Redes de Teatro na Maré and Prison Creative Arts Program, 2014
Spring 2014: The University of Michigan Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) and the Brazil Initiative hosted graduate students from the Theater School of the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO). The students were shown how the U-M PCAP project worked on a day-to-day basis, visited the 19th Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners, and were introduced to the student facilitators and their activities. As a result of this cross-cultural exchange, UNIRIO has decided to begin a new type of work with ex-prisoners and prisoners’ families hosting meetings at the university.
June 2016: Students spent three weeks in Brazil to learn about hands-on community theatre practice. Led by U-M Professor Ashley Lucas, they worked with professors and students from UniRio to facilitate theatre workshops. They have recorded their amazing and unforgettable experience on their blog »
Related news:
- Escaping with Theater: Inmates, Ill, and Poverty-stricken Find Solace (in English) and (in Portuguese)
Student Testimonials
“It was a great opportunity for us to get to know the operational dynamics of the PCAP program at the University of Michigan. Understanding how it works is very valuable to us, and we can improve various aspects of our program in the prisons in Brazil based on this exchange. For example, the Atonement Project Art Workshops we visited in Detroit and Lansing were quite inspiring, because in Brazil our program does not yet offer workshops to ex-prisoners and crime-victims. Also, the Annual Exhibition of Art by Michigan Prisoners is a great initiative to consider adding to our project.”
– Anita Mafra
“We are now looking forward very much to [U-M students’] arrival in Brazil. We want to show you our work in the Maré favela so that you can see some of the positive aspects of favela life which unfortunately do not always appear in the press.”
– Carolina da Silva Barbosa & Phellipe Azevedo
