Brazil Center

Outreach

The Brazil Center sponsors various outreach activities as part of its mission to promote awareness and knowledge of Brazil culture and society within the UT and Austin communities.

Each semester Vivian Flanzer, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, teaches several Weekend Portuguese Workshops in Accelerated Portuguese for Spanish Speakers and Intermediate Portuguese. These are free and open to the public, and supported by LLILAS' Title VI grant from the Department of Education. They are one-day workshops intended to familiarize people with the language, and are popular with UT students, staff, faculty, and professionals from a variety of industries. Several participants have gone on to enroll in regular classes at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The Weekend Workshops have been offered for several years, and additional sessions have been offered as interest grows.

The Center sponsors the screening of a Brazilian film during the local Cine las Americas Film Festival. This is Austin's only international festival of new cinema of the Americas, and has been produced since 1997. CLA's mission is to promote cross-cultural understanding and growth by educating, entertaining and challenging our community through the media arts. The Brazil Center and CLA began working together in 2001, and have plans to expand their collaboration. CLA will co-sponsor the UT Brazilian Film Series in 2003-2004.

The Center promotes Brazilian arts in Austin with small grants supporting art exhibits. In January 2002 the Center co-sponsored the Brazilian Visual Poetry exhibit at Mexic-Arte Museum, which as curated by local Brazilian artist Regina Vater.

The show was the first of its kind in the United States, and received international attention. It was reviewed in the May 2002 issue of the prestigious journal Art in America. The show can be viewed online. See the Austin Chronicle review. The Center also co-sponsored Vater's exhibit Shellife at the Women & Their Work Gallery in April 2003.

The Brazil Center co-sponsors weekly Capoeira Angola Classes at the Texas Union. These are free, and have been taught by Jon White at noontime twice a week since 2000. About 15 students study the Afro-Brazilian martial art, which is also a dance and game.