FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For its 4th consecutive year, The Lavagem of 46 Street, a Brazilian Cultural Parade and Festival are the producers of the annual "Lavagem Expo".
which officially opens the Brazil Week.
In the past years the Lavagem Expo had given opportunities to various Brazilian artists to exhibit their various works, such as phot...ography, fine arts, poetry, theater, fashion, music and dance presentations.
This year we will present "Expressions" by Bel Borba a visual artist from Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. He initially became famous for his mosaics that can be seen in many neighborhoods throughout Salvador, he also works in a variety of mixed medias including acrylic paint, metals, digital renderings, ceramics and more. His work often has a humorous surrealistic quality.
When: Monday, August 29 to Sept 5, 2011
11 am to 8pm (daily)
Where: Chashama Gallery
217 E. 42nd Street (bet. 2nd & 3rd Aves.)
WHAT: Exposition, Workshops and Live Performances
History
Lavagem da Rua 46, means "The Cleansing of 46th Street" in English, is an event produced by Silvana Magda’s Viva Brazil Dance Company, Inc., a Not- for- Profit, tax exempt, 501C3 organization that works in conjunction with the Brazilian Day in New York. The mission behind the Lavagem is to create a unique cultural celebration experience in the Big Apple.
“The Cleansing of the 46th Street embraces the responsibility to help expand the Brazilian culture in the world’s capital” says the event producer and general coordinator Silvana Magda. “We are fully involved in this project to maintain our traditions and promote our artists who of course, also have the particular responsibility of strengthening the positive image of Brazil abroad.”
A mystic tradition that started in the 18th century in Bahia, when an image of Christ was brought from Portugal and arrive in Brazil 1745. The attribution of miraculous powers made Our Lord of Bonfim an object of popular devotion.
It is believed that the Cleansing of Bonfim was originated in the times when the slaves were forced to wash the stairway of the Church for the Patron Saint’s party.
Currently this traditional celebration consists of an enormous procession that leaves the Church of Conceição da Praia towards the Church of Bonfim, a distance of 8 Km. Hundreds of baianas open the procession and take, both in their hands and on their heads, vases with flowers and perfumed water in order to wash the stairway and cleanse the devotees.
The procession also embraces all religions and creeds since Our Lord of Bonfim, according to the religious syncretism in Bahia, corresponds to Oxalá.
The Lavagem/Cleasing was brought abroad and reformulated for the United States by Silvana Magda, with the support of the Brazilian entrepreneur João de Matos.
This year, the Lavagem/Cleansing unites diverse voices and rhythms to genuinely represent the enchantment, the tradition of not only Bahia but all the people. This glorious event will celebrate the purification, the energy, the nature, the unification of the people and the perpetuation of peace.
