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CUBS Fisrt Year

by Cristina Ariani

We realised that if we were from the same College but we hadn’t met, there must be many Brazilians around in Cambridge that we don’t know!

Cristina Ariani

In January, 2011 Leo and I met Emilene and Gabriel through our common friend Christos. We were all from the same College. We realised that if we were from the same College but we hadn’t met, there must be many Brazilians around in Cambridge that we don’t know!

Next day I sent an email to the International Office asking them to forward an invitation to all Brazilians. Surprisingly, more than 15 Brazilians turned up in the coffee shop, including my mum and my uncle!

On the 23rd of March the Society was founded with the current committee members plus Leo as the membership’s officer. Next day I sent an email to the International Office asking them to forward an invitation to all Brazilians. The bank account was opened with £45.00, membership from all 9 of us, including Fabiana and Daniel.

We gathered at Granta Bar some Thursdays, but the first event was a Barbecue at Hughes Hall on the 1st of September, where around 15 people came and it was really good.

Other meetings that took place in the first year of CUBS were:

  • Freshers Fair in October 2011, more than 120 subscriptions;
  • Squash with nibbles and wine, where more than 40 people came and we got some memberships;
  • Formal Hall at Christ’s and formal swap with the Italian Society;
  • Events organized with Newnham College – the Brazilian cuisine and caipirinha worshop; capoeira and drumming workshop; and talk by Dr Lucia Villela about Clarice Lispector.

1st Oxbridge Conference on Brazilian Studies (2012)

Suplicy em Cambridge (2019)

CUBS and the Freire statue at the University of Cambridge

The story of the Paulo Freire statue envisioned by the Landless Workers Movement (MST – Brazil), donated by the Cambridge University Brazilian Society to the Faculty of Education and which has now become the first statue of a Brazilian at the University of Cambridge as a symbol of dialogue, tolerance, and above all, resistance. Read the full BBC article here.

A história da estátua de Paulo Freire idealizada pelo Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST), doada pela Sociedade Brasileira da Universidade de Cambridge à Faculdade de Educação e que agora se tornou a primeira estátua de um brasileiro na Universidade de Cambridge como símbolo de diálogo, tolerância e, acima de tudo, resistência. Leia o artigo completo do UOL aqui.

Um enredo juntou o MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra), um grupo de estudantes na Inglaterra e um artista plástico de Santana do Parnaíba (SP) e colocou o primeiro busto de um intelectual brasileiro na Universidade Cambridge, quarta mais antiga instituição do mundo, fundada em 1209”

CUBS Sabiá Award

On 24 May, CUBS welcomed Márcia Tiburi at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and presented her with the new “Sabiá Award”, a warm gesture aimed at honouring those visiting Cambridge who fights for a more just, democratic and inclusive Brazil.

Our inspiration: Sabiá is a songbird and the national bird of Brazil. It is also a reminder that our wildlife, and the natural world in general, are threatened as their habitats are being destroyed. “Sabiá” is also a song composed by Tom Jobim with Chico Buarque in 1968, and it is about exile during dark times in Brazil’s history and how one in exile misses their home country and hopes for brighter days in the hope of returning.

Our first “Sabiá Award” was a homage to Márcia Tiburi for her fight for women’s rights and outstanding contribution towards democracy in Brazil – a better Brazil that we hope to find when we return.

CUBS on the News

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