What London offers for Brazil lovers

September 1, 2016
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As part of our aim to visualise the Latin American culture in the UK and inspired by the Olympics 2016, Kamylla Caponi and I have decided to explore what London has to offer for Brazil lovers.

The truth is that there are so many events and attractions for those who are fascinated by this intriguing South American country. And we would love to share some experiences we’ve had, as well as recommendations that might be interesting to you.

Talk on politics

Brazil Crisis: What does it mean for the global left?

On 20th June, we attended a talk organised by the Red Pepper Magazine, the Latin America Bureau and the Practical Action Publishing. We were astonished by the richness of the information shared, as well as the engagement of the audience with the speakers throughout discussions.

Hilary Wainwright, Jan Rocha, Sue Branford, David Lehmann and Pedro Mendes Loureiro pointed out the reasons why Brazil has been facing so many challenges. It was mentioned what went wrong in the PT’s revolution, exploring PT’s strategy and highlighting the positive results of it too, for instance, improvements in the education system. In addition, they spoke about Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and the impact of the press on the Brazilian population, which act as an opinion-former. Also, they touched on the challenges that Michel Temer has ahead as the Acting President. Finally, they discussed the future of the left in Latin America, comparing Brazil’s situation with Argentina, Bolivia and Peru.

We, as Latin Americans, believe that hosting events like this in the London context is very important. We would love to see more of these kind of events hosted in Universities and creative culture hubs. This way, the engagement with young people can be more powerful in order to detonate different and new approaches to the problems and social injustices that happen in Central and South America. Also, Latin Americans would have an opportunity to act as important civic voices within the UK society.

Would you like to find out more about this talk? Access the complete talk on YouTube.

Exhibitions at Horniman Museum and Gardens

Favela: Joy and Pain in the City

Joy and Pain in the City is a photography exhibition on display at the Horniman Museum and Gardens within the Festival of Brazil Summer 2016. It started on 23rd April and will end on 18th September. This museum is located in South London, where a lot of Caribbean and Latin American communities are settled, particularly in the areas of Peckham and Elephant and Castle.

To begin with the Favela’s exhibition, one needs to mention that the images were developed by three young Brazilians photographers in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The term Favela has developed as an allusion to marginal, violent and insecure neighbourhoods. However, in the last 15 years, the crime and the indicators of violence had been decreasing massively. Yet since the World Cup in 2014 the national economy has been affected due to the massive investment that the government did and the cause in the loss of basic services of these marginalised populations leading to a new level of violence and disagreement with the government. This year with the Olympics, Brazil has been judged under the public eye. In this context, Rio is one of the most beautiful and problematic cities.

The conception of the Favela as an isolated place where anyone apart from the community can enter has been reinterpreted by the government itself, by the tourist and by the population. This leads to a process of confrontation between different points of view and powers. Since the Olympics were announced, Rio’s marginalised neighbourhoods are invaded by police and the war between them and local gangs is endless, leaving the innocent population with no tools to fight the problematic daily life situation. Although the story can be shown in a different way, it is important that the world sees it in a more human visual representation that takes into account the population as humans, not just numbers. In that sense, this display is a powerful tool of social representation.

The exhibition is based on The Observatory of the Favelas’s work in Maré (One of Rio’s biggest Favela) which was created in order to contribute to knowledge about the inhabitants of Rio and the city itself. The group intends to analyse the complexities of Social Urbanism (McGuirk, 2014) across different tools, from which photography is one of them.

Bira, Elisàngela and Adriano are the three photographers involved in this project who were born and raised within the Favelas in Rio. The photographs are trying to show a different aspect of the life in the Favelas, they are trying to break the stereotype of the poor slums population and showing traditional and daily life activities were people seem calm and peaceful within their social realities. As part of the exhibition, the curatorial then reinforces the idea of photography as an art from which reality is depicted to understand it and digest social injustices in and aesthetic way that can lead to a better understanding and hopefully activate an action in response of what is shown.

More information about the exhibition

There is also another exhibition about Art from Latin America, called Under the Same Sun at the South London Gallery until mid-September.

Fauna Brazil

We visited the Fauna Brazil exhibition at the beginning of August, which is another exhibition taking place at the Horniman Museum and Garden. Although we were let down by the size of the exhibition, the photographs by Joao Marcos Rosa are incredible and we ended up with the feeling of wanting much more.

This small exhibition curated by Alicia Bastos illustrates some wildlife species such as the jaguar, golden lancehead snake and giant otter that are threatened in Brazil. As you may know, this beautiful country is the most biologically diverse country on Earth. However, ecological challenges such as pollution, deforestation and climate change have significantly affected our ecosystems and there are now 967 wildlife species endangered. This exhibition brings worldwide awareness of the importance of acting now and supporting those who fight to help the wildlife species not only in Brazil but everywhere else.

Recommendations

Copacabana Beach

All Summer long, Copacabana Beach is recreating the best of Rio’s most famous beach on the London South Bank. They have 85 tonnes of sand and beautiful caipirinhas, which is the national cocktail of Brazil. Strongly recommended!

Brazil Day 2016

Would you like to visit a family friendly celebration dedicated to the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic athletes in Brazil? This event takes place in Trafalgar Square on 10th September. There will be samba music and a street carnival theme, while stalls selling traditional Brazilian food and refreshments will keep hungry punters happy. 😉

Visit the event Facebook page for more information.

We hope you have enjoyed our post and please comment on the things you are aware of that London offers for Brazil lovers!