Container Theater
Container Theater. Disclosure

Following a violent invasion on Tuesday afternoon, the 19th, by the Metropolitan Civil Guard (GCM), a police force subordinate to the City of São Paulo, artists, producers, technicians, directors, and patrons of the Mungunzá Container Theater are currently promoting a peaceful and permanent occupation of the independent cultural and social complex (located in downtown São Paulo, in the Luz neighborhood). The occupants want to prevent the demolition of the complex, considered one of the most notable efforts to restore a degraded urban area (more than 4 artistic and social activities have been held in the last 9 years).

The police action was brutal. According to Lucas Beda, co-creator of the Contêiner collective, the confrontation arose because the city government wanted to set up a structure to welcome Mayor Ricardo Nunes and Governor Tarcísio de Freitas for a ceremony. This setup could compromise the theater's integrity, putting patrons and staff at risk. Citing a court order, the police kept staff and members of the local NGO Tem Sentimento (based locally) under siege in the building, preventing access to the cultural workers' personal belongings, and later resorting to pepper spray and physical force.

The theater's managers countered, pointing out that there is an ongoing investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office aimed at holding authorities accountable and preventing the action, which could be irreversible if carried out. And this Thursday, the 21st, the court deadline for the artists to vacate the space expires. "Aren't you ashamed of playing this role?" said an actress whom the GCM was trying to remove from the space. The city government aims to expropriate the area under the pretext of implementing a housing program there.

The São Paulo City Hall's action is the second arbitrary and brutal move against performing arts venues in the city. In February, the city government ordered the demolition, in a brazen manner (with tractors invading the space) and in violation of heritage legislation, of the traditional Vento Forte Theater and the Angola Cruzeiro do Sul capoeira school in Parque do Povo, Itaim Bibi. This Tuesday's violent act occurred just as the artists were celebrating Theater Artists' Day.

After the demolition of Vento Forte, Mayor Ricardo Nunes' Secretary of Culture, Toto Parente, even publicly committed to rebuilding the Parque do Povo complex. To date, however, no progress has been made. The managers of the Teatro do Contêiner suspect the same intention regarding Tuesday's action – first, to make the intervention irreversible and, second, to create a false space for dialogue with the artistic community. The city's greatest concern has been to satisfy private real estate developments and their investment plans in areas of collective use and the promotion of citizenship. There is no record, even at the height of the military dictatorship, of a public administration that invested with such destructive fury against cultural spaces.

"Container Theater needs to be replicated as public policy, not annihilated," protested actor Mateus Solano. "The São Paulo city government wants to 'revitalize' by expelling culture! eviction of the Mungunzá Container Theater "It's another attack on the people: instead of combining housing and culture, they choose authoritarianism. The city government proves that it doesn't know how to govern for the people, only for concrete things," said Councilman Jilmar Tatto, who opposes Ricardo Nunes.

The Ministry of Culture and Funarte, federal government agencies, issued a statement condemning the police action taken by the São Paulo city government. "In a letter, which has remained unanswered, sent to Mayor Ricardo Nunes by Culture Minister Margareth Menezes and Funarte President Maria Marighella, they requested an extension of the deadline given by the City Council for the eviction of the artistic collective from its headquarters, so as to allow for the negotiations initiated with the Superintendence of Federal Heritage to find a new site to have a positive outcome," the statement reads. "We regret that the use of force has replaced the continued dialogue in favor of art and culture, which play a significant role in the community of downtown São Paulo through the work of Teatro de Contêiner, Cia Mungunzá, and the NGO Tem Sentimento. We reiterate our call for an extension of the deadline and for peaceful negotiations to resume as soon as possible."


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