only been offered sporadically.  This is a great pity, because our Brazilian students find English more difficult than Italian, due to that fact that, unlike Dante’s tongue, Shakespeare’s idiom is not a closely related Romance language, and its daunting idiomatic phrases and its enigmatic spelling require constant practice along the rocky road to mastery.

In the past two years, four teachers—Rosa, Michelle, Daniele and Louise—have come from the American Overseas School of Rome to teach inspired English courses, each lasting between four and six weeks, but even with the precious help of Mary Overby, who has come twice from the United States, the gaps have loomed large.

At last, this deleterious sputtering has stopped, and our students can benefit from five months of uninterrupted instruction.  After Louise’s departure, we now have Claire, a delightful young volunteer (who was directed our way thanks to Rhythm of Hope’s Phillip Wagner); she has courageously offered to teach two conversation courses, until Mary returns (for a record third time!) in September, and remaining for a good, long term of residence that will extend well into the month of November.  The Louise-Claire-Mary tandem will keep our students really busy, so they will at last be able to compete, on a level playing field, with the Italian groups!

Thanks to Guido Altieri for this great photo of Claire, taken yesterday, on her first full day in Brazil.