Brazilian City Celebrates 150 Years of Arab Presence

São Carlos, a town in the interior of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo, is promoting a series of activities in March to honor Arab immigration. The actions are part of the commemoration of the 150 years of the city, which has strong presence of Arab descendents.

Yesterday, March 13, the exhibition Amrik – The Arab Presence in South America was opened in the city. The exhibition may be visited up to March 22 at E1 block of the Engineering school of São Carlos, on Campus 1 of the University of São Paulo (USP).

The exhibition was an initiative of the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty) for the Summit of South American – Arab Countries, which took place in May 2005, in Brazilian capital Brasí­lia, and is being managed by the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe). It brings images by South American photographers who were invited to show aspects of the Arab presence in their countries. The city of São Carlos is calling the activities "Party of Nations: the contribution of Arab culture".

The city is also promoting a cycle of talks about Arab culture, which began on March 8 and ends March 28. At the beginning of the month, on March 2, a special session took place to honor Arab immigrants at the City's Legislative.

There were also activities like parties, handicraft fairs and presentations by singers of Arab music and belly dancers. Today, March 14, at 07 pm, another exhibition will be opened. The new exhibition will be called "The presence of Arab culture in São Paulo", and it will be held at the Cultural Center.

Anba