The 13th UNE Biennial – Students’ Festival will start today (2nd) in Rio de Janeiro, with an estimated reception of 10,000 students from all over the country by next Sunday (5th). The event will have scientific, artistic and digital games exhibitions. 1,600 works were registered. 
“We selected 171. Each language selected works that respected the issue of regional parity, gender parity and thematic parity”, said the coordinator of the University Circuit of Culture and Art (Cuca) of the National Union of Students (UNE), Paola Soccas.
Ever since the biennale came into being, in 1999, it has been willing to investigate national identity. “She always discusses Brazil, from a different perspective”, highlighted Paola. This year, the theme is “A River Called Brazil”. The goal is to defend educational policies, cultural policies and environmental policies, involving the defense of biomes and traditional peoples.
“These are the main guidelines in the reconstruction of the country. We adopted the element of rivers to be able, in a symbolic and romantic way, to illustrate Brazilian diversity, the strength, the contractions and the reconstruction that we will live in the next period”, said the Cuca coordinator.
Paola also noted that the central theme highlights the emphasis given by Brazilian students in this edition to the Amazon and northern culture, when they elected Bruna Brelaz, a native of Amazonas, as the new president of UNE.
The Bois Caprichoso and Garantido, from Parintins, will be honored at the biennial. “It is the river as that element that invigorates, that regenerates nature, without which no one eats, no one lives”.
Paula, in an interview with Brazil Agency, highlighted that the idea is to show the country that if biomes, peoples and development are not placed at the center of everything, the future will be in danger. “These are not sustainable futures. There is no education without thinking about our territories, nature, our peoples. There is nothing without the Amazon and nature”, he said.
Registrations
During the day, the program will be at Fundição Progresso, located next to Arcos da Lapa, in the central region of Rio. At night, from 6:30 pm, there will be artistic shows on a stage set up in the Arches.
All programming is free and open to the public. Until the last day 31, registrations were made online. Since yesterday (1st), they began to be made only in person, at Fundição Progresso.
Students coming to Rio are charged R$170, which includes accommodation at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and bus transfers to the foundry and Arcos da Lapa, with guaranteed return to the university.
In addition to the exhibitions, there will be film screenings and debates with ministers Luciana Santos, of Science, Technology and Innovation; Ana Moser, from Sport; Marina Silva, from the Environment; Sônia Guajajara, from Indigenous Peoples; Margareth Menezes, from Culture; and Anielle Franco, from Racial Equality.
The Minister of Culture will also participate today (2) in a symbolic act of popular refoundation, “by the hands of students”, of the ministry (Minc) and in defense of culture. “It will be a very important moment, because the minister will be able to talk to all the youth and members of society about the plans of the Ministry of Culture”, highlighted Paola.
“The entire program was thought of as a manifesto for the reconstruction of the country, based on the cultural diversity of the Brazilian people and territory”, said the president of UNE, Bruna Brelaz.
shows
The musical program of the 13th UNE Biennial begins today, at 7 pm, with the Manifesto pela Terra, with shows by the folkloric oxen of Parintins, Caprichoso and Garantido, and by the singer Gaby Amarantos.
The following day (3), the pirate ship and the frowns from the Baiana System disembark at Arcos da Lapa to cheer up the kids. On Saturday (4), it’s DJ Rennan da Penha’s turn to rock the night.
On Sunday (5), closing of the event, Cuca will gather the whole team in a seminar to discuss what will be the directions of the circuit for the next period, “what will be our flag, our horizon”, mentioned the coordinator.
At the end of the seminar, the traditional Culturata will leave Fundição Progresso, a kind of parade with a carnival block, with the participation of the Mangueira Samba School, Voadora Orchestra, and Céu e Terra Block. The procession will travel through the streets of the city.
The complete program can be accessed on here.
Biennial
The UNE Biennial is a festival of culture, art, science and technology that maps, connects and presents the most interesting work that has been produced inside and outside Brazilian universities. It is considered the largest student meeting in Latin America.
It is carried out jointly with the Brazilian Union of Secondary Students (Ubes), the National Association of Graduate Students (Anpg) and the Latin American and Caribbean Continental Organization of Students (Oclae). The first UNE Biennial was promoted in 1999, in Salvador.
