Artist and architect Jakub Szczęsny is building a temporary house on top of the roof of the Casa do Povo cultural centre in São Paulo. He will live there for three weeks. The project is part of the Culture.pl in Brazil programme.
The ephemeral building by Jakub Szczęsny is to stand on the roof of the Casa Povo – an institution founded by Jewish refugees and immigrants, the majority of whom had Polish origins. For three weeks it will serve not only as a shelter for the Polish artist but also as a space for an extensive cultural programme which consists of films, performances, and meetings of activists, artists, foreigners, refugees, and displaced communities. In times of escalating nationalist and xenophobic attitudes, the Polish Refuge project encourages reflection on migration and current policies for refugees. It also questions cultural labels, recalling that the building of a national identity is always the result of complex processes.
The project is accompanied by the book How Polish Do You Feel Today? Polish Routes and Detours in São Paulo, which shows the role that the Polish community and descendants of Polish immigrants played in shaping the city. The publication was edited and published by Benjamin Seroussi and Mariana Lorenzi of Casa do Povo, Roney Cytrynowicz and Monica Musatti of Editora Narrativa Um and urbanist Renato Cymbalista. The featured texts were written by philosopher Peter Pal Pelbart, artist Gisele Beiguelman, and writer Michel Gorski.
The project is co-organized by the Casa do Povo, the Artanimacje Association and the Culture.pl in Brazil programme.
Programme of events:
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15th -16th October, 1-8 pm, debates, concerts and refreshments prepared by GRIST (Group of Immigrants and Refugees in a Homeless Situation)
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20th October, 8 pm, film screening of Guiury, dir. Marina Lacerda
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22th October, 11 am, meeting with the MEXA collective, group to care for the homeless in the neighbourhood of Bom Retiro
- 23th October, 5 pm film screening of Há Terra!, dir. Ana Vaz
- 3th November, 8 pm, film screening of Ellis Island, dir. Robert Bober
Jakub Szczęsny Polish Refuge
Casa do Povo, São Paulo
15th October – 6th November 2016
For more about Polish culture in Brazil, click HERE