Grande Sertão: Veredas is the theme of a dramatized reading at the Rio Botanical Garden during Cerrado Week

“Life wraps everything up, that's how life is: it heats up and cools down, tightens and then loosens, calms down and then becomes restless. What it wants from us is courage.” This reflection is found in one of the most emblematic works of Brazilian literature, Grande Sertão: Veredas, by Guimarães Rosa, in which the natural landscape is one of the fundamental elements. The Cultivating Ideas discussion group, next Tuesday (September 30), at 2:30 p.m., at the Botanical Garden Museum, will feature actor Gilson de Barros, who will give a dramatic reading of excerpts from the work, and researcher Domingos Cardoso, from the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, who will talk about the richness of the Cerrado's flora.

First published in 1956, Grande Sertão: Veredas tells the love story between Riobaldo and Diadorim. The narrative takes place during the Old Republic, in the hinterlands of Goiás, Minas Gerais, and Bahia, and is characterized by stream of consciousness and the presence of neologisms.

Gilson de Barros is an actor and playwright, nominated for the 2023 Shell Award in the categories of Best Playwright and Best Actor. With a degree in Performing Arts from UNIRIO, his career includes collaborations with renowned directors such as Augusto Boal, Luiz Mendonça, Mário de Oliveira, and Domingos Oliveira, as well as a significant artistic partnership with Amir Haddad in the Trilogia Grande Sertão: Veredas.

Domingos Cardoso is a biologist with a master's and doctorate in Botany from the State University of Feira de Santana (UEFS), Bahia. He is currently a researcher at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute, coordinator of the Flora and Funga do Brasil project, and professor in the Graduate Programs in Botany (PPGBot) at the National School of Tropical Botany (ENBT) of the JBRJ and the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), as well as the Graduate Program in Biodiversity and Evolution (PPGBioEvo) at UFBA.

The roundtable discussion concludes the special program for Cerrado Biome Week, promoted by the Botanical Garden. The initiative also intersects with the program for Rio, World Book Capital. Admission is free. There are only 50 spots available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Check out the complete schedule for Cerrado Week at the JBRJ here.

Service - Cultivating Ideas: The Cerrado through the eyes of science and literature
Date: Tuesday, September 30
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Multipurpose Room of the Botanical Garden Museum
Seats: 50, on a first-come, first-served basis
Audience: general public
Free admission
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden – Rua Jardim Botânico, 1008.