Brazilian festival to get Jakarta waxing lyrical about country's charms

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 09/05/2007 2:17 PM

Camelia Pasandaran, Contributor, Jakarta

There's more to Brazil than soccer, samba and capoeira, says Brazilian Ambassador to Indonesia Edmundo Sussumu Fujita.

Over the past 54 years, he said Monday, ""Political and economic relations have been very well established. But ... if you ask a Brazilian `what do you know about Indonesia?' they will answer, Bali,"" Ambassador Fujita said.

This week, Jakartans can deepen their understanding of Brazilian culture. From Sept. 6-11, a range of activities will be held daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Bentara Budaya Jakarta in Central Jakarta to celebrate Brazil's 185th Independence Day.

If you are a fan of capoeiraa combination of martial arts, sport and danceyou should not miss the demonstrations by capoeira groups the International Sinha Bahia de Capoeira-Indonesia and Grupo de Capoeira, Mandinga Brasileira.

And you can learn Brazilian dances in the Beyond Samba session on Sept 9 at 11 a.m.

For those interested in Portuguese, Janaina Spitzbarth will be teaching Portuguese for beginners at the event. Spitzbarth has been living in Indonesia for years and teaches Portuguese to both Indonesian and foreigners.

Film screenings, music and dance performances and workshops will be held under the theme of ""A Walk Through Brazil"".

At the opening night on Aug. 5, Indonesian musicians Ade Simbolon and Binu Sukaman will perform works from both countries.

Exhibitions of photographs and handicrafts will also be displayed at Bentara Budaya.

Joao Paulo Barbosa will show his unique photos of Brazil. Photographers can also talk about their ideas with Barbosa at a discussion on Sept. 7 at 4 p.m.

Deusa Blmke, a Brazilian artist of German origin, will also exhibit her paintings.

Nine Brazilian movies will be screened throughout the week, from 1 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., highlighting the ethnically diverse culture of Brazil.

""We have more than one million people of Japanese descent,more than 8 million people of Arab descent and we have one of the largest groups of people of African blood outside Africa,"" Fujita said.

A seminar on Brazilian agribusiness will be held on Sept. 9 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Brazil is known as one of the world's largest producers of staple foods.

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