1
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and
Music unite Communities in a Restored Silk
Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima
Cláudio Guilarduci
Para citar este artigo:
LIMA, Evelyn Furquim Werneck e GUILARDUCI, Cláudio. The
Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite
Communities in a Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena.
Urdimento
– Revista de Estudos em Artes Cênicas,
Florianópolis, v. 1, n. 50, abr. 2024.
DOI: 10.5965/1414573101502024e0202In
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The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
2
The Ponto de Partida Group1: How Theatre and Music Unite
Communities in a Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena2
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima3
Claudio Guilarduci4
Abstract
Based on concepts from Nogueira and Cruz, Bezelga, and Menezes, this article
examines the practices of the theatre group which is based in a former silk
factory in Barbacena, helping to make these listed buildings sustainable. After
the factory closed government agencies took over the buildings. However, in
the 1990s, the buildings were unoccupied until taken over by the Ponto de
Partida Group in 1998. To restore the deactivated industrial heritage, the group
involved the community of Barbacena in fund-raising and competitions,
moving into Pavilion 1 in 2004. After the restoration of Pavilion 2, Bituca Music
University was opened there, a tribute to the musician Milton Nascimento.
Finally, the group established a community library in
Pavilion 3.
Keywords:
Artistic Practices. Industrial Heritage. Sustainability. Community.
.
1 Dr Eoin O’Neill carried out a technical and grammatical review of this article. He has a degree in Social Science
(UCD) and a Doctorate in Sociology (IUPERJ).
2 This article is one of the results of research funded by FAPERJ – Research Support Foundation of the
State of Rio de Janeiro. (Process: E-26/200.874/2021).
3 Post-Doctorate from Université Paris X (CAPES) and a Senior Internship from Collège de France (CNPq), in
addition to periods as a Visiting Scholar at various European universities. She holds a Ph.D. in Social History
from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), a Master’s in Visual Arts from the Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-1988), and a Postgraduate degree in Urban Planning (UFRJ). She holds a Bachelor of
Arts in Architecture and Urbanism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ-1968). Since 1989, she
has taught at UNIRIO, from where she retired in 2020 as a Full Professor of the Centre for Letters and Arts.
She is a Permanent Professor at PPGAC/UNIRIO and Deputy Coordinator of the Laboratory of Theatrical
Space and Urban Memory Studies, which she created and directed for 26 years. She is Researcher 1-A at
CNPq and a FAPERJ Scientist of Our State. evelynfwlima.unirio@gmail.com
http://lattes.cnpq.br/7357324433079681 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2578-6180
4 Has a Post-Doctorate in Education (PUC/RJ), a Post-Doctorate in Performing Arts (UNIRIO – CNPq/PDJ), a
PhD (UNIRIO – Fapemig/PCRH), a Master's in Theatre (UNIRIO). He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
from the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ). He is Professor of the Postgraduate Program in
Performing Arts (PPGAC) at the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ). guilarduci@ufsj.edu.br
http://lattes.cnpq.br/4825606089955911 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5165-5937
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
3
O grupo Ponto de Partida: teatro e música unem comunidades em
fábrica de seda restaurada em Barbacena
Resumo
Fundamentado em conceitos de Nogueira e de Cruz, Bezelga & Menezes, o
artigo examina as práticas do grupo teatral que ocupou a antiga Sericícola de
Barbacena, proporcionando sustentabilidade ao patrimônio. Assim que as
atividades fabris foram encerradas, as agências governamentais ocuparam os
edifícios. Porém, na década de 1990, os casarões permaneceram
desocupados até a apropriação pelo Grupo Teatral Ponto de Partida em 1998.
Para restaurar o patrimônio industrial desativado, o grupo envolveu a
comunidade de Barbacena em doações e concursos e, em 2004, ocupou o
Pavilhão 1. Após a restauração do Pavilhão 2, ali foi inaugurada a Bituca –
Universidade de Música Popular, uma homenagem a Milton Nascimento, e,
por fim, o grupo instalou a biblioteca comunitária no Pavilhão 3.
Palavras-chave:
Práticas artísticas. Patrimônio industrial. Sustentabilidade.
Comunidade.
El grupo Ponto de Partida: teatro y música unen comunidades en
una fábrica de seda restaurada en Barbacena
Resumen
A partir de conceptos de Nogueira y de Cruz, Bezelga & Menezes, el artículo
analiza las prácticas del grupo de teatro que ocupó la ex Sericícola de
Barbacena, brindando sostenibilidad al patrimonio. Una vez que se cerraron
las actividades manufactureras, las agencias gubernamentales ocuparon los
edificios. Sin embargo, en la década de 1990, las mansiones permanecieron
desocupadas hasta su apropiación por parte del Grupo Teatral Ponto de
Partida en 1998. Para restaurar el patrimonio industrial desactivado, el grupo
involucró a la comunidad de Barbacena en donaciones y concursos, y en 2004
ocupó el Pabellón 1. Después tras la restauración del Pabellón 2, la Bituca –
Universidade de Música Popular, en homenaje a Milton Nascimento, ocupó el
edificio y, finalmente, el grupo instaló la biblioteca comunitaria en el Pabellón
3.
Palabras clave
: Prácticas artísticas. Patrimonio industrial. Sostenibilidad.
Comunidad.
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
4
Introduction
For more than four decades, Ponto de Partida theatrical group has made a
name for itself as an artistic community in the city of Barbacena. Its presentations
are inspired by Brazilian culture and literature, music from the Jequitinhonha
Valley, indigenous music, and the traditions of Minas Gerais state. This text
proposes to discuss this group created by artists who used the industrial heritage
of the former Barbacena Silk Factory for artistic practices such as theatre, music,
and dance. They used the factory to present their productions and to train more
than 300 members of the local community over the years.
In ‘For another globalization: from unique thought to universal consciousness’
(2003), the geographer Milton Santos seeks to explain the process of globalization,
indicating some alternatives and possibilities for building another world. He defines
space as,
[...] something dynamic and unitary, where materiality and human action
come together. Space is the inseparable set of systems of objects, natural
or manufactured, and systems of actions, deliberate or not. At each time,
new objects and actions join the others, modifying the whole, both
formally and substantially (Santos, 2003, p. 46).
According to Santos, the objects he refers to are increasingly products of
human action involving work and their value in the contemporary model lies in
their effectiveness and contribution to productivity. We understand that the Ponto
de Partida Group, through its artistic and community practices, its hard work, and
the changes it made to the deactivated industrial heritage, represents this new
world made possible, the result of the sum of materiality and human action, as
predicted by Milton Santos (2003).
At the same time, according to Cruz, Bezelga, and Menezes (2020, p. 2),
renowned scholars of community art practices, the relationship between
community artistic practices and education 'generates significant tensions
between artistic value, the ethical dimension of participation in artistic processes,
and their potential impacts on the lives of communities and on the civic and
political participation of the people involved'.
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
5
Another scholar, the British researcher Juliet Rufford, believes that a
successful experience of space is one that is marked qualitatively differently from
the 'city of spectacle' and can transform us from spectator-consumers into active
participants with free will (Rufford, 2017). She draws attention to the fact that,
in countless places in the world's advanced economies, cities
present a delirious new visuality and buildings appear as true
scenic-cultural statements or as large canvases on an architectural
scale. Guy Débord had already predicted this back in 1967. Today, as
Debord feared, we have reached the point where the saleable
images of and for urban space do not seem sufficient to meet the
political-economic desires of the capitalist class and theatre, and
the performance turned into new opportunities to participate in
space experiences (Rufford, 2017, online).
Thus, agreeing with Rufford, we understand that artistic activities developed
in deactivated spaces allow the expansion of the scope of theatre, dance, and
visual arts involving different layers of the population, benefiting the artists.
Directors and performers – having recently abandoned imposing theatres – help
reinforce the dynamic between the theatre and the city. Many of these groups of
actors and artists develop site-specific work that is critically attuned to issues of
space and place, seeking alternative spaces to make art. The issue of eliminating
illusionism and discussing on stage - with intense participation from spectators -
the economic contradictions, social dramas, and oppressions typical of a society
structured by class struggle dates to the modern theatre proposed by Bertolt
Brecht. In contemporary times, different spaces in the city assumed a fundamental
role in guaranteeing a stage-audience interrelationship and the enjoyment of works
of art in general.
Facing the fragmentation of community life in which there is today a need for
the self-affirmation of the individual to the detriment of the collective in a world
increasingly focused on consumption, art in communities will become one of the
possibilities for exercising citizenship.
Theatre and performance have proven to be effective in this
dialogue with the city. The challenge for those concerned with
socially engaged theatre is to open a path between the impasses of
contemporary capitalism using cultural practices in the city space
to guarantee the full exercise of citizenship (Rufford, 2017, online).
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
6
Various concepts of
Theatre in the Community
exist, especially in the view of
Marcia Pompeu Nogueira. She has looked intensely at the topic, concluding that,
given the multiplicity of contexts in which people live in the urban world of
contemporary societies, very different from the rural life model, one might even
think that communities could not survive industrialization (Nogueira, 2008).
However, agreeing with Baz Kershaw, she understands that every community is
similar regarding its internal differences and the mediation role it assumes
between the individual and society (Nogueira, 2007).
Using Anthony Cohen’s and Raymond Williams’ concepts, as well as those of
Kershaw, Marcia Nogueira formulates some different classifications for
Theatre in
the Community
. However, she warns that this path is not the only one and
represents a look at practices that can contribute as a reference for analysis of
theatre practices in the community.
Nogueira discussed three of the classifications she presented at a scientific
meeting held in 2007 at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). In the first,
inspired by Augusto Boal, she defines
Theatre for Communities
as a model that
includes theatre made by artists for peripheral communities in a top-down
approach, ignoring the existing reality in advance. As Boal himself pointed out,
we used our art to tell truths, to teach solutions: we taught peasants to
fight for their land, but we were people from the big city; we taught black
people to fight against racial prejudice, but we were almost all very white;
we taught women to fight against their oppressors. Which? We ourselves,
as we were feminist men, all of us. It was worth the intention! (Boal,
apud
Nogueira, 2007, p. 2).
When defining
Theatre with Communities
, her second classification, Nogueira
considers that theatrical work starts from ‘an investigation of a particular
community to create a production. Both the language, the content - specific
subjects to be questioned - and the form - typical popular manifestations - are
incorporated into the production.’ (Nogueira, 2007, p. 2). She also argues that
working with a specific community means increasing the political effectiveness of
the work. She turns again to Kershaw to define
Theatre with Communities
when
he states that,
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
7
years of contact with specific audiences and specific communities have
taught radical theatre workers a meaningful lesson: each type of
community or group requires a tailored approach - to become effective
culturally and, perhaps, socially, and politically (Kershaw, 1992, p. 165).
In the third model, which she calls
Theatre by Communities
, the author is
again inspired by Augusto Boal, as she includes the community itself in the process
of theatrical creation, asking people about the content of the plays giving people
the means of theatrical production. In this sense, a new
Theatre in the Community
took shape, whose function would be to strengthen communities’ identity issues
through improvisation and theatrical plays, which could contribute to the
expression of silent or silenced voices in the community (Nogueira, 2007, p. 3).
Based on the three classifications proposed by Nogueira, we decided to
analyze which would be the Ponto de Partida Group process and which type of
community practices were applied. We understand that Ponto de Partida Group
wishes to invest in the culture not only because of its twenty-two members but
on behalf of all the citizens of Barbacena, and because it is constantly
recommencing, it takes different stances, as stated by one of the group's mentors.
However, it is always a theatre in the community.
According to director Regina Bertola (2015), one of the groups’ founders, the
artists decided that even with the group's growth, they would remain in Barbacena
because they wanted to contribute to the city's cultural life, which was previously
quite restricted.
We refused to have to move to another state to be successful. We wanted
to force people to look inside at that city high up in the mountains, but
which created a theatre that touched people's hearts (Bertola, 2015). 5
A cultural movement in the historic city of Barbacena
The Ponto de Partida Theatre Group was created in 1980 by a group of people
who, at that time, just wanted to create a cultural movement in a city in the interior
of Minas Gerais. Located on the slopes of Serra da Mantiqueira, with just over
100,000 inhabitants, since the 1970s the city of Barbacena has been known as the
5 Interview given by director Regina Bertola to EBC TV. For the full interview:
https://tvbrasil.ebc.com.br/artedoartista/post/a-cidade-de-barbacena-e-o-ponto-de-partida
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
8
city of the insane due to the numerous existing hospitals and also due to the high
number of mentally ill people who in that decade were killed or died in asylums
and whose bodies and bones were sold to Brazilian universities to assist in the
training of new doctors.
Some of the group’s founders had an early childhood school called Vila
Marquês de Rabicó. The group emerged out of this, specifically with the staging of
The Ark of Noah
– an infantile play staged with twelve children. This was created
and performed in the same school year as the group was created. After this
production, the group began to travel, performing in the capital of Minas Gerais.
After the second production the group began dealing with theatrical elements,
such as adjusting the lighting design and creating scenery. In that process, theatre
issues were resolved with the community, as demand grew.
Member's technical and artistic training was carried out little by little through
the work of professionals invited to carry out short and long-term actions with
everyone in the group. The leap forward occurred with the production of
Drummond
in 1987, based exclusively on the poetry of Carlos Drummond de
Andrade (Frederick; Mariuzzo, 2015, online). As the director stated ‘We wanted to
tell his story from childhood to old age, and we stitched this together through
poems’ (Bertola, 2015). The success of this production allowed the group members
to decide whether they would make a living from the theatre.
For one of the founders and main directors of the Group, Ivanée Bertola, who
died in 2003, all necessary work had to be carried out by the group members.
Increasingly, it was imperative for each member to specialize in artistic, technical,
and production activities.
Therefore, through the specialization of its own members, the Group
reinforced its initial idea that its creation relied on the cultural transformation of
the city and its members. In turn, this spirit helps the Group to exist and resist as
a permanent and itinerant group because, as it is based in the interior of the state
of Minas Gerais and aiming for local transformation, it had to travel long distances.
To this end, Ivanée Bertola always stated that it was important for the Group to be
strong, including economically (Bertola
apud
Valle, 2005, p. 47).
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
9
Upon deciding it would also be an itinerant group, Ponto de Partida created
two projects: the Consolidation Project and the Market Expansion Project. The
Consolidation Project consisted of returning to the cities where the Group has
already performed to consolidate its image. On the other hand, the Expansion
project occurred in two ways:
ad-hoc
(based on invitations) and purposefully (by
choosing a location that interests the Group). Normally, when an invitation was
made, it induced a purposeful advance, and the Group had to have a repertoire to
make advances (Valle, 2005).
In addition to these production actions designed, based on the (Consolidation
and Expansion) projects, to maintain the Group sustainably, the artists created a
support network in the 1980s called Friends of Ponto de Partida Club (CAPP). This
involved group members selling tickets door to door. At first, they were tickets for
other artists or groups, but afterwards they started selling tickets for the Group's
own shows. Currently, those annual contributions can be deducted from the
income tax. When people become 'friends of CAPP' they receive in exchange
invitations and tickets for shows and actions that the Group carries out.
As if they were members, people in the community contribute annually to
Ponto de Partida’s activities. Contributions take place in the same format as for a
company, meaning that whoever decides to help can make income tax deductions.
Aside from financial support, the initial objective was, according to the Group's
website, to raise awareness of the importance of forming partnerships with society
so that people realized that they could effectively contribute to making changes
happen, changes driven by art, theatre, and music. Therefore, it is once again the
partnership between the theatre group and the community that helps to maintain
part of the Group's artistic activities.
In one of the productions, entitled
Presente de Vô
(
Grandpa´s Gift,
2013-2014),
the Group began extensive research into traditional Brazilian music, including
indigenous and African memory, songs by washerwomen on riverbanks, to work in
partnership with the Araçuaí Children’s Choir, composed of children between 7
and 16 years old (Figure 1)
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
10
Figure 1 – The production
Presente de Vô
(
Grandpa´s Gift)
, created with the Araçuaí Children’s
Choir from the Jequitinhonha River Valley region. (Photo by Waldir Damasceno, 2013. Courtesy of
Grupo Estação Ponto de Partida).
The entire research process resulted in the 80-minute production. For a year
and a half, the Group carried out research with the grandfathers and grandmothers
of the boys and girls of Araçuaí, collecting stories and songs that are revealed from
a treasure trove of memories, throughout the spectacle, in the rhythm of
traditional Minas Gerais “stories”. It is intended to convey the message that songs,
like memories, must be told and retold, in order not to die. According to the
director, ‘The construction of the production is a work in which the entire Group
participates, no one receives a ready-made text. The process depends on
improvisation until reaching the final format’, (Bertola
apud
Frederick; Mariuzzo,
2015). The show corroborates the ideas of dialogue and transformation of the local
community (Figure 2).
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
11
Figure 2 – Cena de
Presente de Vô
, com a comunidade de meninos do Araçuaí do Vale do
Jequitinhonha. Foto: Guto Muniz, 2013. Cortesia do Grupo Estação Ponto de Partida.
The children who participated in the production came from the city of
Araçuaí, Minas Gerais. They went to Barbacena to study and participate in artistic
training provided by the Ponto de Partida Group and ended up becoming part of
the local community and the group's artistic spaces.
Currently Ponto de Partida uses two distinct spaces for administration and
training and artistic activities. In the city's Municipal Library building, located in the
city centre, there is a room in which the group’s administration has been operating
since 2004. The other space, given to the group in 1999, is the former Sericícola –
or Silk Factory - which houses the music school, spaces for rehearsals and
performances, the music studio, and the gardens.
The industrial heritage of the former Silk Factory
The closure of manufacturing activities at the Silk Factory occurred in 1973
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
12
due to competition in the Brazilian market, the main consumer of the silk produced
at the Station, as well as synthetic silk, coming from China. Since then, the
industrial complex had other ephemeral uses until it was listed in 2004 by the
municipality of Barbacena and was gradually taken over by Ponto de Partida.
In 1998, the Ponto de Partida Group took over its first building as the
headquarters for its theatrical creations and, little by little, became responsible for
preserving that heritage building. Thanks to the alliance, determination,
commitment, the work of the group of community artists, the companies that
sponsor the group, and the public authorities, the restoration project was carefully
carried out. According to an interview with the three architects-scenographers
Tereza Bruzzi, Alexandre Rosset, and Luciana Damasceno, the interventions lasted
seventeen years. Tereza Bruzzi emphasizes how the group decided what
rehabilitation works needed to be done at the old factory.
In 1998, when we were putting on the production
A
Roca História de
Mulheres (The Spinning Wheel - History of Women
), the third building of
a set of four was loaned to the Ponto de Partida Group to set up the
scenography and rehearse. From then on, the Group never left, and the
factory became its artistic headquarters. It was the beginning of the saga
of assuming responsibility for the heritage building. At the time, the
second building was taken over (where Bituca - University of Popular
Music is currently located). The first one was used by the Department of
Agriculture (belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture, which owns the
complex), while the last building was used by the city’s Department of
Transit. Afterwards, when Ponto de Partida obtained the transfer of use
of the occupied building, we started the restoration of the property. In
2015, we completed the restoration of the last building that became
Casa
Palavra
(House of the Word), which is the Group's administrative
headquarters on the ground floor, a restaurant, and a library on the upper
floor, open to the public (Bruzzi, 2022).
At this time the Group took over the set of pavilions as a cultural facility
including the Artistic Headquarters (Figure 3), Bituca School6 (Figure 4), and Casa
Palavra (Library), including using the labor of the entire community to restore the
gardens of the old Silk Factory.
6 The name Bituca – University of Popular Music is a tribute to Milton Nascimento (known as Bituca), who is a
patron of the project. Students work in the training process, with the option of learning 11 instruments, in
addition to singing, sound engineering & production, piano tuning & restoration.
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
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Figure 3 – Headquarters of the Ponto de Partida Station Group, Barbacena Factory Pavilion, with
restored architecture, MG. Photo Gabriel Castro, 2015.
Figure 4 – Headquarters of Bituca University of Music, another Factory Pavilion with restored
architecture, MG. Photo Gabriel Castro, 2015.
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
14
As Tereza Bruzzi explained, the participants of the community of Barbacena
lovingly labored to preserve the area, working not only on artistic activities, but
also on the sustainability of the old industrial complex.
We need to point out that the group does not stop, it currently takes care
of the surrounding green area, which has become an area for the
preservation of local species, with strong community involvement. It is
important to mention that use of the properties has been ceded to them,
but the property continues to be held by the Ministry of Agriculture
(Bruzzi, 2022).
In the process used in the building conservation works, the scenographer-
architects explained that,
we sought to preserve the original characteristics and qualities of the
buildings, those that were recognizable or in good condition were
reconstituted (for example, frames and exposed roof woodwork were
redone). Where there were no traces or new uses, new intervention was
required, we used aesthetic references and design solutions. We
incorporated existing designs in the set and we proposed solutions with
new materials. [...] For example, a businessman who owns a quarry, who
usually only exports his products, offered his material to Ponto de Partida.
We used marble respecting the original geometry of the tiles and the
‘
doce de leite’
shaped composition, typical of the time (Bruzzi, 2022).
The interviewees have formally participated in the group since 1998, working
on projects involving heritage, architecture, scenography, and costumes and
reported that, since its creation, the Ponto de Partida group has always brought
the city closer to its actions, encouraging community participation in your projects.
According to a report by the same architect-scenographers belonging to the
group, the Barbacena community participates in a ‘free training action’ and helps
Ponto de Partida develop cultural and environmental heritage, developing an
expressive cultural policy. “In a sense, the group takes on the dual task of having
an impact on local communities, but also on the state and the country” (Bruzzi,
2022).
In addition to the positive aspect of the sustainability of a beautiful set of
buildings that were deactivated, now a station for various arts, the former factory
also reveals the history of Italian immigration in Minas Gerais and industrial
development at the beginning of the 20th century, with the beginning of the
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
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Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
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incorporation of female labor in Brazil. In this sense, having restored the facilities
of the city's former silk factory7, the theatre group established Ponto de Partida
Station. It is in this industrial complex that the ‘cultural training and production
center’ of the Ponto de Partida Association operates. As Fernanda Fernandes
points out,
in three decades of research into Brazilian culture, the group has gone
beyond the limits of a theatre company, due to the option of creating a
structure that was capable of intervening in the context of its historical
time, forging a unique configuration that makes the Ponto de Partida
Cultural Association directly responsible for the training or work of more
than 200 people, including actors, technicians, and young people involved
in projects such as
Meninos de Araçuaí
,
Casa de Arte & Ofício,
and
Bituca:
Universidade de Música Popular
(Fernandes, 2009, p. 2).
Finally, it is important to highlight that it was thanks to the alliance
established between the local community, the sponsorship of local
businesspeople, public authorities, and Ponto de Partida that actions of the
magnitude of the restoration of the old factory buildings and its surroundings could
and still can be carried out in the city of Barbacena, giving them other
functionalities linked to theatre, music, dance, and visual arts. The work at the Silk
Factory is the effective materialization of the local transformation that the Ponto
de Partida Group was able to carry out in its community.
Conclusion
The analysis presented here is part of a more comprehensive research into
artistic practices, especially in theatre, and appropriate industrial heritage. It was
proven that the experience introduced by the theatrical group Ponto de Partida
Station stands out due to the possibility of the intense participation of the
Barbacena´s community and the encouragement of social cohesion based on
collective experience, as recommended by Cruz, Bezelga, and Menezes (2020).
Using the arts as a driver for cultural and social change, the Group trains young
7 In 1915, the Ponto de Partida Station infrastructure allowed the manufacture of silk dresses, vests, scarves,
and socks. The main buildings of the factory, which remain standing, were used for the Experimental Section,
the Sericulture School, the Secretariat, and the Spinning and Weaving Department.
The Ponto de Partida Group: Theatre and Music unite Communities in a
Restored Silk Factory in Barbacena
Evelyn Furquim Werneck Lima | Cláudio Guilarduci
Florianópolis, v.1, n.50, p.1-18, abr. 2024
16
people and adults in theatre, music, dance, and citizenship.
In addition, to the relevant contribution to Barbacena’s culture, the work to
preserve the industrial facilities of the city's former Silk Factory and to establish
Casa do Ponto, Bituca - Universidade de Música Popular, and Casa Palavra, has
been an unprecedented community experience. In this study of the relevance of
artistic practices for the community, it is understood that the materiality of
industrial structures that had an expressive meaning for the world of work through
contemporary human actions obtain a beneficial result for memory and industrial
heritage, both material and immaterial.
Given this analysis, we believe that the permanent and itinerant Ponto de
Partida Station is a theatre group in the community, according to Nogueira's
classification (2007 and 2008), as one of its interests is the transformation of the
group's members and the city in which they live and where it was created. Ponto
de Partida Group truly fulfils its objective of local cultural transformation not only
with its shows, but also with the Artistic Residencies it creates, with shows by
other artists or companies, always with the intense participation of the community
of the city of Barbacena.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank FAPERJ (Research Support Foundation of the State of
Rio de Janeiro) for the support, as well as the members of Ponto de Partida Station
Group and other members who gave interviews and to whom we also thank the
granting of use of the figures, especially the architect-scenographer Tereza Bruzzi
and actor and singer Pablo Bertola.
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Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina
–
UDESC
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Teatro
–
PPGT
Centro de Arte – CEART
Urdimento
– Revista de Estudos em Artes Cênicas
Urdimento.ceart@udesc.br
