Rio Update

The 10 Dutch-Brazilian creative duos participating in the Olympic cultural programme HOBRA are making a final sprint for the closing event on 31 July in Rio de Janeiro, when they will show the results of three weeks of working intensively together. How are they doing and what have been their experiences up until now?

Enthusiastic reception
After arriving in Rio de Janeiro on 11 July, the Dutch participants in HOBRA met their Brazilian partners, and they showed each other their work. They also did some sightseeing in the city, visiting the famous statue of Christ on Mount Corcovado, the state-of-the-art Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow) and the former residence of landscape architect Burle Marx that is tucked away in the surrounding woods.

The Dutch participants in HOBRA were given an extremely enthusiastic reception by the Brazilians. Theatre maker Sjaron Minailo reports, ‘Both the Brazilian organisation and our colleagues are very curious about who we are and what we do. We have become acquainted with lots of people, so there’s a very intimate atmosphere. For me, that’s essential in order to be able to work well.’

The official launching of HOBRA took place on 17 July in the presence of the Dutch Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Arjen Uijterlinde, and the Cultural Secretary of the city, Júnior Perim. ‘The process of working together is equally or perhaps even more important than the result,’ said the Council General in summing up the programme. ‘The idea is to stimulate an ongoing Dutch-Brazilian collaboration.’

Like-minded but also different
The Dutch participants say that working with their Brazilian colleagues has for the most part exceeded their expectations. Says filmmaker Daan Gielis, ‘It’s extraordinary to develop projects and brainstorm with like-minded people in such a bustling city. I never thought there could be so much common ground between the working methods used in different disciplines.’

There are differences too, according to architect Sjoerd ter Borg, but that’s precisely what has made working with his partner Pedro Varella so interesting. Illustrator Jan Cleijne also sees advantages in coproducing with Lucas Viriato: ‘It’s a pleasure to work with Lucas. I’m used to working by myself, but I get inspired by his ideas, which speeds up the process considerably.’

Closing event
Despite the pressure to present a final product on 31 July in Rio de Janeiro, a number of HOBRA participants have been freeing up time to give public workshops and lectures during their stay. Brazilians have had the chance to sign up for dance, documentary theatre, design, music and drawing. The design duo Yuri Veerman and Clara Meliande invited the public to fill out een online vragenlijst for their ‘oracle’ that predicts – in Portuguese – the future of Brazil.

With the closing event coming up quickly on 31 July in Rio de Janeiro, the HOBRA participants are hard at work. When asked what they have been doing the past few days, Sjaron Minailo answers, ‘Rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing!’ He and his partner Pedro Kosovski are making a musical theatre show based on a local myth. Jan Cleijne and Lucas Viriato are working on large prints of a number of short comic strips; they also are planning to show the public how the prints are made. That means the illustrator still has hours and hours of drawings to do. The architecture duo Ter Borg and Varella are collaborating with Daan Gielis to make a short film about a social housing complex with a turbulent history.

The closing event of HOBRA will take place on Sunday 31 July from 1 to 7 PM in the Centro Cultural Municipal Laurinda Santos Lobo and the Museum Casa de Benjamin Constant in Rio de Janeiro, with presentations by the 10 Dutch-Brazilian duos in the disciplines of literature, film, theatre, documentary theatre, dance, design, e-culture, art and architecture. You can follow the duos online at hobra.art.br, the Facebook page hobra2016 and with the hashtag #HOBRA.