Casa do Povo: more than a social project, a meeting of futures
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Have you heard of Casa do Povo? This is one of those very special places in the city center that is worth checking out!
A few days ago, I had to go to Dr. Consulta da Luz, which is about 10 minutes from my house. When there is traffic, it takes about 15 minutes. I decided to take an Uber because of the pandemic. On the way back, I met a driver who greeted me with the following phrase: “Do you live here? Your neighborhood has a lot to improve. One day it will be a good place.” I immediately got irritated by his view of downtown.
In another race, a driver was also surprised by the fact that he lived downtown, with the following statement: “Wow, I always saw downtown as a commercial place, what is it like living here? ” In both situations, I didn’t know what to say. But I was very thoughtful about how the downtown recovery needs to be done with a different perspective: living here means humanizing this place, taking care of this place and honoring an ancestral territory.
The Bom Retiro neighborhood, where I live, is considered a downtown neighborhood. Often seen as old because of the historic buildings and apartments from the 1960s, it is a confluence of many cultures. If you walk around, you will find people of Asian, Armenian, African, Italian origins... and so on.
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And on one of these streets, at Três Rios 252, is the Casa do Povo. Yes, it is our house, the house of the people of downtown São Paulo, who come together to create a place of culture, art and urban aesthetics, as well as political actions.
The People’s House – How does it work?
Founded in 1946 as a non-profit association, Casa do Povo was first owned by progressive Jews from Western Europe, who lived mostly in Bom Retiro. The goal of Casa do Povo was to pay tribute to those killed by fascism and to honor the struggles here in Brazil to end Nazism, becoming a living organism. And this organism gained a body through the construction of a modern, huge and very spacious building, with 03 floors and different spaces. In 1956, Casa do Povo was inaugurated with a ball and lots of food!
In 1980, Casa do Povo faced an institutional and financial crisis, which accompanied the decline of downtown São Paulo. However, in the late 2000s, it underwent a reconfiguration. Now, not only Jewish people would be considered and valued within the Casa, but also everyone who fights for the end of fascism, racism, sexism and so many other prejudices that exist in Brazil and around the world.
The new People's House
Today, Casa do Povo's proposal is to move the theater, dance, gastronomy, cinema, visual art and many other artistic and cultural aspects.
I would like to revisit the show Quando Quebra Queima, by Coletiva Ocupação , a theater company founded by students who occupied public schools between 2013, 2014 and 2015. Coletiva brought a different perspective to theater, creating a play that portrayed not only the historical movement of students, but also the feelings, discoveries and frustrations of leading a youth uprising in Latin America.
The play Quando Quebra Queima was performed countless times at Casa do Povo, precisely because of this political and territorial openness. Clearly, not all the actors and actresses lived nearby, in Bom Retiro, however it was in the center of São Paulo that the fight for a quality and democratic education was established.
On the day I went to see the play, I remember the first floor being packed. Almost 200 people were waiting for the first call from the theater to go up and watch the play. The steps of the Casa do Povo were filled with strangers and acquaintances, comrades in struggle, movement and life.
The play begins on the theater floor of the Casa do Povo. The floor is wooden, the chairs are scattered throughout the space and there is no stage. Every space is a stage, because the entire Casa do Povo is horizontal, without highs and lows, or any kind of hierarchy.
The People's House and journalism: for more diversity
My favorite place in Casa do Povo is Énois . Without further ado, it is one of my favorite places because it offers more diverse and representative journalism. I work at Énois as a community coordinator, and the choice to be at Casa do Povo is not only budgetary, but also political.
Énois is located on the third floor, on the terrace. It is a space with a kitchen and two workrooms, which during the pandemic was filled with young people planning a new future for journalism. The terrace was a bonus, where they went to have a coffee, smoke a cigarette, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the great São Paulo.
In the main room at Énois, there is a giant window that offers a view filled with buildings. When I first went to work at Énois, what I loved most was the view. You can only make new plans when you have a horizon, a broad view, the view outside the window.
Well, to recap, Énois is a non-profit organization that was born as a School of Journalism (EJ), and was the first journalism school aimed at young people and people from the outskirts of the city, reaching around 4,000 people with the project, which lasted from 2015 to 2019. Before 2015, directors Amanda Rahra and Nina Weingrill taught journalism and communication in other alternative spaces, such as Casa do Zezinho, in Capão Redondo, on the outskirts of São Paulo, and Casa Armênia, here in the center.
Today, the team of directors also includes Simone Cunha, and we are a Journalism Laboratory that seeks to create strategies, methodology and tools to build and promote more diverse journalism. These tools come from our training processes, which reach all of Brazil, from north to south, from newsroom exchange programs and from our involvement in major media outlets, such as Folha de São Paulo.
Énois’ existence at Casa do Povo is recent, but very significant. As I said, it is a democratic space, where everyone can come, go and get to know each other. Our space is not luxurious, but it has everything we need: blackboards, chairs, internet and books. We welcome and communicate with people through the democratic environment of Casa do Povo.
Phew, a lot of things go through this temple-space, right? But I think the most important thing about this text is that, being in the center, is to increasingly embrace the fact that this territory is ours and deserves to be valued as a place that generates and maintains life, not just jobs, money and power. Casa do Povo was fundamental during the pandemic, distributing masks, food and providing workshops for income generation. These are the bridges we need to continue protecting the center. Oh! It is also there that some FICA activities are organized, it is worth checking out!
Want to know more about the center, culture and diversity? Check out the other texts on our blog!