16th June is set to be recognized Internationally as Bloomsday. The celebration comes from James Joyce's classic "Ulysses", which adapts Homer's Odyssey and transforms it into the story of the character Leopold Bloom, in an 18-hour journey on June 16th, 1904. At UFOP, the event featured the official inauguration of the mural inspired by the episode "The cattle of the sun", present in Joyce's work.
The event brought to light the appreciation of literature as an essential right and the importance of intercultural literacy. The celebration was organized by the professors of the Department of Letters (Delet) Maria Rita Drumond and Larissa Ceres Lagos.
The Deputy Dean of Extension, Vanderlice dos Santos, emphasized the importance of the ceremony: "Professionals in this field greatly benefit from this event, given the opportunity for intercultural literacy." Vanderlice also highlighted UFOP's role in the initiative, in view of the University's Culture Plan. "It includes an important investment in culture, a culture based on the symbolic dimension."
Invited to the celebration, Irish ambassador to Brazil, Seán Hoy, mentioned the impact of investment in education as a means for structuring and improving a country. "When we have several opportunities to visit other universities, we add knowledge to our students and, consequently, to our country." He said.
Mateus Pereira, the director of ICHS, and Alexandre Agnolon, the coordinator of the Graduate Program in Letters (Posletras), were also present in the ceremony.
MURAL – The unveiled mural was the winner of a competition held in 2022, the year that "Ulysses" celebrated its centennial. The initiative involved universities from all over the country.
Mariana Silva, a former Letters student at UFOP, the creator of the art, took the opportunity to present her inspirations brought from Brazilian modernism, especially from the painter Tarsila do Amaral, in whose work she sought color references, characters and landscapes to think about the painting. She mentions the happiness in the execution of the project. "It is very representative, not only because of the design and the meaning of our episode at UFOP, but also because of the fact that it has our mark on the University, especially in Mariana."
The person responsible for putting Mariana's ideas on the wall was the artist Bruno Felipe, who is a former student of the Journalism program at UFOP. He stressed the importance of art to the academic and urban scene. "It's a work of opening up to the arts, not only on campus, but also in the city. People from the hip-hop movement, especially graffiti, have been fighting for a long time for the growth of the movement here in Mariana and Ouro Preto. The fact that UFOP gave us these opening demonstrates the University's commitment to the arts and local culture."
INSTITUTIONAL VISIT - In the evening, the ambassador met the vice-rector Hermínio Nalini Júnior and the director of the International Relations Office (DRI), Anderson Gamarano, at the Rectorate of UFOP. Presentations of the University and the extension projects were made, topics such as the relationship between the Institution and the mining activity, and possible cooperation agreements with Irish universities.
