Cidade Livre Theater Company takes art and cultural training to the outskirts of the state of Goiás
The group, which turns eighteen in 2022, has sought since its origins to discuss the importance and strength of theater as an engine of social transformation
Credit: Disclosure
By: Gabriel Murga – Lupa do Bem / Favela em Pauta
The Teatro de Bolso Cidade Livre, founded about eighteen years ago in the city of Aparecida de Goiânia, in Goiás, whose headquarters are in the Jardim Monte Cristo neighborhood, has been promoting cultural performances every Friday and Saturday at its headquarters for more than a decade, with a capacity for 80 people. There have already been four editions of the Mostra Teatro Cidade Livre, the main event organized by the group.
The most recent one, whose theme was “Latin American Emergencies”, took place between May 4th and 14th of 2022 and received nineteen cultural actions, including training, seminars, debates, in addition to presentations of shows from Goiás, national and international. The presentations were held at the Teatro de Bolso Cidade Livre and the show was financed by the Art and Culture Fund of the State of Goiás.
But this story begins a few years before, and has gone through transformations and changes that seek a common objective: the popularization of cultural and artistic activities for the population, especially for young people from the periphery of the state of Goiás.
From cultural space to Pontão de Cultura
In 2010, Associação Sociocultural Cidade Livre was awarded and became Ponto de Cultura, where theatrical-artistic training workshops were developed for young people and teenagers in the region of Aparecida de Goiânia.
These workshops were initiated through the project “Parallel Circuit – Dream and Art in the Periphery”. The content of the activities also included theatrical theory, scripting practice for theatrical shows and the construction of costumes, lighting and sound design.
In the first three years of the project, about 100 young people trained in the theatrical field, putting together socio-educational shows that were presented free of charge in schools in the community, strongly impacting the formation of audiences, new theater groups and cultural development that is characterized both by artistic side and the strong capacity to generate social bonds.
Over the years, Ponto de Cultura grew and became Pontão de Cultura, whose activities not only contribute to the local community, but also articulate collaboration networks between towns, with other points of cultures and institutions through training in the areas of artistic management.
The company creation and its transformation into a Sociocultural Association
The group’s work was initiated through extensive research on various artistic languages, from classical theater to the practice of mamulengo theater.
The work consisted of lectures followed by discussions around themes related to theater, always with a social nature and presenting themes that arouse interests and reflections in the community through presentations that make it to the stage.
During the workshops, the participants chose a fundamental tripod in the essence of the company: the social, the humor and the pedagogical aspects, for presenting itself as a more efficient way both in the assimilation and in the recording of the shows presented.
Lupa do Bem spoke with Jefferson Lobato, a member and one of the founders of the institution.
What is the importance of a theater made by people from the periphery for people from the periphery in the context of the state of Goiás?
Jefferson: The social vulnerabilities in the region where Pontão de Cultura Cidade Livre develops its actions are great, and the third sector plays a leading role. Despite the social obstacles imposed on the citizens of Aparecida in this region, the Pontão de Cultura Cidade Livre appears eighteen years ago with an element that mitigates the absence of clear public policies for the local culture.
Fostering art from neighbor to neighbor is our thing, generating dreams, autonomy in people, especially children and young people, is our greatest mission. In these almost two decades, we have trained countless artists in dance, theater and recently in audiovisual for a full citizen life. This is our mission and daily challenge. There is no doubt that the voluntary dedication of countless people in the civic education of the people of Aparecida, through art, has been fundamental for the development of Ponto de Cultura Cidade Livre.
The shows that were presented in the last edition of the Exhibition are from different places in Brazil and Latin America. How important is it for peripheral art to recognize itself in other similar spaces?
Jefferson: From May 4 to 14, 2022, the “IV Mostra de Teatro Cidade Livre – Latin American Emergencies” was held with the presence of artists and cultural producers from several Latin American countries and several Brazilian states.
There is no culture without diversity, without exchange. This was the greatest legacy of this Exhibition. In addition to complying with the actions foreseen in the project, such as the increase in training workshops, debate tables and 19 theatrical performances. The bond remained, the affirmation of our artistic work, the renewal of some lines of our work and, above all, the possibility of putting us in contact with cultural collectives from Brazil and the world.
All this happening in the periphery is far beyond what we aspire to. Putting a child in contact with someone who speaks another language was amazing.
What are the main difficulties of producing art and culture in the context we are facing despite the exit from the pandemic?
The Pontão de Cultura Cidade Livre, located in Aparecida de Goiânia, is a non-profit organization and survives on the few resources generated by its actions and the sweat of its associates. During the Covid-19 pandemic, culture was one of the first to stop and one of the last to come out of this critical state. This cultural entity from Goiás suffered a lot during this period, to the point of almost going bankrupt due to inoperability.
If it was already difficult to keep a space in operation with all its maintenance charges before the pandemic, imagine during it. In Brazil, there is no clear public policy focused on Brazilian culture. Not before, not after the Pandemic! Spaces such as the Pontão de Cultura Cidade Livre close their doors every year. This is a delay that we carry and that we do not see expectations of change.
During these almost two decades, what are the main legacies of the association for the people of Aparecida de Goiânia and other parts of the state?
The main legacy that the Pontão de Cultura Cidade Livre produced in these almost 20 years was the formation of people for a citizen’s life. People who enjoy cultural goods are strengthened by views where intolerance, inequality and disrespect have no place. Other legacies have been important in these almost two decades, such as the circulation of artistic goods and training in dance, theater and audiovisual.
