Encontro de Culturas do Mundo 2020

São Paulo, November 2019  – From the 24th to the 26th of January 2020, the district of Imbassaí, in the Bahian municipality of Mata de São João, receives the  Meeting de Culturas do Mundo , an event that aims to promote and celebrate cultural diversity in its various forms – from music and dances to ancestral bodily and meditative practices. The event highlights the performances of Said Guissi and the Aissawa group, from the city of Fes, Morocco, characterized by the simultaneous use of wind and percussion instruments, in a rhythm accompanied by chants and dances that constitute the Sufi sacred music; experiences with the Kayapó Mebengokre, Pankararu, Potiguara and Alto Xingu indigenous ethnic groups; and Mindfulness practices, meditative training that develops the ability to focus attention on the present. 

“The Meeting of Cultures is an opportunity for us to value ancestral and indigenous peoples' knowledge and knowledge, and to emphasize coexistence with diversity and the exercise of empathy”, observes Glaucia Rodrigues, director of the  Centro de Universal Studies AUM , a non-profit association that organized the event. “The representatives of the Upper Xingu are the best example of coexistence and tolerance: different ethnicities, speaking different languages and living peacefully in the same territory. This is a learning experience that we need to have”, he concludes. The event is organized in partnership with a  Casa de Cultura Cavaleiro de Jorge  e  Multiethnic Village , a project that promotes exchanges indigenous peoples to strengthen their individual cultures and common struggles.