Lebanese travels around Brazil showing Arab handicraft
PEOPLE & CULTURE
[01/10/2014 – 10:25]
Radwan Raad, who has been based in the city of Curitiba for around six years, is working on propagating art made in the Arab countries among the Brazilians. From Syria and Lebanon he brings from towels to items made out of marquetry and wall carpets. Raad has a shop in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná and is participating in Artnor, a handicraft fair that continues up to Sunday, in Maceió, capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Alagoas.
Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – In the Cultural and Exhibition Centre of Maceió, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Alagoas, a wooden lute attracts attention among lace towels, bamboo handbags and ceramic guinea fowl, typical products of Brazilian handicraft. Beside the lute are embroidered blankets, sculpted wooden boxes and wall carpets easily found in the houses of Arab families.
Brazilian handicraft is varied and abundant. But this does not mean that space for Arab art is lacking in the country. The capital of Alagoas is promoting, up to January 15, the International Handicraft Fair of the Northeast (Artnor), with exhibitors from Brazil and abroad. A Lebanese who lives in Curitiba also made sure to take a little bit of the Arab world there. The Lebanese Radwan Raad is one of the exhibitors at Artnor.
At his stand there are small objects made out of copper, among them camels and trays, products made out of wood and marquetry with mother-of-pearl, like jewel boxes and card containers, boxes for storage of the Koran, the holy book of Islam, garments for belly-dancing, wall carpets with figures of Arab men and women, narghiles and centre chairs and tables. All of these products were made by artisans from Syria and Lebanon. The wooden products are mostly from Lebanon, and those of fabric, from Syria. The Lebanese currently has 12 artisans who supply products to him.
Raad has a store called “Adion Adivan – Artesanato Ãrabe” (Arab Handicraft) in the centre of Curitiba, but he usually travels around Brazil to take products to fairs. “At the fairs we also discuss Arab culture with the visitors,” stated the Lebanese. According to Raad, questions about the products, like, for example, how to smoke on a narghile, generate opportunities to explain the customs of the Arab countries. In some exhibitions, Raad employs an Arab dance group to show belly dancing.
The Lebanese trader explains that in the city of Alagoas doubts about products are greater than in states like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, where Arab culture is more popular. “Up to now only one Arab descendant, from the city of Goiânia, in midwestern Brazil, has visited the stand at the fair,” he said, referring to the size of the colony in the state. Raad, however, is pleased with the result of the fair, which began on Friday (06). The Lebanese is selling products from R$ 10 (around US$ 4,40 at current exchange rates) to over R$ 1,000 (US$ 440) in Alagoas.
Immigrant
Radwan Raad, who is married to a Brazilian, arrived in Brazil through the city of Foz do Iguaçu. When he came from Lebanon to South America around eight years ago, he first established himself in Paraguay so as to work in the trade of electronic products. Two and a half years later he moved to Curitiba and was a partner in a restaurant with a friend of his for a few months, and then decided to start working in the import of handicraft. Currently, apart from selling at the store he has in the city, he distributes the products for retail in other states.
Artnor
Apart from the Lebanese, exhibitors from countries like India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Kenya, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina are also participating in Artnor. The show has 1,000 artisans and businessmen divided into 260 stands and should receive 100,000 visitors, according to the organizers, up to the end of the edition. Revenues are expected to reach R$ 5 million (US$ 2.2 million).
Most of the exhibitors, however, are from Alagoas itself, which is known in Brazil for its handicraft. However, like a large part of the northeast of Brazil, products made range mainly from ceramics and wood to lace and costume jewellery. Artnor is promoted by the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), with the support of the government of the state of Alagoas and the Bank of Brazil.
Apart from the fair, Artnor has a broad cultural schedule with folkloric shows, theatre presentations, fashion parades and workshops with artisans. The fair goes on from 04:00 pm to 10:00 pm. It is visited both by retailers and by the public in general, especially by the tourists who travel to Maceió at this time of year.
