In the period leading up to the Olympic Games, the Dutch cultural programme HOBRA will be held in Rio de Janeiro from 11 to 31 July. Ten Dutch and ten Brazilian artists and other creative professionals will form teams of 2. Each duo will create a new work within three weeks. The results will be presented to the Brazilian and international public during a large-scale concluding event.
HOBRA is a combination of Holanda and Brasil – and it also refers to obra, which is the Portuguese word for (art) work. The Dutch-Brazilian duos will work in the disciplines of literature, film, theatre, music, dance, design, e-culture, visual arts, architecture, and in the field of cultural participation. During the project in Rio de Janeiro, the teams will not only work together as duos but will also be challenged to connect to the work by other duos.
This programme is the result of an invitation by Brazil to the Netherlands to participate in the Olympic cultural programme in Rio de Janeiro. HOBRA serves to stimulate the cultural dialogue and exchange between the two countries, but also helps promote Dutch culture on an international stage. The programme furthermore seeks to establish new forms of collaboration between the Netherlands and Brazil.
A remarkable initiative
The cultural programme HOBRA is a collaborative effort by the six public culture funds: Performing Arts Fund, Cultural Participation Fund, Mondriaan Fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Dutch Foundation for Literature, Creative Industries Fund NL, and DutchCulture, the strategic advice agency for international cultural cooperation, creating activities worldwide. The programme is carried out in partnership with several Brazilian cultural organisations, including the international theatre festival TEMPO. This is the first time that partners from the two countries work together on this scale to create a cultural programme in the context of the Olympic Games.
Dutch participants
Literature: Jan Cleijne, Architecture: Sjoerd ter Borg, Theatre: Sjaron Minailo, Visual arts: Jonas Ohlsson, Film: Daan Gielis, Dance: Fernando Belfiore, Design: Yuri Veerman, Music: Emma Rekers, E-Culture: Thom Kuijpers, Cultural participation: Jörgen Tjon A Fong.
Follow the programme online
Between 11 and 31 July 2016, the Dutch and Brazilian artists and creative professionals, the interim presentations and the final event in Rio de Janeiro can be followed on https://hobra.art.br, the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hobra2016, via the hashtag #HOBRA and Instagram @HOBRA2016.
Jan Cleijne
Jan Cleijne began to illustrate children’s books and create scenario sketches for Donald Duck in 2001. Since then he has illustrated for numerous (educational) publishers, theatre productions, media and museums. He has also created a number of short visual stories, mostly without any text. His debut Legends of the Tour (Helden van de Tour) is a collection of stories about the winners and losers in the rich history of the Tour de France. This graphic novel has been translated into English (by Laura Watkinson and Michele Hutchison for Head of Zeus, London), German and Danish. See also our translations database.
Note for editors:
For more information or interview requests:
Jorn Konijn, coordinator HOBRA DutchCulture +31 (0)6 41433845 j.konijn@dutchculture.nl
Josine Backus, advisor Brazil DutchCulture +31(0)6 17970193 j.backus@dutchculture.nl
Carlie Janszen, communication advisor Performing Arts Fund +31 (0)6 46218988 c.janszen@fondspodiumkunsten.nl
The annex contains an overview of the participants with a short biography and photo.
