Brasil Observer #41 - EN

OU VIRE PARA LER EM PORTUGUÊS

LONDON EDITION

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ISSN 2055-4826

AUGUST/2016

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

CONTENTS

AUGUST/2016

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King’s College London debates Brazil’s future

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra arrives in London

OBSERVATIONS

Is a montlhy publication of ANAGU UK UM LIMITED founded by

CULT

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Marco Aurélio Nogueira on Brazil’s political crisis Carolina Gottardo on Latin American migrant women

Rio 2016, cinema, music... with Brazilian touch

GUEST COLUMNISTS

CULTURAL TIPS

Ana Toledo Operational Director ana@brasilobserver.co.uk Guilherme Reis Editorial Director guilherme@brasilobserver.co.uk

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Jean Wyllys, Brazilian congressman and human rights activist

Franko Figueiredo on wabi-sabi philosophy Heloisa Righetto on feminism meanings

COLUNISTAS

Roberta Schwambach Financial Director roberta@brasilobserver.co.uk

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English Editor Shaun Cumming shaun@investwrite.co.uk

What’s the legacy of Rio 2016 Olympic Games?

Rafa Maciel explores some curiosities of London

INTERVIEW

REPORT

LONDON BY

Contributors Andrew Linghorn Franko Figueiredo Gabriela Lobianco Heloisa Righetto Nathália Braga Wagner de Alcântara Aragão

Arte da Capa João Lelo www.leloart.com

Personal Archive

João Lelo is a self-taught artist born in Rio de Janeiro, best known for his urban art works, which he has done since 1999. His works include murals, paintings, drawings, prints, videos and recently, sculptures and objects.

The works of João Lelo are characterized by the composition of animals and people, chosen for having some interesting symbolism, and that can be portrayed synthetically, represented by the interaction of plateaus shapes, textures and patterns, some created and developed by the artist, other reused from some material found by him.

His works have been displayed in exhibitions and publications in Brazil, Argentina, USA, Germany, Spain, Austria, Greece and South Africa. And his murals can be seen around the world, especially in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, where he currently has his studio.

SUPPORT:

The cover art for this edition was produced by João Lelo for the Mostra BO project developed by the Brasil Observer in partnership with Pigment and with institutional support from the Embassy of Brazil. Each of the 11 editions of this newspaper in 2016 is featuring art on its cover produced by Brazilian artists selected through open call.

In December, all of the pieces will be displayed at the Embassy’s Sala Brasil exhibition.

Layout and Graphic Design Jean Peixe ultrapeixe@gmail.com

Printer St Clements press (1988 ) Ltd, Stratford, London mohammed.faqir@stclementspress.com 10.000 copies Distribution Emblem Group Ltd. To advertise comercial@brasilobserver.co.uk 020 3015 5043 To subscribe contato@brasiloberver.co.uk To suggest an article and contribute editor@brasilobserver.co.uk Online 074 92 65 31 32 brasilobserver.co.uk issuu.com/brasilobserver facebook.com/brasilobserver twitter.com/brasilobserver Brasil Observer is a monthly publication of the ANAGU UK MARKETING E JORNAIS UN LIMITED (company number: 08621487) and is not responsible for the concepts expressed in signed articles. People who do not appear in this expedient are not authorized to speak on behalf of this publication. The contents published in this newspaper may be reproduced if properly credited to the author and to the Brasil Observer.

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

Observations

King’s College London debates what’s next for Brazil Geraldo Cantarino

Researchers and students from the Brazil Institute and Dickson Poon School of Law of King’s College London hosted the symposium Brazil, What’s Next? From the Turmoil to the Near Future, to explore what the future holds for a country facing numerous challenges and opportunities.

In the midst of Rio Olympic Games, Brazil is troubled by deep economic recession with high unemployment; political instability with a presidential impeachment process and an interim government; large-scale investigations into corruption; urban and rural violence; and a Zika virus outbreak, among other pressing issues. The three-day symposium brought together academics and practitioners to discuss the country’s current situation and its outlook for the near future, including challenges for democracy, human rights, culture, development and economy.

The symposium opened with the screening of the film Retratos de Identificação (Identification Photos),

by Anita Leandro, a documentary about police identification photos taken after arrests of guerrillas during the country’s military dictatorship.

The following two days were packed with eight panels presented by more than 20 students, researchers and leading specialists including from universities in Germany and Spain. Welcomed by Professor Anthony Pereira, Director of King’s Brazil Institute, special guests included Professor Maurício Dieter from the University of São Paulo, journalist Jan Rocha, former

BBC and Guardian correspondent in Brazil, Professor Carolina Matos from City University London and economist Marcos Felipe Casarin, Head of Latin America Macro Research at Oxford Economics.

Ambassador of Brazil to the UK, Eduardo dos Santos, delivered the keynote to the Democracy & Human Rights session, chaired by Dr Octavio Ferraz from The Dickson Poon School of Law, followed by the keynote speaker Jean Wyllys, Brazilian congressman and human rights activist, who came from Brazil especially for the event which attracted an audience of more than 200 people (read the interview with him on page 10).

The Brasil Observer attended the two main debates and can conclude, first of all, that the Brazil Institute of King’s College is doing a great job to boost the understanding of our country in the UK. Regarding the discussions that were held, it’s fair to say that Brazil has a long way to go in order to become a consolidated democracy.

It’s true that Brazil has never experienced such a large period of democracy as it has now. But the end of the military dictatorship (1964-85) didn’t eliminate the authoritarian vices of the Brazilin state.

Thus we can conclude that we left an authoritarian dictatorship to enter an authoritarian democracy, as some panellist said during the symposium. In order to change that, Brazil needs to tackle the problem of inequality that affects all aspects of Brazilians’ life, since educational and economic opportunities to the democratization of the media and the operation of Justice and its security apparatus.

From an economic and development point of view, it’s a consensus that Brazil needs to balance the books in order to reduce its debt, but it would be an illusion to think the country could reach a more sustainable growth without progressive tax reform, for instance.

What’s next for Brazil? It’s hard to forecast any meaningful improvement without a political reform that brings Brazilian Congress closer to what the Brazilian society really is. It’s not yet the case.

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

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Guest

Normalization with little enthusiasm

Paulo Pinto/AGPT

Demonstration in favour of democracy in São Paulo

The Brazilians society seems numbed, and to be waiting for acts that will help it repositions and eventually reaches accords again with politics and politicians

By Marco Aurélio Nogueira g

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After reaching its peak during the days preceding the decision of the Brazilian Senate to preliminarily push aside Dilma Rousseff on May 12, the “counter-coup” movement that had presented the president as a victim lost momentum. Today, it is maintained for convenience. The slogans “Temer out” and “I do not recognise the coup government” were used with the aim to damage and delegitimise the interim government that took power, but they didn’t manage to inspire public debate or political life. The movement wasn’t based on realistic analysis and trivialised the idea of the “coup”, emptying it of meaning. Their slogans began to take on the sole purpose of acting as background music for some acts of protest and meetings to write up demands.

Gradually, Brazilian public opinion, the country’s politicians and even the parties that comprised Dilma Rousseff ’s government – starting with the PT – were bowing to circumstance and to political reality, which are setting another course for and perspective towards the country’s democratic governance and political institutionality.

After a jittering start, in which it showed little skill and formed an inexpressive ministerial cabinet, full of individuals s

uspected of corruption and accused of obstructing justice, the government of interim president Michel Temer achieved modicum stability, consolidated on July 17, with the election of the new president of the Chamber of Deputies. Chosen by a qualified majority, the centre-right deputy Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ) not only replaced the departed Eduardo Cunha (enveloped in numerous processes of corruption), but exposed crony parliamentarians (who make up an independent bloc together with defectors from major parties) to a new dynamic, in which the parties that opposed the Dilma government (PSDB, DEM, PPS, PSB) stand out with the PMDB, Temer’s party.

The House election also revealed the PT and other leftist parties’ operational difficulties and political errors. They were not only defeated but also took on a lesser role, without a political project to serve as a guide. Altogether, the interim government won a more consistent base.

The impeachment of Dilma Rousseff is not finished. It is expected that her definitive removal will not be submitted to vote on the Senate before the end of August. Although it is still within the realm of possibility that Dilma could be acquitted, the current political calculations

Marco Aurélio Nogueira is professor of Political Theory and Scientific Coordinator of International Studies and Analysis, São Paulo State University-UNESP. This article was originally published at www. opendemocracy.net, and edited by Brasil Observer.

grant her definitive removal practically as given. Public opinion seems to hold that a presidential change will mark the beginning of a new phase.

According to research conducted by the Datafolha, 50% of Brazilians believe that it would be in the country’s interest for Temer to continue in office until 2018, while 32% hold that it would be a good idea for Dilma to return. Although Temer’s time in office has not received enthusiastic reviews, after two months in office, his popular approval rating is higher than Dilma before she was removed. Research also shows that Dilma’s definitive removal is supported by 58% of Brazilians, while 35% oppose it. Regardless of their position on the matter, 71% believe that Dilma will be definitively removed from the presidency, while 22% believe that she won’t.

Other researches has shown more important data: the majority of Brazilians think it would be better to hold a new election, which in practice means they are favourable to both Dilma and Temer to be impeached.

Normality and routine seem, however, to return to Brasilia, with a new government pushing through many obstacles and difficulties.

It is a return to normality with no room for euphoria or statements of admiration. Society seems numbed, and to be waiting for acts that will help it repositions and eventually reaches accords again with politics and politicians. Citizens look to the Planalto – the executive and legislative branches – with disdain.

There are not reasons to celebrate: functional democracy, its rites and institutions, were respected, but the system does not show itself to be agile enough to respond to societal demands.

The interim government keeps the focus on the formation of a broad parliamentary base and the recovery of the economy, asserting the idea of bringing back “confidence”. It believes that, with this process, it will be able to obtain approval for Dilma’s definitive removal, and from there, reorganise its support, its ministries and its policies.

If the plan will succeed or not remains to be seen. The government continues – and it doesn’t seem this will change – with many sharp edges and illdefined profiles: has not yet been “rounded out” and might never be harmonious. If it is able to go beyond the final test of finishing with Dilma, it is likely to continue to fluctuate as an irregular

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

convex polygon, powered by an unstable base, inexpressive ministers, by the difficulties of coordinating a society without axis, the lack of competent leaders and articulators in Congress, by the pressures of political cronyism. Traditional political practice is under fire: delegitimised by society and fought by Operation Car Wash. Ongoing investigations keep politicians in state of suspense, threatening the situation and the opposition. This is an independent variable, which cannot be politically controlled.

The recovery of the economy itself – with the return of better indicators of employment, lower inflation and interest rates, the easing of the fiscal crisis and return to growth – is not certain, as it will always depend on what happens in the international arena. The interim government put together an economic team attuned to the market, but their reforms and adjustments designed to overcome the crisis must be discussed and approved at the political level, where the obstacles are not insignificant.

There is, beyond this, the overall situation of the country: its extreme social inequalities, its ineffective public systems and policies, particularly in the field of education, healthcare and housing, its infrastructure and productivity deficits. All this reduces economic competitiveness, raises production costs and leaves the population without adequate social protections and without basic care services.

In the new government’s favour, however, are the size of the domestic market and the strength of the Brazilian economy, the strategic importance of the country in the world and the population’s willingness for sacrifice, which continues although the disarticulation and passivity of the majority. The political crisis itself may contribute to the government taking action, to the extent that it may come to compel the government to grow through selective negotiations, favouring firstly one, then another of the more than 30 political parties, without being categorially disliked by the opposition, which shows itself today badly structured and in disorder.

These are relative advantages. The state and society disjuncture will never favour democracy, especially if it continues over the long term. Both the head and the body of the nation must feedback into each other. If, in the current moment, there is a new political climate in Brazil, what emerges as the main challenge at the moment is to know how the country will come to the forthcoming presidential elections, in late 2018.

Will there be some virtuous movement to reform politicians’ and their parties’ practice and culture, while helping to reduce parliamentary fragmentation, cronyism, the high cost of election campaigns, citizens’ passivity towards the realm of decision making? What effective innovations will the new government bring? Will it bring better government procedures, more efficient administrative structure, new habits and attitudes that aid in guiding state conduct and improving it? Not in the neoliberal sense, that

is, by cuts that bleed social programmes and policies, but by eliminating waste, sumptuous expenses, privileges and concessions to those who are already socially privileged? Will democracy again see more substantive, higher quality energy, so that political activity is valued and the public debate includes different strands of opinion? None of these questions has a categorical answer today.

A small but important test will take place during the municipal elections that will be held in October this year. In these, the main parties will compete for voters and demonstrate, or not, their capacity for renewal. Candidates will have to adapt to the new electoral rules, which restrict campaign financing and reduce radio and television advertising timeslots, which are guaranteed by law in Brazil. The population itself will demonstrate its willingness to support new proposals and critically examine the commitments and promises of the different candidates.

The current Brazil is a society that cannot coexist with governments that are unilaterally market-orientated or that implement policies that are not aimed at a better distribution of income, justice and opportunities. The country calls for a renewal of political practices and government guidelines. It can continue to accept that it is not forthcoming in the short term, but it does not show itself willing to wait too long. Dynamic, heterogeneous societies wanting equal rights and opportunities as Brazil does do not tend to be particularly tolerant or always proceed rationally.

Of the several issues for which we have no clear answer in Brazil, one must be highlighted: which path will the parties follow to manage the effects of judicial investigations and recover their links with the forces of the nation? Who will survive and recover themselves in order to block the germinations of an “anti-politics” that threatens to contaminate the population? What kind of left will emerge from the crisis of the PT? So far, the party that ruled the country for the past 13 years on a social reform programme ticket did not show themselves to be prepared to carry out a theoretical and cultural critical evaluation of their performance. With the exception of a few isolated voices (such as former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Tarso Genro), the PT is still paralysed, painting itself as the victim of the beatings and ruses of selfish elites and concentration of the media, without exercising any effort to look within, analysing the society and the state that have established themselves in Brazil and, from there, to develop a new political project for the party.

The left’s paralysis divests Brazilian democracy of a protagonist who could make a difference. And it leaves the interim government – as the government after the final vote on the impeachment of Dilma – without a necessary counterweight, which would be essential to make the country stronger by 2018. The game is open, ready to be played by those who prove themselves to be qualified, both theoretically and politically.

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Professor at School of Geography, Queen Mary University of London

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

Tom Evans/Crown Copyright

Theresa May enters Number 10

The case for Latin American migrant women What do the Brexit vote and the appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister mean for Latin American migrant women?

By Carolina Gottardo g

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Carolina Gottardo is Director of Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS) – www.lawrs.org.uk

The Brexit vote is likely to have a negative impact for Latin American migrant women. As illustrated by our recently launched report Towards Visibility, many Latin American migrant women have EU passports. The vote has increased the level of anxiety and uncertainty that many of us feel as migrants in a country where politics have been tarnished by a negative rhetoric on migration and the actual erosion of migrant’s rights. It’s important now more than ever to continue fighting for our rights.

Another worrying effect has been the serious increase in cases of racism and sexism that have followed the Brexit vote. At LAWRS (Latin American Women’s Rights Service) we have been receiving many reports of racial hatred that Latin American women and girls living their ordinary lives at work or at school, have been victims of. This did not happen often before.

However the increase in racial and sexual hatred is alarming.

Will the appointment of a female Prime Minister change things for the better? Perhaps not. Ms May has been one of the longest serving Home Ministers that the UK has had. She has implemented few positive contributions on certain areas of policy. However she

has an appalling record on others when considering migrant women rights.

On the less negative side, May has taken an interest in the area of violence against women and girls introducing an action plan and responding to the issue of honour based violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and others. However, taking an interest on women’s rights is far from enough considering that rights apply to all women regardless of their race or immigration status. It’s not enough to have a society where some can exercise their rights and others can’t. Women’s rights and survivor’s rights should always be above immigration control.

Theresa May is the woman that brought the Modern Slavery Act and she has been committed with the fight against human trafficking (although the bill has many gaps and loopholes and does not address the endemic labour exploitation that affects so many Latin American migrant women).

Appallingly, Theresa May has been one of the fiercest opponents of migrant’s rights. She was the woman behind the “go home” vans that caused community tensions and breached migrant’s rights in such a flagrant way. She has also encouraged an official “hostile”

policy against migrants and is behind the Immigration Act 2016 that criminalises undocumented migrants and converts landlords and health authorities into “de facto” immigration control officers. Even following the Brexit vote during her campaign for leadership, Ms May was using EU migrant’s rights as part of the negotiation that she would be happy to bargain with.

Theresa May is a woman but she is by no means a feminist and let alone one that cares about the rights of every woman irrespective of their race, physical ability, age or immigration status.

It is positive to have a female leader in male dominated politics, but Theresa May is not the one that is going to respond to women and girls’ needs or help us to exercise our rights. On the contrary, she will be very happy to reduce migration as much as she can and to bargain with our rights as migrants in the UK. What we needs is a female leader that is also a feminist and that believes that women rights are human rights no matter what and that they apply to all women and girls in the UK completely irrespective of their immigration status. Is such a universal principle so hard to understand?

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

Interview

They tolerate me because I have intellectual strength Brazilian Congressman Jean Wyllys speaks to the Brasil Observer about impeachment, the left and the LGBT struggle

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By Guilherme Reis

At 12:35pm on Thursday 21st July Brazilian Congressman Jean Wyllys entered the lobby of the Embassy of Brazil in London. He was slightly delayed, so he apologized to the reporter who was waiting for him. The tight schedule of the politician meant that he was due to have lunch at the residence of Ambassador Eduardo dos Santos in less than an hour.

We sat in a room on the third floor of the Embassy at number 14-16 Cockspur Street. Turning on the recorder gave the signal that the interview, which would last about 20 minutes, had begun.

Elected and re-elected federal deputy for PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party) to represent the state of Rio de Janeiro, Jean Wyllys is certainly among the most popular politicians in Brazil. Proof of this was given on both occasions that he spoke to the public during his visit to the British capital – first to discuss the movie Rat Fever, by Claudio Assis, in a session held at the Embassy, then to talk about human rights at a symposium organized

by King’s College London. The hecklers invariably interrupted his speech and that of his interpreter. And the many selfies with the audience after the close of the debate challenge the notion that people have lost faith in politics and politicians.

But Jean Wyllys obviously is not unanimously accepted. The only Brazilian politician to be openly gay, Jean is a staunch defender of human rights, particularly the LGBT cause, and is part of what he calls the “4G left”. In a country like Brazil, one can imagine the kind of opposition he gets from all sides.

Back on the third floor of the Brazilian embassy, the interview begins with the final judgment of President Dilma Rousseff ’s impeachment, scheduled for the end of August in the Senate. “I think there is a possibility for President Dilma to return [from suspension],” says Jean Wyllys.

Jean Wyllys cites the last Datafolha poll, which revealed that 62% of Brazilians supported the bringing forward of the presidential election, scheduled for 2018. “This data can influence the senators. In addition to this popular desire for new elections is the fact that Dilma was cleared in the case of fiscal pedaling [fiscal manoeuvres] by the Senate, and by the Federal Public Ministry and the Federal Accountability Office, which at first had condemned Dilma but now says there wasn’t any fiscal pedaling.”

Last month, the prosecutor in the Public Ministry of the Federal District, Ivan Marx, who was investigating whether the Dilma Rousseff government had committed a crime by failing to repay debts to public banks, the so-called fiscal pedaling, closed the proceedings stating that the acts were not criminal, but constituted improper conduct.

“Dilma has to return in the name of democracy. Democratic rules were broken and need to be restored. There must be an apology to her and she may decide to call new elections, call for a plebiscite, to consult the population and bring forward the elections,” says Jean Wyllys.

The bringing forward of the presidential elections, however, is highly unlikely.

According to the Federal Constitution, direct presidential elections can only be brought forward if the president and vice president roles become vacant before two years of their mandate has passed – in the case of Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer, that would be before the beginning of 2017. New elections could also be called if both are impeached or the Supreme Electoral Tribunal decides, still in 2016, to cancel the election because of irregularities in the 2014 campaign.

Another way would be to change the Federal Constitution to allow early elections, but this would depend on the

support of three-fifths of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate with two votes in each house – a difficult political fact to imagine these days. The calling of a plebiscite depends on less support – a simple majority of Congress – but that would not have the power to force early elections, only to express the will of the people.

4G LEFT Moving on, Jean Wyllys was questioned as to why the left-wing parties, when in power, ruled as right-wing parties. “I do not think they rule as the right. There is a distinction between being in opposition and being in government. Governments are governments for everyone, so somehow a party needs to give up some part of its program. In Brazil, we have the so-called ‘presidential coalition’ where the president needs a wide base in Congress to govern well. Being a system funded by commercial corporations, it is obvious that the PT [Workers Party] had to stick to the modus operandi of the Brazilian political system. And with that the party became involved in anti-republican practices and corruption schemes that were already there. It was not PT who invented the corrupt practices.

The Brazilian political system has always been shrouded in corruption schemes that have more to do with the distinction between public and private interests, because the election campaigns are financed by large commercial corporations.”

And what about the left in this scenario? “The PT is not the only left-wing party. PT is part of the left. I think it’s unfair to blame all of the left-wing for all the mistakes and betrayals of the PT; we need to make that distinction.”

“We are living at a moment of disadvantage for the left from the point of view of participation in the system,

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

LGBT IN BRAZIL From January to July this year, 173 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people were victims of hate crime in Brazil, the equivalent of one death every 29 hours. In 2015, there were 319 deaths. In the past four years, 1,600. The data were collected by Grupo Gay da Bahia (Gay Group of Bahia), one of the few organizations that provide information on crimes motivated by LGBTfobia in the country. The numbers, however, may be even greater because there is no federal law in the country requiring the police officers to register crimes motivated by LGBTfobia.

In Brazil, gay marriage has legally existed since 2013, when the National

Council of Justice issued a resolution stating that all the country’s registry offices should carry out marriages between people of the same gender. But the decision does not have the same force of law and can be challenged by judges.

Still, it is increasingly common to see gays kissing in the Brazilian soap operas, as well as same-sex couples represented in TV commercials.

“Being LGBT in Brazil is still not easy.

And all the advances we have made in terms of visibility and organization have depended on ourselves, we have made these advances. If advertising agencies now make room for us, recognizing us as a niche, if the TV recognizes us as an audience and so on it is not because the market and television are good guys. They made concessions because of our pressure; they gave way under the pressure of the LGBT movement, which organized itself politically. Now, in Brazil, the increasing visibility of the LGBT community generates a reaction of the same proportion. There is a lot of violence against LGBT people, the number of murders resulting from homophobia and transphobia is increasing – or gaining visibility thanks to new technologies and information,” says Jean Wyllys.

And how is it to be a homosexual congressman? “It is not the easiest task to be an openly gay parliamentarian in a Congress with a large majority formed by heterosexual men, white and rich. The few homosexuals there are in the closet, so there is no interest. When I entered the first term it was more difficult because of all the jokes. I stuck my foot in the door and they had to at least contain themselves. They tolerated me because I have intellectual strength, I have arguments, and it’s not easy to argue with me, I’m not a caricature. I am a thorn in the throat”.

Before the recorder was turned off, moving to the car waiting for Jean Wyllys outside the embassy, the deputy answers a question from Emerson Zanette, a reader who wants to know how he deals with the threats received on social networks.

“I don’t walk with security guards, I don’t do anything differently, despite the threats, because I think the role of threats is simply to spread fear and make me go away. So I behave like the French respond to terrorist threats: occupy the streets to show we are not afraid”.

And what about political ambitions?

Does he ever think about running for the office of president? “I cannot say that I will not. We cannot predict the future and there may be specific circumstances where they put my name forward for president. But it’s not something I aspire to; I cannot imagine myself as president.

I don’t even imagine myself being a federal deputy for much longer.”

The car door opens and there is no time for anything else. Jean Wyllys goes to the giant wheel of Brazilian politics. And bus number 12 approaches the point, hastening the pace of him who holds the recorder.

Geraldo Cantarino

but it doesn’t mean that the left is dead.

It is a time to renew the left`s assumptions. This disadvantage has to do with the triumph of neoliberalism, accompanied by a conservative wave. It has to do with the last renewal of capitalism,” Jean Wyllys adds.

But how can we explain the conservative dominance even after the economic crisis of 2008? “To quote the philosopher Jacques Derrida, the plutocracy, neoliberals, economic elites, that is, the financial system has the ideological apparatus that build people’s imagination. People are infected by the neoliberal ideology of meritocracy, the free market idea, minimum state interference, that you build your own wealth. This is a fallacy because people do not start from the same place.

Speaking of free market and liberalism would be beautiful if everyone started from the same place. We cannot erase the colonial past that affects us, the impact of slavery, all the disadvantages that were produced, not to mention other disadvantages that come from physical disabilities, the gender vulnerabilities. Women are at a disadvantage compared to men because they were excluded from the system of representation and voting for a long time. Homosexuals have disadvantages. All this distorts the liberal system.

It is sad that the middle classes adopted this idea [neoliberal]. They adopted the minimum state speech when in fact it would not be in their interest.”

What should be done? “First we have to correct our mistakes, the mistakes of left-wing parties that came to power.

These parties have to carry out some self-criticism and also in their relationship to conciliation with the economic elites.

We have an anachronistic left, with their heart and mind in 1917, which does not review the errors of real socialism, which sacrificed individual freedom.”

“A 4G left doesn’t have to accept capitalism, but does have to consider individual freedoms. We have to construct a socialist management of capitalism, since revolution is not possible, as in the Nordic countries. We need to think about the welfare state. We need to put a brake on the market, and this can only be done with a state that is fully involved.”

Jean Wyllys speaks at King’s College London

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

REPORT

What to expect from the Rio Olympics’ legacy For the first time the Olympic Games will take place in South America, at a time when Brazil is undergoing one of its most serious political and economical crises.

What will be left?

By Wagner de Alcântara Aragão

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The Rio 2016 Olympic Games take place between 5 and 21 of August in a very different mood from seven years ago, when Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the host city by the International Olympic Committee. If in 2009 the country experienced a process of economic growth and social development, emerging as one of the most prosperous regions of the planet for investment, today an aura of pessimism replaces the utopia.

For the first time the Olympics will be held in South America. But, affected by a severe political crisis that has paralyzed the country since last year and an economic recession that has increased unemployment and reduced national income, the population hasn’t shown excitement with the event.

It is likely, however, that the start of the Games will soften the heart of

a considerable part of the nation. It is part of the Brazilians’ nature to distinguish situations, separate problems from good moments. The trend is that there is a warm welcome, such as in the 2014 World Cup. The legacy expected from the Rio Olympics can be divided into at least two sets. The first is directly related to the purpose of the Games, sports. Is Brazil prepared to do well during the competitions? Has the country understood the importance of sport not only as a commercial product, but also as a tool for education, health and inclusion?

The other relates to the cost-benefit: will the amount spent be offset by job creation and boost economic activities such as tourism, for example?

Will the Games infrastructure be used later? Were the interventions on ur-

ban mobility and revitalization, which required expropriations of families, made in the service of the community or private interests?

IN SPORT Brazil intends to complete its best campaign in the history of the Olympic Games, finishing in the top ten in the medals table. One cannot expect, however, an overwhelming performance. The country is far from being a sports power, although it has made significant advances in the previous Olympic cycles. However, recent investments indicate a stronger development in the area, and show greater willingness of the government to concentrate efforts manly on the basis of sport.

For over ten years, for example,

the government established the Bolsa Atleta program, financial aid that benefits both athletes in training as well as high-performance competitors.

The program ended with a recurring problem: talent athletes that needed to give up on sports activities because they had to work to make their lives.

Before the Bolsa Atleta, government support was sporadic.

The latest edition of the Pan American Games (in 2015 in Toronto, Canada) demonstrated the relevance of the program. Seven out of ten Brazilian athletes who competed in the Pan American were beneficiaries of the Bolsa Atleta. Also noteworthy was the performance of the Armed Forces and state and public companies such as Furnas, Eletrobrás, Petrobrás, Correios, Caixa Econômica and the Bank of Brazil in sponsoring teams. Since 2007,

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

Roberto Castro/ME

Brazil has maintained the third position in the overall medals table of the Pan American Games (Rio 2007, Guadalajara 2011 and Toronto 2015).

Besides financial support to athletes and teams, there is the legacy of sports infrastructure built to host competitions. They are training centres, gyms, arenas, water parks and other spaces that give the country material conditions for the training of athletes, as well as the realization of high performance events. It is true that these facilities are concentrated mostly in Rio de Janeiro, which creates an inequality.

There is, however, an important legacy outside the city. In Santos, in the State of São Paulo, investments to house foreign delegations of judo and swimming, for example, will leave facilities in these activities. But it is in the state capital which is perhaps the most iconic heritage of the Olympic Games in Rio: the Paralympic Centre.

The Paralympic Centre of São Paulo has 95,000 square meters of built area and is named as one of the most modern in the world. According to the Ministry of Sport and the Secretary of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the State of São Paulo, the centre “follows the concept of countries that have important results in adapted sports, such as Ukraine, China and South Korea, and is one of four major centres existing in the world.” It’s the one that houses the largest number of modes – 15 in total.

URBAN MOBILITY

Inauguration of the Olympic rings on Copacabana beach

The Games will leave some marks on the urban infrastructure of Rio de Janeiro. One of the most significant should be on mobility. The competitions are divided into four areas - Barra da Tijuca, Deodoro, Copacabana and Maracana – distant, in some cases, tens of kilometres from each other.

This required investment in public transport and opening and revitalization of public spaces.

Not everything, however, came out as promised. Seen as essential for the Games and cited by authorities as the main legacy, the extension of the underground Line 4 was not completed in time. Full delivery of the line extension has been postponed to 2018.

Partially, it must be working during the days of competition, but only for

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the public with tickets for the Games.

The same will occur with the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Transolímpica between Deodoro and Barra da Tijuca.

The BRT Transbrasil (Deodoro to City Center) is not ready.

The emphasis on investment in BRT over modal transport was also questioned. The BRT Transcarioca, for example, opened for the 2014 World Cup, connecting the Tom Jobim International Airport to the West Zone, two years later is already marked by overcrowding buses and excess vehicles.

The expansion of the underground, which has greatest capacity and speed, was minimal. A LRV extension was implemented, but goes through a short path between the revitalized port area and the coach station – serves more as sightseeing than for urban public transport. There weren’t more significant investments in the rail system – only timely interventions to account for the increased demand in the two -week of the Olympics.

routes, for example) that caused removal of families occupying irregular areas. Movements fighting for housing and social rights condemned the withdrawal of residents on behalf of a need for legalization.

There are a lot of doubts around the actual costs to enable the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Corruption, overpricing works and suspicious contractual amendments are old practices in Brazil, but recently gained greater visibility and impact. Thus, the collective suspicion around any work or investment – with concrete reasons or not – has contributed to diminished excitement of Brazilians toward the Olympics.

Failure to comply with promises and deadlines reinforces that suspicion. Besides the unfinished works on urban mobility, actions highlighted by the authorities as a legacy in the environmental area were not implemented. Investments in sanitation for the de-pollution of Guanabara Bay, for example, did not materialize.

DISTRUST

PUBLIC SECURITY

The LRV, by the way, became mascot of a significant change brought by the Games: the revitalization of the port area, on the banks of Guanabara Bay. From Mauá Square to the coach station, in place of abandoned sheds what you see today is the emergence of cultural (such as Museum of Tomorrow) and business enterprises.

The elevated Perimetral Avenue was overthrown and aired the region.

In recent months, the area turned into a tourist spot; in the Olympic days, shows and other activities will be held there – which should be incorporated into the routine of the city after the Olympics.

The methods that enabled the revitalization, however, received criticism.

According to social movements, the government, in favour of real estate speculation, promoted a kind of gentrification, making it impossible to stay in the region for low-income residents who were forced to migrate to the outskirts of the city.

Real estate speculation also guided works in the west zone, in the Barra da Tijuca area where the Olympic Village is siutated, which was built by private developers at the cost of public urban interventions (expropriations to open

In public security, the expected legacy is heavily criticized by social organizations. For those who make this criticism, in the name of ensuring order, security forces adopt the brutality and violation of rights. For Amnesty International, Brazil repeated blunders in public security policy and in the use of police force, which became even more explicit in major events like the World Cup in 2014.

According to the organization, in 2009, when Rio was chosen to host the Olympics, the authorities promised to improve security for the entire population. However, over this period, 2,500 people were killed by police in the city and justice was obtained in a minimum number of cases.

According to official information, 65,000 policemen and 20,000 soldiers will make up the security force during the Olympic Games. According to Amnesty International, the plan provides for the sending of this contingent raids and operations in slums, which in the past resulted in an extensive list of human rights violations, whose investigations are still underway.

According to official sources, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games cost R$39 billion. This is equivalent to what Brazil pays per month in debt interest.

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PEDALING THE EFFORTS AND CHALLENGES OF SAO PAULO AND LONDON IN TRANSFORMING URBAN MOBILITY WITH BICYCLES

T R A E H T F O STATE

TOP BRAZILIAN BUSINESSES VISIT ADVANCED RESEARCH CENTRE IN THE UK WHERE PARTNERSHIP POSSIBILITIES EXIST

BRAZIL’S PUZZLE On the streets, people react to austerity and corruption ELZA FIÚZA/AGÊNCIA BRASIL

BEAUTIFUL GAME A humorous vision for the Brazil vs. Chile friendly in London RAFAEL RIBEIRO/CBF

STAGNANT ECONOMY To reassume growth, Brazil needs increased investments REPRODUCTION

EMICIDA EXCLUSIVE Brazilian rapper hits London and speaks to Brasil Observer DIVULGATION

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

São Paulo Symphony Orchestra hits Europe

Concerts bring Brazilian flair to London, Edinburgh and Lucerne

By Nathália Braga

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This month, Europe will host performances by the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra – one of the most prestigious orchestras from South America. The passage through the old world starts at the Edinburgh International Festival, on August 22. On the 24th, London receives the orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, with two concerts on the same night. On the 26th, the orchestra goes to Switzerland for the Lucerne Festival.

Presentations focus on Brazilian music.

Altogether, 100 musicians will be present at the concerts. The group is quite diverse, with most formed by Brazilians, but also featuring musicians from 17 different nationalities. To represent the music and culture of Brazil at a time of political and economic instability is very important. “The São Paulo Symphony Orchestra is an ambassador for Brazil and showcases the world class level of music making going on in the country. At this time it is critical to represent the country in a positive, sophisticated light. We are so proud to be able to represent Brazil on the world stage,” says the music director and conductor Marin Alsop.

On August 22, it will be the first time the orchestra will have played in Scotland,

during the Edinburgh International Festival. The presentation will highlight the composers Villa Lobos, Christopher Bell and Shostakovich.

On the 24th, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, there will be two concerts within the BBC Proms, the first at 19h and the second at 22h15. The first presentation will be the debut of Brazilian composer Marlos Nobre in the UK, with his own composition Kabbalah, plus a piano concert with the Venezuelan Gabriela Monteiro.

In the second event of the evening, the Late Night Concert at 22h15, members of the São Paulo Symphonic Jazz Orchestra will join the São Paulo Symphonic Orchestra in a presentation to celebrate the Brazilian popular music of the last 100 years, with compositions of Pixinguinha, Dorival Caymmi and Tom Jobim.

Tickets for the show at 19h are sold out, but you can try to buy at the door of the Royal Albert Hall on the day of presentation. Tickets are limited and will be available on a first come first serve basis. Admission is £6 with a guaranteed entry to watch the presentation stand. The event will also be televised on BBC Four. Tickets for the

Late Night Concert are still available on the BBC Proms website.

It will be the second time that the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra takes part in the BBC Proms. The first time was in 2012, which was also the first participation of a Brazilian orchestra at the festival. Since then, the orchestra gained even more visibility and has been invited to events throughout Europe. “I am very proud to have a longstanding relationship with the BBC and the Proms, having appeared there regularly since the early 2000s. The Proms was very curious about my new relationship with Brazil and we are thrilled to now be returning for our second visit to the Proms. Our 2012 debut was truly exciting, with Brazilian fans waving flags and showing their support. This year should be even more exciting, especially since we will perform two concerts with a late night focus on Brazilian popular music,” says Marin.

After participating in the BBC Proms, the orchestra will go to Switzerland to perform at the Lucerne Festival. The concert will be on August 26 and the program will be the same presented in the British capital.

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

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Natalia Kikuchi

Tulipa Ruiz + DJ D.Vyzor Thursday 8 September Rich Mix comono.co.uk

MARIA SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER

Nelson Antoine

‘Sublime’ The Times ‘Magical’ The Independent

Monday 26 September

The orchestra and its conductor, Marin Alsop

SÃO PAULO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AGENDA Edinburgh International Festival August 22, 19h30 – www.eif.co.uk

BBC Proms

August 24, 19h and 22h15 – www.bbc.co.uk/events/epbhn3 Live at BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four

Lucerne Festival

August 26, 19h30 – www.lucernefestival.ch/en

ANTÓNIO ZAMBU O TUESDAY 29 NOVEMBER UNION CHAPEL COMONO.CO.UK

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

TIPS

RIO 2016 Where to watch the Olympics on the big screen in London g

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Beach East | Located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with over 2,200 sq m of sand, you can expect a Rio-themed celebration with plenty of entertainment for the entire family. In addition to the big screens available to watch all the live coverage of the games, there will be two beach bars, certain to keep you refreshed. (Until 4 September / everyday from 10am to 10pm / adults £2 and children over 3 and under 12 £1; entry is free for children of 3 and under).

Team GB Fan Zone | The Official Team GB Fan Zone at London Bridge City will be a fantastic place to experience all of the action and atmosphere of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The London Bridge City Fan Zone will show live coverage of the Games at selected times offering the chance to share memorable and historic sporting moments as well as the opportunity to participate in some Olympic sports. (London Bridge City, More London Riverside, Southwark, SE1 2DB / www.lbcsummerfestival.com).

DivulgaTION

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Rio Lounge | - For the duration of the Olympic Games, the Embassy of Brazil in London opens its doors to the public to watch the Games in a true Rio atmosphere. The Rio Olympic Lounge will showcase what lies beyond Rio and will present other tourist attractions throughout the State of Rio de Janeiro with its amazing coastline, historical cities and forests. (6 to 20 August 2016 / Mon-Sat, 10am-7pm / free admission / 14-16 Cockspur Street, SW1Y 5BL).

Pop Brixton | A summertime hangout for sport lovers in south London, boasting a huge screen for broadcasting major sporting events and a space for visitors to work up a sweat themselves. Visitors will be able to watch the Olympics before chowing down on grub from top food and drink vendors. (53 Brixton Station Road, SW9 8PQ / free admission / www.popbrixton.org).

Boxpark | With an array of local food and drink amenities there are more deckchairs available for you to grab at this open air screen by Shoreditch High Street station as you watch the events unfold. (2-10 Bethnal Green Rd, E1 6GY / www.boxpark.co.uk).

Made in Brasil | During the Rio Olympics, Made in Brasil (12 Inverness Street, NW1 7HJ) and Made in Brasil Boteco (48 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8AJ) offer big screens for the sport fans and Brazilian music for everyone. In addition, Made in Brasil Boteco brings the Cachaça Festival (August 4th, 11th and 18th from 6pm).

CINEMA Dirty Movies presents ‘Neighboring Sounds’ and ‘Neon Bull’ In two sessions hosted by the Embassy of Brazil in London in partnership with Dirty Movies (www.dirtymovies.org), the public will be able to watch in August the Brazilian movies Neighboring Sounds, written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Neon Bull, directed by Gabriel Mascaro.

In the first, Life in a middle-class neighbourhood in present-day Recife takes an unexpected turn after the arrival of an independent private security firm. The presence of these men brings a sense of safety, but also a good deal of anxiety, to a culture which runs on fear.

In the second, Iremar (Juliano Cazarré) is a bull handler, working for a traveling group who transport bulls from rodeo to rodeo, who dreams of becoming a tailor and making fashionable clothing for women. He finds an outlet for his creativity making custom horse masks and provocative outfits for Galega (Maeve Jinkings), the group’s driver who also performs sexually enticing dances for groups of men after each rodeo.

When: 16 (Neighboring Sounds) and 31 (Neon Bull) August Where: Embassy of Brazil (14-16 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5BL) Entrance: Free (book via culturalbrazil.rsvp@gmail.com) Info: www.brazil.org.uk

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

MUSIC O Rappa

WIN A SPECIALLY THEMED GOODY BAG

TO CELEBRATE

UNDER THE SAME SUN: ART FROM LATIN AMERICA TODAY AT THE SOUTH LONDON GALLERY

After the enormous success of last year’s show in the English capital, the Brazilian band O Rappa is coming back to London. The band will return to play more songs of their latest album Nunca Tem Fim. When: 13 August Where: Electric Brixton (Town Hall Parade, London SW2 1RJ) Entrance: £25 plus booking fee Info: www.electricbrixton.uk.com

Tulipa Ruiz Tulipa Ruiz is at the forefront of a group of new female Brazilian singers – her unique voice is playful and theatrical, ranging from the light and balladic to more boisterous. Her organic, idiosyncratic indie pop expands on the stylistic impulses of the Tropicalia movement, melding a range of influences, and is grounded in her own compositions.

PHOTO: ANDY STAGG

When: 8 September Where: Rich Mix (35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA) Entrance: £12 to £15 Info: www.richmix.org.uk

Maria Gadú One of the artists at the forefront of Música Popular Brasileira, Maria Gadú performs her new album Guéla with her live band. Gadú’s emotionally-driven acoustic-based songs would fit comfortably alongside indie-pop singer-songwriters, yet her raw, passionate vocals and accomplished guitar style are notably Brazilian.

When: 23 October Where: Barbican Hall (Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS) Entrance: £15-35 plus booking fee Info: www.barbican.org.uk

We’re offering Brasil Observer readers the chance to win 1 of 3 goody bags courtesy of the Under the Same Sun: Art from Latin America Today exhibition, which features works by more than 40 artists from Latin America for the collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Each bag contains a notebook, hard-cover exhibition catalogue, and pencils, the perfect artistic tools to have to hand if you’re feeling inspired by the exhibition!

Showing at the South London Gallery until 4 September 2016, the exhibition includes drawing, installation, mixed media, painting, performance, sculpture, and video, it presents a wide range of approaches and aesthetics from the 1970s to the present. The exhibition considers the diversity of artistic responses to shared realities moulded by colonial and modern history.

To enter the competition, go to www.hotticketoffers.com/competition/slgbrasilobserver and enter the promo code SLG. The competition closes at 5pm on Monday 22 August.

Good luck!

UNDER THE SAME SUN: ART FROM LATIN AMERICA TODAY Zeca Pagodinho One of Brazil’s most popular samba stars and four time Latin Grammy award winner, Zeca Pagodinho returns to London for a first-time-in-a-decade exclusive performance at Hammersmith Apollo. Chosen as the headline performer at the 2016 Rio Olympics opening ceremony, Zeca is Brazil’s fiesta frontman. With his carnival inspired sound, Zeca continues to embody the free, easy-going Carioca spirit.

When: 29 November Where: Hammersmith Apollo (45 Queen Caroline St., London W6 9QH) Entrance: From £29.50 Info: www.eventimapollo.com

Until 4 September 2016 South London Gallery 65-67 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UH www.southlondongallery.org Ts&Cs: Prize is 1 of 3 goody bags courtesy of the South London Gallery. Winners must collect their prize package in person from the South London Gallery bookshop during opening hours: Tue-Sun, 11am-6pm.

Prize packages cannot be delivered. One entry per person, multiple entries will not be accepted. The winner will be notified using the contact information submitted when uploading their entry. The winner may be asked to provide identification. All prizes are non-transferable and may not be given, assigned or sold to another person. If a winner does not claim their prize within 10 days of being notified, then the prize will be forfeited and another winner will be selected.

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

Columnists FRANKO FIGUEIREDO

Wabi-sabi way of life How can we develop a more positive outlook in a world where consumerism reigns, people’s differences are highlighted and compared daily, where both media and politicians instigate more division and hate?

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Franko Figueiredo is artistic director and associate producer of StoneCrabs Theatre Company

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I asked some Japanese friends how they would define wabi-sabi and the answer came, after a long silence, “it is very complex meaning to be able to explain it in a few sentences”.

I discovered wabi-sabi some 20 years ago and indeed, it is not something that we can easily define, but it’s worthwhile delving deeper into its meaning and trying to apply however much you understand it into your life.

How can we develop a more positive outlook in a world where consumerism reigns, people’s differences are highlighted and compared daily, where both media and politicians instigate more division and hate? Can we see the world with its own complexities and love them for what they are? The Japanese wabi-sabi helps us to do so.

Wabi-sabi is an ancient aesthetic philosophy rooted in Buddhism, particularly the tea ceremony, a ritual of simplicity in which masters valued bowls that were handmade and irregular shaped, with uneven glaze and cracks. They treasured the beauty of their imperfection. Wabi-sabi, as I understand it, celebrates beauty in what’s natural, with all its flaws.

Leonard Koren has defined wabisabi for westerners as “the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete, the antithesis of our classical Western notion of beauty as something perfect, enduring and monumental”.

If you look at Wikipedia you’ll find the following definition: “Wabi is originally referred to the loneliness of living in nature, remote from society; sabi means ‘chill’, ‘lean’ or ‘withered’.

Around the 14th century these meanings began to change, taking on more positive connotations. Wabi now connotes rustic simplicity, freshness or quietness, and can be applied to both natural and human-made objects, or understated elegance… Sabi is beauty or serenity that comes with age, when the life of the object and its impermanence are evidenced in its patina and wear, or in any visible repairs.”

Back at home, on the Isle of Wight, we have this dining table that is full of wine marks and dents from past accidents. Each mark brings its own memory, and whilst some people might consider that table an old piece of junk, to me that table carries a history and its beauty lies on its own battered existence.

The Japanese tradition of wabi-sabi offers an inspiring new way to look at how you live your life, not only from a material point of view but from a spiritual level too. Happiness and fulfilment doesn’t come from mere acquisition of things nor grabbing whatever form of power one desires. It comes from a deeper understanding and acceptance of life.

I’m currently co-producing Luna Park by Donald Margulies for the Edinburgh Festival. In Luna Park, an unhappy young man tries to change his current situation by going back to the past and interfering with his

mother’s life, only to realise that he can only change life by changing himself, changing his attitudes. We cannot fix others but we can fix ourselves. Every day we have the opportunity to start afresh, appreciating what we have, choosing kindness instead of hate, and choosing solutions instead of conflict. Acceptance and transformation is part of wabi-sabi.

There is a Thai TV commercial doing the rounds on social media, where a young man sets out to do good all day: he gets soaked from water leaking from a top building, but rather than complaining he finds a dying potted plant and places it under that leak; he helps an older woman with pulling her cart up a sidewalk; he encounters a mother and daughter begging for money for education; he gives part of his lunch to a dog, he leaves a bunch of bananas to his elderly neighbour. He continues to do daily acts of kindness throughout the day, the week, the year and we learn that “He gets nothing. He won’t be richer. He won’t appear on TV”. Still anonymous and not at all famous’ he starts noticing the results of his actions, the young girl is no longer next to her mother begging, but wearing a new school uniform and getting her education; the dog, the cart-woman and the elderly neighbour are newly found friends, and the dying plant is now a young bush. “What he receives are emotions. He witnesses happiness. He reaches a deeper understanding. Feels the love. Receives what money cannot buy.” What he gains is a world made more beautiful.

You could say that this young man was living a wabi-sabi way of life, seeing and doing beauty and good in the life that surrounds him. He seems to have developed an inherent compassion for everything around him and he craves no power, accepting life. Accepting life with all its flaws and transforming it with your actions as best as you can.

You don’t need money or special skills to bring wabi-sabi into your life, but perhaps some kind of training is required. Training which involves you slowing down, shifting the balance from doing to being, from multitasking to monotasking, to appreciating than perfecting.

Wabi-sabi is life, reminding us that we are all transient, that we are all going through the same cycle of growth and decay; and how much more beautiful life is if we embrace these markings of time.

To accept old age, wrinkly and saggy – rather than try to embalm our bodies in forever youth. To look at our neighbours, find what the common ground is and learn to love our differences.

It is not easy. If it were, we wouldn’t have Margulies’ Luna Park showing us that we could achieve much more by accepting and taking responsibility for our dreams.

That Thai TV commercial ends by asking: “and you, what do you desire?” then they cut to the Life Insurance details and strapline “we believe in good”.

I only ask: do you?

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

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HELOISA RIGHETTO

‘Feminisms’ They key thing is that feminism is not about oppressing men or making women dominant. Feminism is about freedom ‘If sexism is a bad thing, why is feminism a good thing?’, asks the person (someone you probably don’t even know but for some strange reason shows up on your Facebook timeline) that has never looked for information about the feminist movement and gender inequality. It is also quite easy to come across declarations such as: ‘I do think men and women should have the same rights, but I don’t like to define myself using titles,’ and, one that has become quite common for the past couple of years, ‘I’m a humanist’.

Despite the growth of the feminist movement, we can’t just assume that everyone knows what it means. After all, we were all born and raised in a sexist world, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the fact that many people don’t even know there is a way out of patriarchy, in which men are destined to be the head of the family, the money provider, the commander in chief in charge of everything that makes the world go round.

They key thing is to understand that feminism is not about oppressing men or making women the dominant gender. Feminism is about freedom.

Our patriarchal society treats women as second class citizens that do not deserve to have the same rights as men. To vote, to work, to drive, to be leaders, and these are just a few examples.

Feminism wants gender equality and, in order to achieve this goal we have to find and share disparities (from media coverage to gender pay gaps and violence against women) and then create tools and opportunities for women to fight against and overcome those disparities.

Empowerment is one of these tools. Inviting more female speakers to conferences and panels, having more

actresses playing lead roles in films and plays, sponsoring women in sports, creating online projects that hear women’s concerns and give them space to share their issues, buying products handcrafted by women-led cooperatives. All of that is empowering. And each woman feels empowered in her own way, which can be completely different: while there are women that feel empowered when they ditch make up and beauty products, other use these products as an empowerment tool.

And that’s ok, because feminism is not a list of rules set in stone. As I said before, feminism is about freedom, and it’s constantly evolving.

Sorority is also a feminist tool.

The meaning is simple: women are stronger when standing together, just like in other everyday situations. It is much easier to achieve something when we can count with someone else. Our male-dominated world encourages rivalry between women, and sometimes we find ourselves agreeing and repeating sexist theories (such as ‘women are so difficult to work with’ or ‘all women bitch about one another’) without ever questioning them. Sorority allows empowered women to help others find empowerment, creating a huge support network that is bigger than any other differences we might have.

Sorority is also a way to keep learning. As we fight together we learn from each other, making it easier to see sexist behaviours, such as gaslighting. Gaslighting might be an odd word, bit it’s something that you are probably acquainted with, as it is used to identify situations in which women are humiliated and diminished.

Called ‘crazy’, ‘unstable’ and ‘insane’ when she is just facing a complicated situation, expressing her feelings or working hard to reach her goals. How many times have you heard a man talk about an ex-girlfriend like that?

Next time, think about it.

And there is humanism, which has absolutely nothing to do with gender equality whatsoever. Humanism is the theory that puts humans in the centre of the world, above everything else. So do yourself a favour and stop saying you are a humanist. You are feminist! g

Heloisa Righetto is a journalist and writes about feminism (@helorighetto – facebook.com/conexãofeminista)

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

LONDON BY

London is within the details Rafa Maciel explores some curiosities of the British capital

Rafa Maciel is a Brazilian from Rio Grande do Sul and has lived in London since 2014. He is a guide of thematic tours and produces the YouTube channel Guri in London (www.guriinlondon.com).

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King Charles I

REPRODUCTION (Wikimedia)

brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

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reproduction (Wikimedia)

reproduction (Wikimedia)

Former police station in Trafalgar Square

Jazz After Dark, in Soho

John Snow memorial

Roman Hobler/Flickr

reproduction (Wikimedia)

London is a city that goes beyond. The food goes beyond fish & chips, the land goes beyond the Queen and tourism goes beyond Big Ben – and the fact that it is the bell, not the clock.

In these two and a half years working as a guide of thematic tours I discovered many interesting spots and cool curiosities. I’m always looking for something new to tell and entertain people.

What I find spectacular in a city like London is the respect for traditions and the meaning of each of its monuments.

The statue of King Charles I at Trafalgar Square, for example, is from where the distances of London are measured - something like the ground zero of the city. What few people know, however, is that this king had a feature that was unusual for a king: he had a height he was not very proud of: 1.63m. If you look carefully at the statue of Charles I you can see that the head of the horse on which he is mounted is ridiculously lower in proportion to the rest of the body. This just to gives the impression that the king was bigger. In some of the king’s paintings this same technique was adopted.

Also in Trafalgar Square is what used to be the smallest police station in the UK. If you notice the southeast side of the square there is a space similar to a cabin with two doors and a light overhead. This was for the police to keep an eye on what was happening in the square during demonstrations, which used to take place there. If the policeman needed to call attention to another officer, he would flash the light that is on the station. Today unfortunately this is not the function of the station. The space serves as a Westminster broom closet.

Another thing I also have curiosity in London is the hallmarks of wars that are still present in the city. But I think it goes beyond rebuilt parts and marks of bombs. On the south bank of the Thames, for example, on the west side of Southwark Bridge there is an ashtray that was originally a French cannon. This ship was defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar (which gives its name to the central square of London) and as “prize” it was brought to Britain. As the guns of French ships not served in English ships, they used to put on the streets for horses or carts not to go up on the sidewalk. The logs that are on the streets today are inspired by the cannons, by the way.

It is also impossible not to recognize the importance of British music. A beautiful place to get a taste of it and live one of those good music nights is the Jazz After Dark in the heart of Soho (9 Greek Street, W1D 4DQ). Amy Winehouse sang in this bar in her early days. She sang at the place before launching her first album, Frank. After her death, her family went to the bar to celebrate the artist’s life.

Speaking of bars, if you’ve passed in front of a pub called John Snow, in Soho, know that it is not that Jon Snow.

John Snow was responsible for discovering that cholera was a disease spread by water and not by air, as many people thought. This is because after a cholera epidemic in 1854 he mapped out all the victims and figured out what they had in common was that all passed through a water pump that was right in front of the pub. He isolated this pump, preventing people from drinking it, and no one else got the disease.

The next time you pass by Broadwick Street, note the reddish granite stone in front of the pub. That is the exact place where the water pump was. The relationship of the pub with TV series is actually in BBC’s Sherlock. It appears in some scenes of the first episode. The most interesting (and ironic) part is that despite the pub’s name is the name of John Snow, he did not drink alcohol.

Another street that has stories to tell is the Brune Street in Whitechapel. On one side of the street the building has an inscription that records the time when it served as a communal kitchen serving soup to Jewish immigrants.

The inscription reads “kitchen soup for the Jewish poor” with the year 1902 (and 5662, which is the year 1902 in the Jewish calendar). Across the street, next to a door there is an inscription that says the “entrance to shelters”. This is one of the input remnants of one of the shelters used by the population during the German bombing in World War II. And I still believe that this is all just the beginning of the exploration. I hope that more and more I can discover secrets and stories of the city that help me to renew my love for it. This is in great stories or those that take us beyond.

The Jewish Soup Kitchen

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brasilobserver.co.uk | August 2016

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