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A Pianoforte for the Favela
Visitors to the ICBIE are immediately impressed when they see the beautiful old baby grand piano stationed under the stairway of the entrance hall. Unfortunately, the instrument is beautiful only in its appearance: it is in terrible mechanical shape and it would be prohibitively expensive to restore it, even if a capable technician could be…
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MusiBrasil Article on Julio & Bigode
The Italian website MusiBrasil has the ICBIE on its radar. Last February it hosted the wonderful article by Andrea Zeccato (see sidebar), and a week ago a splendid article about Julio and Bigode, written by Gabriella Melli, appeared. For our Italian-savvy readers, go straight to their website by clicking here. For those who can’t deal…
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ICBIE Commemorates Amerigo Vespucci
Last week, on November 8th from 2 to 6 PM, after months of planning, the ICBIE presented a high-profile cultural event at the historic São Marcelo fort, perched above the port of Salvador. Celebrating the five-hundredth anniversary of the first use of the word “America” (not the “Indies”) to describe the New World, the Exhibition-Conference…
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Mary Overby’s English Class
Things are going well here at ICBIE in Salvador. My students are a wonderful group, lively, cooperative and always ready to help me improve my Portuguese. They are definitely the best part of teaching. Teaching in classes like these is challenging because there is no fixed curriculum and students are at various levels in their…
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Arrivederci ragazzi!
Look at the Brazilians all bundled up against the cold of early November in Rome, on their last night before returning home. Last Friday night, nearly twenty people showed up at a genuine Roman pizzeria, da Giovanni, right across the highway from the Socrates high school in Garbatella where Pietro taught for so many years.…
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News from Reggio Emilia – Bahia Festival
Ciao a tutti, sono una delle tappe dei nostri amici bahiani. Si, un pezzo di Salvador de Bahia è arrivato anche nella industriosa e rossa Reggio Emilia. Tra la via Emilia e il west ci siamo ritrovati a far scorrazzare per la pianura padana i due che con la loro libertà e audacia scompigliano i…
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An Appeal for an ICBIE Office in Rome
Last Friday, at a second meeting between ICBIE’s faithful Roman supporters and the Eleventh Municipality of the Rome city government, the following letter was submitted, formally requesting help in establishing a Rome office. L’ICBIE (Instituto de Cultura Brasil Italia Europa) è un’associazione senza fini di lucro con sede in Brasile a Salvador de Bahia, operativa…
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Forging New Alliances
The stars must be aligned just right for the ICBIE, with so many new and exciting developments. Just the Italian tour of Julio and Bigode, and the subsequent opportunities to forge friendly relationships with the city governments of Salvador and Rome would be sufficient reason for optimism, but other big opportunities have been brewing, and…
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ICBIE Bridge between Rome and Salvador
Amidst all the excitement of the last week, it’s been hard to find time to write up all the important developments. As mentioned earlier, two officials from Salvador’s city council have come to Italy to show off their prize street artists Julio and Bigode. The Rome ICBIE supporters immediately saw this as an opportunity to…
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ICBIE Artists at AOSR
Friday, October 5, 2007: ICBIE Day at AOSR! Although, thanks to the Bridge to Bahia project, there have been numerous AOSR events where the ICBIE has been present, never before was a whole school day enlivened by the presence of real Bahians, together with ICBIE president Pietro Gallina. And the real stars were our delightful…