The date has been set: the Leonardo da Vinci International Library will officially open at the end of this month. Thanks to funding from the city government (SECULT), this valuable resource will finally be available to the public, and a big two-day launch is in the final planning stage. On Friday, July 30th and Saturday, July 31st, the political and cultural movers and shakers of the city will participate in a rich series of events organized by the ICBIE.
On Friday morning, local graffiti artists and our theater troupe will paint and perform in the streets of Ribeira, using as a theme Leonardo’s Mona Lisa; at 5PM the ICBIE will host a live painting session based on the master’s inventions; at 5:30 the ICBIE will open its doors for a photographic and multimedia presentation of the life and works of Leonardo; at 6 will come a recital by the theater group and chorus; and at 6:30 the solemn inauguration of the library.
On Saturday morning, more Leonardo inspired graffiti works will be painted in the neighborhood; at 9:30 there will be a guided visit of the library; at 3:00 will come a hapkido exhibition; at 4:00 there will be an event dedicated to the SECULT’s “Incentive for Reading” program, with readings, stories and poetry by local residents, as part of an ICBIE competition, culminating with the awarding of prizes for the best works in each category; at 5:00 a band from the palafitas will perform; at 6:00, a new book by Jose Eduardo Ferreira Santos, Novos Alagados, will be presented by the author, accompanied by a projection of photos by Marco Illuminati; and at 7:30 there will be a showing of the film, Fahrenheit 451.
The planning of these events has been underway for weeks. Julio has been working on the publicity brochure and yesterday afternoon, we had a final meeting to iron out the last details, with Pietro, Marlene, Paranaguá, Marcella, Julio, Augusto, Meg and Roy in attendance.
