Free tour of exhibition on Brazil’s cultural movement of the late 1960s followed by conversation on “cultural cannibalism” with Professor John Tofik Karam
CHICAGO – On Tuesday, November 29 from 5:30-7:30 PM, the Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council invites you on a free guided tour of the new “Tropicália” exhibition at the at the Museum of Contemporary Art (220 East Chicago Avenue). “Tropicália,” otherwise known as “Tropicálismo,” is a Brazilian artistic movement that arose in the late 1960s after the coup of 1964 and encompassed theatre, poetry, architecture, and music. The movement fused elements of western pop culture with more traditional Brazilian art forms and musical styles creating an original expression of Brazilian culture. The MCA’s playful and exciting exhibition explores the relationship between art and revolution.
This program is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended and can be made at events@thepublicsquare.org or 312.422.5580.
Following the tour, John Tofik Karam, Assistant Professor in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program at DePaul University will speak about cultural cannibalism, cultural hybridity, and Brazilian identity. Karam is the author of Syrian-Lebanese Project in Neoliberal Brazil. He’ll help us explore such questions as: What is hybridity and how does it effect cultural, national, and racial identity? How does hybridity manifest itself in Brazilian music, art, and literature? After Professor Karam’s talk, participants will gather in small groups for facilitated conversations about the issues raised by both the exhibition and his presentation.
ABOUT CAFÉ SOCIETY
The Cafe Society Project began in October 2002 at four area coffee shops and has since expanded to eight sites, including one downstate in Carbondale, Illinois. This project fosters a more robust civil society, more cohesive and interactive communities, greater media literacy and a more informed and engaged citizenry through weekly coffee shop conversations about contemporary social issues. Current media reports (along with ample doses of caffeine) serve as stimulants for the conversations. The idea is to cross boundaries of class, race, ideology, and background to facilitate meaningful discussions about the underlying historical and philosophical issues implicated in topics in the news. The Café Society project taps the growing coffee culture in Chicago as a vehicle to promote conversations between strangers (a cornerstone of democratic practice) about relevant social issues, with a focus on the theme of citizenship, broadly defined, and critically examined.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC SQUARE AT THE ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL
The Public Square at the IHC fosters debate, dialogue, and exchange of ideas about cultural, social and political issues with an emphasis on social justice. Programs promote participatory democracy by creating space for public conversations. Knowledge is power, yet much crucial knowledge still circulates only in small, isolated communities. We build bridges between theory and practice in order to empower individuals to use ideas as tools to improve their lives.
More information about The Public Square at the IHC and Café Society is available at www.thepublicsquare.org.
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