I have been working at the Korean Cultural Center in Brazil since last November, when I was selected to work with the Korea Arts Management Center’s Project NEXT, a program to foster specialists in the management of international performing arts. Brazil is an enormous country, has a population of around 190 million and, at approximately 8.515 million km2, has a land mass 37 times that of South Korea. Unlike Korea, Brazil’s mornings and evenings are chilly and require one to carry around a cardigan, while its afternoons are so hot that short sleeves and a pair of sunglasses are obligatory. This comes in addition to the spontaneous bouts of rain, which make umbrellas equally necessary. Brazil’s unpredictable weather is but one of the country’s many unique characteristics. Anywhere that music blares, for example, people of all ages can be seen starting an impromptu dance session and strangers can be seen embracing each other in passionate samba. In addition and gay couples can kiss in the streets without fear of causing a scene. When travelers ask for directions, they may find that overly eager locals would rather try their best and hopefully remember correct instructions than tell you they cannot help you. Brazilians are people who are kind, filled with joy and welcoming of everyone. They live life as it is, without jealousy or comparison to others, in spite of their country’s substantial wealth gap and institutional failures.

Festival de Curitiba, Beyond Brazil to the Larger World

The Festival de Curitiba is held in the southwest area of Curitiba in Brazil, from late March to early April. With a population of 3million, the city is the most populous in the southern region of the country, and boasts a major economy. Renowned for its eco-friendliness, it is also the transit network upon which the Seoul Metropolitan public bus system was modeled. And yet, for many Koreans (myself included), the city remains unfamiliar. Last year, I came across an article that detailed the success of the Pansori Project ZA’s “Ukchuk-ga” at the Festival de Curitiba, but the article alone could not give me an accurate perspective on the festival and its size. It was then that Celso Curi1), the festival’s curator, offered me the chance to visit it for myself, and so I did. The Festival de Curitiba is 23 years old, having begun in 1992 when four boys aged 18 to 20 came together to create a festival featuring the artical performances.

Poster of 2014 The Festival de Curitiba

Leandro Knopfholz was involved in the early days of planning the festival, and is currently its director, in addition to running his own beer brewery. The 40-year-old’s professional accomplishments are impressive enough, and what was even more memorable was his kind gift of beer he brewed himself, as well as his generous smiles. Unfortunately, however, the director himself was not available to talk for long, but Curi, who has been curating the festival since it began, was able to answer many questions. According to him, the Curitiba has spent the past 20 years functioning as an important platform through which Brazilian works are introduced tothe performing arts scene. Over the past two years, organizers has started planning to take the event international. Last year, the festival saw great success in the presentation of Lee Jaram’s ,which was the first foreign work ever to be shown. Continuing on this theme, this year’s schedule included five more works of foreign origin, something the organizers will continue to do in the future, as well as create joint collaborations with other countries. This year’s budget was about KRW 2.83 billion (BRL 600 million), and all subsidies it received were through Brazil’s Lei Rouanet Law²⁾,

• 1) Celso Curi is a producer, culture manager, publisher and journalist. He was the president of the La RED The Network of Cultural Promoters of Latin America and the Carribean for two consecutive terms from 2011 to 2013, is a senior director of OFF Cultural Productions, andis the chief curator for the Festival de Curitiba. He is currently director of the Oficina Cultural Oswald de Andrade, a Brazilian Cultural Institution based in Sao Paulo.
• 2) Lei Rouanet is Brazil’ policy to support culture that began in 1990. Art festivals and projects that need subsidies may go through Lei Rouanet and apply for funding online, and once approved, may directly ask various enterprises, businesses and individuals for help. The applicants may then go pitch their cause to companies, and explain the perks of up to 4% tax exemption. Once a deal is reached, the recipient does not receive the funds directly from the corporation, but through Lei Rouanet. On the surface, it may appear to be private money from the private sector, but because it a system of tax deductions used to encourage spending on cultural projects comes with tax exemption strings attached, it is treated as public money, operated by government tax revenue. The policy has certainly helped in procuring funds for the support of culture, but as companies choose to support only the types of projects that complement their corporate image, or are cost-effective and beneficial, there is much concern from the cultural sector that this policy harms cultural diversity.

A Smorgasbord of Performances

This year, the Festival de Curitiba was held from March 26 to April 13 across the 66 performance halls scattered throughout Curitiba. It showcased 35 official invitational performances on its main stage, some 400 unofficial invitational performances, 6 magic and circus shows, 33 stand-up comedy shows, 6 children’s shows, 4 street shows and 27 food stalls—a veritable smorgasbord of performing arts. The festival was a major celebration, comprising 500 separate events and 3,000 artists. Most of the performance halls were located in the city center, and therefore could be traveled to by foot. In addition, many of the performances were held on the streets themselves, which casta festival-like air upon the entire city of Curitiba.
The festival consists of official invitational performances, called Mostra, and the unofficial invitational performances called Fringe. The selection of official invitational performances is determined by a year-long process facilitated by three of the festival’s curators, who first offer their recommendations and then written down the list through countless meetings, emails and phone calls to arrive at the final choices. Last year’s official invitational performance, Lee Jaram’s , was a pansori adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s 1939 play . This year, official invitees the Royal Shakespeare Company presented as a monologue done in musical theater style. Both works share common traits, such as having a single actress carry the entire show in a monologue format set to music. They are also both reinterpretations of classic works, incorporating the themes of modern humanity, its endless desires and its subsequent destruction. “Conselho de Classe,” a Brazilian production, was a comedy that satirized and thereby condemned the country’s flaws in education. The majority of the main stage plays were text-based performances with a clear social message and theatrical force, very similar to the Seoul Performing Arts Festival(SPAF). As for the unofficial invitational works, as long as a company comprises at least 70 percent professional actors, it may apply to participate and receive a venue and equipment in return. In the Fringe series, the shows performed at actual halls were comparable to the main stage productions in that their subject matter was often heavy in tone. Street performances, on the other hand, were lighthearted and enjoyable, such as clown shows and circuses, as well as musical theater.

The Festival de Curitiba is made up of not only theatrical performances, but also magic shows, stand-up comedy acts, children’s theater, street performances and a food festival. The magic and circus show segment is called Mishmash, running in its sixth year and currently made up of six organizations and individuals. Risorama, by contrast, is the standup comedy festival.Beginning in 2004, it featured 33 individual and group artists this year and is the largest of its kind in the whole of Latin America. Guritiba, the children’s theater festival, showed six different teams, and SESI Nu Rua is a free street performance festival that was participated in by four groups this year and supported by the organization SESI, which specializes in the support of arts culture.
It’s not just an array of performances that make up the Curitiba, but also its variety of food. Gastronomix, the food festival that is now in its sixth year running, is held in a park outside the city center. Created at the suggestion of Curitiba’s most famous restaurants, the event focuses on offering high-end fare in modest, snack-size portions, allowing visitors the chance to enjoy good food in an affordable way. People can expect to pay around KRW 5,000 (BRL 10) as entrance fee, and taste a range of food from luxurious restaurants at the practical price point of KRW 6,000 to 7,000. This year’s event featured 27 bars and restaurants.
Most of the festival’s performances were priced at around KRW 30,000 (BRL 60), with the Fringe series shows ranging from KRW 5,000 to 30,000. Though many of the main stage shows were sold out in advance, the Fringe shows did not require reservations and could be attended at whatever time one chose to visit the theater. The Fringe andGuritiba children’s theater shows started at 9a.m., with additional Fringe, MiniMash and Risorama shows beginning in the afternoon and taking place at various times throughout the day. Official invitational shows, however, only began after 7p.m. But in spite of the staggered start times and simultaneous showings, most events were brimming with people.

For the People, By the People

Whether in modest, small-sized theaters or major performance halls with 2,000-plus seats, they were all chock-full of enthusiastic audiences. Attendees appeared to be deeply engrossed in the performances, and were respectful enough to give heartfelt applauseaftereach show.This is probably because Curitiba, from its very inception 23 years ago, was never meant to be anevent exclusively heldfor the elite or for artists, but a festival that was designed to communicate with all citizens. Let’s look forward to the day when more Korean works are met by the enthusiastic citizens of Curitiba.