Corumbá (MS) – At the Festival América do Sul Pantanal, the Quebra-Torto (a traditional Pantanal brunch) takes on literary nuances by bringing, for this moment of sharing, writers from various Latin American regions to present their works and lead debates and reflections on current topics. On the morning of this Friday (05.27), during the 16th Fasp, it was the turn of Ana Maria Shua (Argentina), Maria Valéria Rezende (Paraíba) and Tânia Souza (MS) to reveal a bit of Latin American human nature. The moderation was led by professor Dr. Rosana Cristina Zanelatto Santos.
But before everything began, the coordinator of the Literature area of the Fundação de Cultura de Mato Grosso do Sul (Mato Grosso do Sul Culture Foundation), Melly Sena, thanked the entire team of the Fundação de Cultura de Mato Grosso do Sul, the curator of this year’s quebra-torto, professor André Rezende Benatti, Moinho Cultural, in the persons of Márcia Rolon and Beto “who are the people who have welcomed us here for 16 years, Quebra-Torto has Moinho as its home,” the Corumbá City Hall and the Fundação de Cultura de Corumbá (Corumbá Culture Foundation). “All we can do is give thanks, because we have today and Saturday morning. May it be very rewarding and may we learn from these special guests who are with us.”
Sonia Rolon, from the Academia Feminina de Letras e Artes de Mato Grosso do Sul (Mato Grosso do Sul Women’s Academy of Letters and Arts), spoke a little about the end of the pandemic and the resumption of cultural events. “It’s a very great pleasure to be here again in this place, what was weighing on our chests is over, that thing we missed so much, the gathering of those who love words, beautiful words, the meeting of words that cross each other forming verses, poetry, poems, love, everything that this meeting of words conveys. I’m here bringing a big hug from the women of the Academia Feminina de Letras e Artes de Mato Grosso do Sul.”
The president-director of the Fundação de Cultura de Corumbá, Joilson da Silva Cruz, was very moved: “taking part in this moment where flavors inspire us and poetry feeds us, literature feeds us, this house that breathes culture, art — this moment is very pleasurable. I’m moved to be in this house, which is unique, and by the importance it has for our municipality, our State and our country. A good event for all of us.”
State representative Paulo Duarte was present at the event and recalled that Governor Reinaldo Azambuja had visited Moinho Cultural the day before. “I just wanted to say that yesterday this space here, Moinho Cultural, experienced a historic moment. The governor and Fátima, his wife, were enchanted by this space, and yesterday, for the first time, Moinho, which is coming of age, turning 18 this year, for the first time the sitting state governor came to get to know this space. He signed an agreement investing not only in art and culture, but in social inclusion. Because Moinho has this distinguishing feature: besides breathing art and culture, it is a social project. Yesterday was certainly a historic day for Corumbá and for those who love, who breathe art and culture.”
State representative Mara Caseiro recalled her time heading the Fundação de Cultura de Mato Grosso do Sul: “It’s a pleasure to be here at this 16th Festival América do Sul Pantanal. It feels so good to feel the energy. Yesterday on that stage there was such a wonderful synergy that I felt like I was in my own backyard. I headed the Fundação de Cultura de Mato Grosso do Sul, with this team, during the last festival, and it was such a great pleasure to be able to learn things I didn’t know, to learn about Mato Grosso do Sul’s culture. I left the Culture Foundation with a certain tightness in my heart, because we had so much to do, we had so many projects for 2020, and then the pandemic came and took our dreams away. We had to postpone our dreams. And today we see the resumption of this great Festival, the resumption of our life. Being able to breathe culture here in Corumbá, because this is a special place. Congratulations, Corumbá.”
Closing out the authorities’ remarks, the deputy secretary of Citizenship and Culture, Eduardo Romero, spoke on behalf of the State Government and expressed his joy that people could be reuniting at this 16th Festival, “which involves art, culture, citizenship, exchange of experiences.” “We take advantage of the Festival for those big shows, big gatherings, the big performances, but mainly to have an exchange of experiences, exchanges of knowledge, and to do what we most like to do: show our identities, our history and our culture. I congratulate everyone who dedicates themselves to literature, to local writing, because it is in these records, these memories, that we keep our stories and our knowledge alive. May we have a good gathering and be able to enjoy this Quebra-Torto com Letras.”
This year’s Quebra-Torto curator is professor Dr. André Rezende Benatti. He stresses the importance of Quebra-Torto within the Fasp program as a way to create a space for discussing the literary text itself and the literary craft. “I think this space brings together, to some extent, various perspectives, based, of course, on the curatorial choices, that we can have from the human being itself being debated at the festival, within Quebra-Torto. Not that we don’t notice the presence of literature at other moments of the Festival, because if we take a narrative perspective, you’ll find literature in theater, you’ll find narrativity in music, in performance, various types of narrativity. But the space of Quebra-Torto is different, because it will give priority to this text itself and the differences among the human beings represented there within the literary text, which is narrative, but also poetic, and diverse.”
Janete Fátima Pará Velasco, pedagogical coordinator at the Escola Caique Padre Ernesto Sassida, brought the school’s eighth-grade students to take part in Quebra-Torto because it is “an important event for the students to get to know and take part in. Quebra-Torto is a moment for them to meet other writers, to have contact with Corumbá’s culture, and they have this opportunity to get to know the work of writers from the region and from other countries.”
Janete (left), Marilena (right)
Special Education support teacher Marilena Oliveira da Silva, also from Escola Caique Padre Ernesto Sassida, hopes that they will carry this learning and culture into their lives. “This is part of Corumbá’s culture, they’ll live it in their lives. Not just from today on — I don’t know if they had knowledge of this because of the pandemic, they’re in eighth grade, so I think they’ll carry this, this thing about culture, for life. I hope we can plant in them this understanding and this desire to always take part.”
Daniel Victor Vasques, an eighth-grade student at the same school, said he liked it when the writer talked about the books she has written, that she writes, and how everything she did over time went. “I’m enjoying hearing everything they say about Brazilian culture, about everything. I really like to write, when I’m alone I write poems. I liked the writer Tânia Souza because she talked about her own story, about her life.”
Her classmate Luma Khiara Vargas was happy that her school had been invited to take part. “I thought it would be interesting, it was the first time I came, and I’m finding it really cool to meet writers from other countries, the activity is really cool. I write little, but I like reading more. I liked the writer from Argentina and the writer from Paraíba, I found their stories interesting.”
Quebra-torto is the most typical Pantanal breakfast, served on Mato Grosso do Sul ranches before the day’s work in the fields. It is made up of ingredients that would be more common in a hearty lunch. Known throughout the entire territory of Mato Grosso do Sul, its spread is always rich and flavorful.
Jonirce (left), Lidia (right)
Lidia Aguilar Leite has coordinated the Quebra-Torto food since the very first Festival. “I have a team that has worked with me since the first Festival. Some people come from Campo Grande to be able to work with us. I used to coordinate the gastronomy at Moinho Cultural and they worked with me. They’re already part of my family. Since it’s called Quebra-Torto com Letras, it’s good for promoting our culture, what we eat at the quebra-torto. So for example today it’ll be carreteiro rice, tomorrow it’ll be macarrão de comitiva [cattle-drive pasta], so every day we put something different. And then we make cornmeal cake with guava paste, we serve burnt maté, so all of this is part of our culture. And we make feijão pantaneiro [Pantanal-style beans], which comes with that ossobuco, with sausage, so it’s a bean dish that’s really ours, that the pantaneiro eats to stay strong.”
Jonirce Assunção de Jesus is one of the cooks who has been part of the team since the very first Quebra-Torto com Letras at Fasp. She works from home, but when there’s an event in Corumbá they call her to cook, because everyone says her food is delicious. “Whenever there’s the Festival we come here and cook. The quebra-torto has carreteiro rice, bolinho de chuva [fried dough balls], burnt maté tea, paçoca de carne seca [shredded dried-beef paçoca], banana farofa. I like cooking, I like seeing people eat. I feel very happy, because I do things with love.”
After discussing South American literature, those present were able to savor these delicious delicacies from our region, made with great care. Quebra-torto also happens on Saturday (28), at 8 a.m., at Moinho Cultural Sul-Americano. To take part, you have to arrive very early, since only 200 tickets will be available, admission on a first-come, first-served basis. On the 28th, writers Carla Maliandi, Santiago Nazarian and Márcia Medeiros will speak about the aesthetics of the Latin American word, moderated by Wellington Furtado.
Text: Karina Lima
Photos: Muriel Xavier
