Jude Kelly London 2012

Nationwide British arts festival set for Brazil

A six-month nationwide series of events celebrating British culture is planned for Brazil from September 2012, according to a source at the Brazilian embassy in London.

The events are set to be curated by South Bank Centre chief Jude Kelly, and will include the cooperation of major British institutions including the British Museum, according to the embassy official.

The festival, part of a handover period between London and Rio between their respective Olympic Games, scheduled for 2012 and 2016 respectively, is set to be announced during a two-day British ministerial visit to Brazil planned later this month. The visit will see Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Universities Minister David Willetts travel to Rio and Brasilia to promote trade synergies, and will also see high-level meetings take place between the two governments regarding next year’s Games.

According to Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad, the series of cultural events running alongside next year’s Olympics, discussions were ongoing with Hunt to secure time to announce “a legacy” series of events to take place between the two Olympic Games.

“We are still agreeing the programme,” she said. “We hope Jeremy Hunt will be able to champion the discussions we began earlier this year. One of the legacies of London’s Olympiad, we hope, will be a series of events that will bring Brazilian and British artists together under the Olympiad banner and continuing to 2016”.

Needless to say, the news has been greeted with excitement by London’s Brazilian expat community.

“From my experience, apart from football and carnival, there will have to be discussions regarding capoeira, which in Brazil is quite peripheral, but which Londoners go crazy for,” said Vicente Lou, editor of London-based Brazilian publication Leros. “Further to that, there is so much the delegation should experience, from forró, a northeastern Brazilian dance, and samba-reggae fusion. We have a new culture minister, Ana de Holanda, sister of the famous composer Chico Buarque de Holanda, who started earlier this year, who no doubt will have strong opinions regarding any collaboration”.

Brazil and Britain to link London and Rio through arts and culture

A six-month program of special events is being organised by Jude Kelly, head of arts institution the Southbank Centre, according to Rob Sharp of The Independent. Key British cultural organisations including the British Museum will participate in the initiative, which will run from September 2012, following directly on from the 2012 Olympics in what is described as the handover period between London and Rio. Simon Tarmo is an Australian journalist and economist who has been living in Brazil since 2007. He is currently based in Belo Horizonte, but has also lived in Sao Paulo and travelled extensively throughout the country. Simon is involved in a wide range of activities promoting Australia-Brazil relations, particularly in the sport business, major events, higher education and wine sectors. He speaks fluent Portuguese and has a strong network of contacts throughout the country. sttarmo@gmail.

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