Casa do Povo

Founded in 1946 in the Bom Retiro neighborhood of São Paulo by a group of anti-fascist Jewish associations, the initial purpose of Casa do Povo was that of a cultural centre and also a place dedicated to the memory of those who perished during the Shoah. The "never again" took the form of a militant project, a place open to radical otherness, as well as contemporary struggles of an urgent nature, minorities, and alternatives. Over the decades, very different activities have taken place there, including a Yiddish choir, a constructivist school, a politically-engaged newspaper, and an experimental theatre for all. During the period of the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985), the Casa do Povo naturally became a place of resistance and the avant-garde.
Since the early 2010s, this “house of the people” (the literal translation of Casa do Povo) has been able to reinvent itself, in keeping with its anti-fascist political stance and fluid mode of operating. It has given rise to practices which are very different from those often associated with art centers. The commissioned works and programs, in particular those related to education, developed by Casa do Povo, coexist with its use by around twenty associated collectives, from a popular boxing academy, and a printing studio, to a psychoanalysis clinic, a fashion cooperative and various choirs. It does not matter whether their activity is professional or amateur, social, artistic or cultural, such distinctions having no place here. They have open access to the building, and participate in its management and program scheduling.
It is a flexible and decentralized organization of this kind that Casa do Povo wishes to put in place at the Maison des Métallos. What initiatives might result from an invitation made to such a unique place by a Festival with a reputation for having no home of its own? On the basis of a strong bias, that of ensuring that the different processes and propositions, the means and the ends, are of equal importance, the aim is to create both the common or collective, and the unprecedented. The Carte Blanche encompasses very different projects, and will further conversations already put in place between the Brazilian collectives who will be travelling to France and their counterparts in Paris and Île-de-France. A kitchen, a temporary boxing academy, a fanzine printing workshop and parent-child space, a project led by the Brazilian artist Graziela Kunsch, will coexist with the artistic propositions programmed by Casa do Povo and the Festival d'Automne.
 
This is precisely where the beauty of this Carte Blanche lies, an initiative driven by the spirit of hospitality. It is the Festival d’Automne which asked the Maison des Métallos to hand over a set of keys to Casa do Povo, and the latter will in turn be entrusting them to us, enabling the Festival to have, for the very first time, a temporary place of welcome. We look forward to seeing you there in order to share the joy of the present, the collective and political solidarity.