LabCriativo Project Launches at Rio’s Oi Futuro Flamengo

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – From May 14th through 19th the LabCriativo project will present seven collaborative works by twenty Brazilian and British artists and scholars. The works, which range from installations to performances to interventions to video installations, will be hosted in Oi Futuro Flamengo and in several locations in the Maré favela complex.

LabCriativo originated as part of Social Change through Creativity and Culture, a project created to encourage collaborations between artists and academics in Brazil and the United Kingdom in order to address social challenges in Brazil.

Produced by Festival Multiplicidade and the People’s Palace Projects of Queen Mary University of London and curated by Batman Zavareze and Paul Heritage, LabCriativo’s projects were created during an immersive artistic residency held in Parque Lage in November of 2015.

It was a meeting of ten artist and scholars from the United Kingdom with ten Rio de Janeiro artists and scholars. “In addition to what each of these works will reveal, the project reaffirms the importance of creativity for change and social transformation,” said co-curator Paul Heritage. “The LabCriativo is a reminder of the urgency of finding spaces and creating dialogues between artists, scholars and the public.”

Using the city of Rio de Janeiro as inspiration, the participating artists, scholars, and professionals created the seven projects: Affective Map, Gambiarra Lab, Museum of Life Exchange, Rio Visível (Rio Visible), Outros Registros (Other Records), Trem Transcultural e Utopias (Transcultural Train and Utopias).

“The idea was to inspire thought about the Brazil in a social context and about the daily routines of the city of Rio de Janeiro,” said Batman Zavareze.

In addition to Oi Futuro Flamengo, three locations in the Maré favela complex located in Rio’s Zona Norte (North Zone) will present LabCriativo projects and host events. The sites are the Centro de Artes da Maré, the Galpão Bela Maré, and Lona Cultural Herbert Vianna.

The events will begin at the Lona Cultural Herbert Vianna on May 14th with a performance by Camerata Laranjeiras and dance, poetry, and graffiti workshops hosted by the group, Museu de Trocas Vivas (Museum of Modern Exchanges).

Also on May 14th, the ‘Microutopias’ installation will open in Galpão Bela Maré and Gambiarra Lab will perform in the Centro de Artes.

On May 16th, Oi Futuro Flamengo will host a performance by Gambiarra Lab and the Trem Transcultural e Utopias and Rio Visível installations will open. Then on May 17th, Oi Futuro Flamengo will host a performance of Outros Registros followed by a debate. Additionally, the projects Rio Visível and Affective Map will be on display.

The Simpósio Utopias will open in Oi Futuro Flamengo on May 18th and will include the debate, Imaginários [Utopias, AntiUtopias] (Imaginary [Utopias, AntiUtopias]). Additionally, there will be a theatrical performance, Experimentum Mundi.

Finally, on May 19th, Centro de Artes da Maré will host the Simpósio Utopias with debates, Representações [Mapas, Corpos]’ (Representations [Maps Bodies]) and ‘Ações [artes de invenção de mundos] (‘Actions [The art of inventing worlds]). There will be additional performances during the day.

For the complete programming schedule and additional information, see the LabCriativo website.

What: LabCriativo
When: May 14th through 19th
Where: Oi Futuro Flamengo, Rua Dois de Dezembro, 63 – Flamengo
Centro de Artes da Maré, Rua Bittencourt Sampaio, 181 – Nova Holanda – Maré
Galpão Bela Maré, Rua Bittencourt Sampaio, 169 – Nova Holanda – Maré
Lona Cultural Herbert Vianna, Rua Ivanildo Alves s/n – Nova Maré – Maré
Entrance: FREE