Carlinhos Brown celebrates Ibero-American Day with Segib

The Diplomat

Brazilian artist Carlinhos Brown was the star of the event organized in Madrid by the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) on the occasion of Ibero-American Day, celebrated every year on July 19.

At the beginning of the ceremony, which took place at the Casa de América and was intended to highlight the richness, diversity and historical and cultural commonalities of the 22 countries of the Community, Carlinhos Brown declared: “I am an ambassador of SEGIB. It is not only an honour but also an obligation to inspire new young people with my word. Let us stay strong.”

Under the title “Ibero-America Dialogue”, the Brazilian artist spoke with the singer Marina ValdesGreat-granddaughter of pianist Bebo Valdés and granddaughter of Chucho Valdés, both agreed to emphasize the importance of culture, music and art as necessary goods and that they transcend borders.

Filmmaker Fernando Trueba, who filmed 20 years ago, also participated electronically in the conversation The Miracle of Candeal, a social work documentary about Carlinhos Brown’s proposal to replace the violence in a modest neighborhood with the music of his drums and timpani.

“The ‘Miracle of Candeal’ “I was able to get to know Carlinhos as a human being and as a person and I became closer to Bebo, whom I never had the chance to meet in my life,” said Marina Valdés.

And between the questions, the timpani, the Cuban rhythms, the award-winning song from the film El Milagro de Candeal (Goya for best documentary and best song) and the melody of 100% Latin American roots music could be heard. There was also a version of the Ibero-American anthem adapted to Brazilian rhythms.

The event, organized by SEGIB with the support of the Spanish Cooperation Agency and in collaboration with Casa de América, was opened by the Ibero-American Secretary General. Andrés Allamand, who highlighted that culture – a great guest of the day – has always been a primary element of Ibero-American identity and cooperation, “a culture that is American, European and African; that is sung in Spanish, Portuguese and also in the languages ​​of the indigenous peoples; that is tradition, avant-garde and innovation.”

The director of the Casa de América, Leon de la TorreHe also spoke at the opening and stressed that “this is a great day for Ibero-American culture and the values ​​that unite us every day.”

In addition to the activity with Carlinhos Brown and Marina Valdés, the day before, the second edition of “Iberoamerica Future” took place at the headquarters of the Ibero-American General Secretariat, a space created within the framework of Ibero-American Day for reflection on issues of cutting-edge science and thought from the region.

In this first event, the theme was “Neuroscience, Rights and Artificial Intelligence” and included the participation of Spanish neurologist Rafael Yuste, former Chilean senator Guido Giraldi and Spanish computational linguist Carmen Torrijos. The need to engage with science, focusing on the human being and from a diverse perspective that includes an ethical, legal, political and philosophical perspective, was the big theme of the day.

In November 2019, the Foreign Ministers of the 22 countries in the region decided to celebrate Ibero-American Day every year on July 19, the date on which the first Declaration of the Heads of State of the Region was signed in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1991.

SEGIB actively participates in the celebration of this day, highlighting, above all, the values ​​that unite the 22 countries of the region, the joint work for the progress of Ibero-America and underlining the importance of horizontal cooperation and the agreements signed between countries as effective tools for the creation of fairer and more sustainable societies.