Summit to Save the Earth: Sideshows Galore

Summiteers who find the official speeches a snooze can skip out for some rousing rhetoric, tribal wisdom and a festival of the arts. Here's a sampler.

By Andrea Dorfman Monday, June 01, 1992

    • THE '92 GLOBAL FORUM, Flamengo Park and other city sites, Rio, June 1-14 The largest sideshow will be an ecological Woodstock for an estimated 12,000 people from "nongovernmental organizations," including environmental groups, human-rights movements, religious communities, women's caucuses, youth associations, trade unions and alliances of indigenous peoples.

    ) Some highlights of the agenda: an Open Speakers Forum, whose guest list includes U.S. presidential candidate Jerry Brown and former Brazilian Environment Minister Jose Lutzenberger, and a debate on the possible creation of an International Green Cross.

    "TRANSFORMING AND RE-CREATING RESIDUES: GARBAGE MADE CLEAN," Paco Imperial, Rio, May 7 to July 5 Fifteen Brazilian photographers display their views of garbage: what it is, how it has evolved, how it is disposed of, how it can be recycled. The show also features "waste decorations" by artist Antonio Manuel.

    INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' CONFERENCE ON TERRITORY, ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, Kari-Oca Indian Village, Rio, May 25-30 Some 400 Indian leaders from Brazil's 180 indigenous nations, as well as 200 representatives from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Latin America, Scandinavia, Asia and Russia, are gathering at a specially constructed village near the Pedra Branca Forest. Besides environmental issues, the agenda includes such topics as land rights and self- government. On May 30 the tribal leaders will celebrate the "Day of the White Man" with dance and rituals.

    ECOBRAZIL '92, Anhembi Park Convention Center, Sao Paulo, June 6-11 An environmental-technology trade fair, EcoBrazil '92 will showcase the latest in pollution-control and other green equipment from 85 Brazilian companies and dozens of foreign firms, including Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi and Sun Electric.

    "30 POSTERS ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT," Museum of Modern Art, Rio, May 29 to June 29 Leading graphic designers from 25 countries have contributed posters that portray optimistic visions of sustainable development. Organized by Design Rio, the show will open simultaneously in dozens of galleries around the world.

    "AMAZON ART," Museum of Modern Art, Rio, June 5-28 This eclectic array consists of works by 26 artists from 14 countries who were deposited in far- flung corners of the Amazon and told to use local materials to depict the region's natural beauty and environmental ills.

    A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM IN THE AMAZON FOREST, Joao Caetano Theater, Rio, May 15 to Dec. 15 In this elaborate production directed by German filmmaker Werner Herzog, Puck is transported to the contemporary Brazilian rain forest. The play opens with a Herzog film documentary on the ecological devastation of Kuwait.

    FOREST OF THE AMAZON, Municipal Theater, Rio, June 1-21 Set to music by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, Forest of the Amazon is the story of a white goddess who falls in love with a rubber tapper, angering both the Amazon tribe that adores her and the forest itself. The ballet, described by choreographer Dalal Achcar as "a poetic fantasy," is an expanded version of one she originally created for Margot Fonteyn.

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