At the round table Croatian Heritage Foundation director Mijo Marić noted that the bridges between Croatia and Brazil were both important and deep on account of the great number of Croatians that have moved to Brazil.
A round table discussion on the opportunities to strengthen cooperation between Brazil and Croatia was staged on 12 November at the European Centre for Peace and Development (established by the United Nations). At the event were representatives of the local government of Pula, the Brazilian embassy in Croatia, Pula’s municipal library, and the Croatian Heritage Foundation. They discussed the achievements of the Days of Brazil in Pula.
Pula municipal library director Nela Načinović noted that Milan Puh, a native of Pula now resident in Brazil, was most deserving for the success of the event.
“We have been showcasing Brazilian culture and tradition in Pula for the past nine years through a rich and diverse programme,” Načinović said, adding that, “singer-songwriter Elis Lovrić has also greatly contributed to this.” Lovrić’s song Kanat od mora (“Song of the Sea”) has been translated into Brazilian Portuguese. Croatian Heritage Foundation director Mijo Marić noted that the bridges between Croatia and Brazil were both important and deep on account of the great number of Croatians that have moved to Brazil.
Barbara Buršić, who heads the Pula branch office of the Croatian Heritage Foundation, said that the CHF branch had joined the programme back in 2019. She also noted how happy she was to see that the work of Silvio Pletikos had been showcased in Pula and Istarska County as a whole. Pletikos, a writer born in Croatia’s Istrian peninsula, moved to Brazil back in the 1960s, where he died past year at the age of 96.
Pula mayor Filip Zoričić spoke of the fact that Brazil was home to some seventy thousand people who either emigrated out of Croatia or are descendants of people who emigrated, noting that there had been two major waves of emigration—the first in the early 1920s, and the second after the Second World War was over. This has produced very broad and diverse contacts with Brazil.
“I hope that there will be no more coronavirus next year for the tenth Days of Brazil,” said Zoričić, “And that we will have an even broader programme and cooperation, as there are many windows of opportunity to build bridges between our cultures.”
Brazilian ambassador Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira thanked everyone, Milan Puh in particular, who also moderated the event, for building a bridge between Pula and Brazil through this fascinating event.
“Next year we mark thirty years since Croatia was recognised by Brazil, and the tenth Days of Brazil in Pula. There will be opportunities for new horizons and ideas in creating more bridges between Brazil and Croatia,” said ambassador Vieira.
(https://www.glasistre.hr/)
By: Vanesa BEGIĆ
Photo: Dejan Štifanić
Lead
At the round table Croatian Heritage Foundation director Mijo Marić noted that the bridges between Croatia and Brazil were both important and deep on account of the great number of Croatians that have moved to Brazil.