Ciba Inc.
Klybeckstrasse 141, P.O. Box
Basel
4002
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 61 636 49 16
Fax.:
+41 61 636 25 59
Self-sufficiency, environmental protection and cultural promotion – All in a day’s work for Ute Hübler and Sonja Nitschmann of espírito brasilis
By James Posey
"I've never beheld such a paradise. The people are enchanting and a mercy on this earth of ours." –
Stefan Zweig (1936), in correspondences to his wife on arriving in Brazil
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I recently had the pleasure to meet Ute Hübler of espírito brasilis at the 2008 Maison&Objet show in Paris, a very charming and extremely busy promoter of some of the most inspirational and unique materials I've seen in recent memory. Among all the amazing exhibits at that show, the very clear message Ute delivered about the works her group was promoting was what stuck with me.
The work of Enrique Rodríguez
Indeed, it’s one thing to hear that a company "wants" to work to help the world be greener, or to promote self-sufficiency among all walks of society; it's; another thing altogether to see it in action ... and working!
Although her time was limited that day, Ute was kind enough to cover with me many of the objectives and attributes with which her team works. Later that month, I was fortunate to get a few moments to follow up with both her and her European business partner in Vienna, Sonja Nitschmann, shortly before their participation in the National Craft and Design Fair, São Paulo, which took place at the beginning of March.
Thank you both for getting back to me. Can you tell me more about your business and how you not only got started, but also got so deeply involved in this Brazil-based operation?
As you can see, our little group operates under the name "espírito brasilis", but we are actually part of a larger group of organizations, artisans and community activities and you will probably be more familiar with our work under the "Instituto Fazer Brasil", which we're typically listed as, in most show guides.
The work of Enrique Rodríguez
What is the Instituto Fazer Brasil?
The Instituto Fazer Brasil was created in 2003 as a non-profit, non-government organization. As part of the vision of its founding members, it gives support to individuals, groups, organizations and also communities that are searching for new means of generating work and improving the living conditions of their citizens. They are constantly searching for new talents and are especially involved in the preservation of what can only be called a limitless source of local art and talent. Fazer Brasil works to develop marketing and promotional approaches for small entrepreneurs that design a wide variety of objects including for the home and decoration markets, with a clear preference being given to hand-made goods, designs with clear uniqueness and activities that incorporate Brazilian materials.
However, the group was formed with not only this clear sense of nationality and pride, but also in order to look for new ways to create work and income for a portion of the population that are, for whatever reasons, "excluded" from regular work, or have otherwise fallen on harder times, despite their own great desire for independence and facility for skilled manual labor and excellent quality production. Their approaches for employment and generating new business are therefore strictly designed for social and environmental responsibility.
Fazer Brasil also maintains the financial contract with APEX – the ”Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments”, the promotional group standing behind all the financing of our fairs – and gives us, espírito brasilis, the possibility to actually support the commercial side, by promoting and selling the various artists' creations at several fairs and other events in Europe, the United States and this year even in Dubai. APEX’s goal is to create the conditions needed for Brazilian companies to be able to promote and push their goods into export markets, including offering "access", if you will, to a more diverse selection of countries with which Brazil maintains trade, cultural, or other types of exchanges.
The work of Maria das Neves Cavalcanti Moreira
I see from your own website that you are also promoting products from a wide variety of artists and designers. Is this a part of your business which is separated from the objectives of Fazer Brasil's activities?
Not at all. You're absolutely right, we have access to a number of extremely talented artists, designers, architects - you name it. However, every colleague or group listed on our website shares the same vision as we do.
How does this work?
For example, we have several artists with very impressive resumes, as you can see. Their design work is tied into our entire value chain through the production step, wherein our artists team up with local citizens to seek new ways of organizing the production work to create more employment and self-sufficiency. Therefore, we look for highly valued partnerships with organized groups in the community who provide further support in bridging the gap with either our partner artists or individual entrepreneurs to constantly augment production and bring in funds where it is most needed.
The work of Maria das Neves Cavalcanti Moreira
Can you give us examples of your current projects, or special activities?
With pleasure! One of our most exciting current projects involves developing a working partnership with the Institute Porto Seguro, a school that maintains education and additional care for 700 children from the slum of Paraisópolis in São Paulo. Our mutually shared goal is to organize the parents of children in this school to produce objects created by, among others, the designer Nagib Orro.
We are also continuously working with several local authorities to focus on recycling various "waste" products that can generate significant value when used in other ways. You can see an example of this in the Boracea Workshop Project.
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