PICTURES FROM 23rd to 28th JANUARY 2003:  

See pictures related to the 3rd WSF clicking here.

PICTURES FROM 12^th JANUARY 2003: 

PORTO ALEGRE-RS 

Run-up for the 3rd WSF:

Between 23 and 27 January, Porto Alegre will be hosting the 3o. Fórum Social Mundial. A few days before, other three events of worldwide relevance will take place: the Fórum Mundial da Educação, the III Fórum de Autoridades Locais and the Fórum Internacional em Defesa da Saúde dos Povos.

Over 100,000 visitors are being expected at the 3rd WSF. Thus, the city is getting ready for the event. Among the venues, there are the Maurício Sirotsky Sobrinho Park (known as the "Harmony Park"), which will be made into a canvas city, and the Marinha do Brasil Park, which will host events as well as live music concerts at the Sunset Anfitheatre.

At the Harmony Park, some visitors have already arrived with their canvases and tents. In addition, restrooms and showers are being placed there, as well as canvas roofs to diminish the effects of sun and heat.

See some pictures related to the 2003' WSF:

1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13,   14,   15,   16,   17,   18

See again some selected pictures of the 2nd WSF: 

1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13,   14,   15

See again the most expressive picture of the 2nd WSF (to the person in charge of this site): 1

 => In addition, see again other pictures and data concerning the II FSM (de 2002) and the I FSM (de 2001)

Memmorial of the Department of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul (Memorial do Ministério Público):

Last December, the restoration process of one of the most expressive buildings in the history of Rio Grande do Sul ended. It is the Memmorial of the Department of Justice.

Several offices of the Department of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul have already been located in the building, including the Attorney General's. The Matrix Square, this way, represents one more branch of power: the Department of Justice.

In the beginning, when the cornerstone was laid, the building was supposed to be the new office of the Provincial Assembly. It ended up having different uses, including, as of 1896, being the Temporary Palace, while the new government building, the Piratini Palace, was being built.

Timeline of the building:

- 1857: The real estate was acquired on 5 September 1857. The construction started, with an L-shaped ground plan and a façade with two towers. It was supposed to host the Provincial Assembly, something that has never come true;

- 1871: It hosted the General Directorship for Business of the Provincial Treasury, the Arms Command of the Province of São Pedro, the Telegraph Office and the Directorship of Public Works;

- 1892: The State's 1^st Meteorological Observatory was installed in the northern tower;

- 1894: The southern section was built, with a U-shaped ground plan;

- 1896-1921: It served as the temporary office of the state's government, officially named as Temporary Government Palace; the state presidents Júlio de Castilhos, Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves and Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros governed from there;

- 1899: A new pavement was built between the towers and in the northern section, as well as a new tower upon the northern tower;

- 1906: Old coach houses were built;

- 1913: The Meteorological Observatory went out of business;

- 1921: It hosted the former Directorship of Hygiene and Health of the Health Secretariat;

- 1963: It was set to be demolished, something that has never come true;

- 1963-1988: It hosted several offices of the Secretariat of the Countryside and Justice and of the Supreme Court of the State – such as the Magistracy Superior School, Family Courts, the Transportation Sector, the Centre of Workers at the Special Jurisdiction Appellate Court and of the Supreme Court of the State;

- 1982: The building was listed by the State, under No. 7, according to administrative rule 03/1982 – 14 July, named as Government Palace;

-         1986: the heritage status was ratified according to administrative rule 13/1986, on 26 November 1986;

- 1987: the heritage status was published on the State's official journal, on 5 January 1987;

- 1998: the State released the building to be the Justice Department;

- 1999: beginning of the restoration process;

- 2000: beginning of the restoration works;

- 2002: end of the restoration works, coordinated by Ediolanda Liedke.

The building has already had several denominations: Building for the Provincial Assembly, Building of Public Offices, Building of Public Works and Coach House Palace. It is popularly known as "Fort Apache", because of its shape, with two towers – one of them large and fortified. The building's restoration has been masterly carried through, preserving and restoring old elements, to which some modern ones have been added. One visit to the premises allows for a real journey throughout the history of Porto Alegre, to find out construction techniques and practices and the use of materials throughout history. The oldest elevator in the state is located there.

The state shares space sensibly with the society, developing there several programmes of the social, cultural or even leisure kind, such as the Programme of Research and Publications, of Exhibitions and Events, of Oral Memory and others. Even a bistro will work there, open to the general public. This way, a very rich and important space exists in Porto Alegre, outlined by Praça da Matriz, joining other very significant ones, such as the São Pedro Theatre, Santander Cultural Museum, Margs, State Memmorial, Mário Quintana Culture Centre, Érico Veríssimo House ano others.

See some panoramic photographs, external and internal, of the restored building:

1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13,   14,   15,   16,   17,   18,   19,   20,   21,   22,   23,   24,   25,   26

Views of the Matrix Square, from the tower of observation: 

1,   2,   3

PICTURES FROM 5^th JANUARY 2003: 

PORTO ALEGRE-RS 

Santa Claus bids farewell:

According to Christian traditions, this is day when people celebrate the arrival of the three magi, coming from the East, to visit and give gifts to Jesus, who was lying on a manjedoura, in the town of Bethlehem (Palestine), with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Saint Nicholas Day is also celebrated on this day. The saint is of Italian origin and used to give gifts to small children. Now, the Christmas period is finished all over the world, and all pieces of decoration are put in and stored for new exhibitions in the next year.

In Porto Alegre, the Shopping Center Iguatemi worked hard in the Christmas decoration, with lots of very rich and suggestive adorns and themes, creating a very beautiful "Christmas spirit" that fascinated everybody, from children to adults, from habitués to occasional visitors that went there to admire the scenery.

See some pictures of the adorns in the corridors and internal spaces of the shopping centre:

1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13,   14,   15,   16

PICTURES FROM 23^rd DECEMBER 2002: 

Christmas on the mountains of RS:

No other place in southern Brazil expresses the spirit of Christmas as much as the cities of Gramado, Canela and Nova Petrópolis, in the region known as "The Gaúcho Mountains". To spend a few hours or days there, enjoying adorned streets and houses, Christmas songs, numerous events, lights, fireworks and many other beautiful things, seems to transport us to a very magic and enchanted world. Children and adults make up many stories, play along and visit Santa Claus' house, as if they were in a real paradise.

See some pictures:

a) of Gramado:    1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10

b) of Nova Petrópolis:    1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9

and check out pictures taken in past years, of Gramado, Canela and Nova Petrópolis.

PICTURES FROM 19^th DECEMBER 2002: 

Visit: 

1) The Christmas Bus Chronicle; 

2) VT of Christmas Concert in Bom Princípio-RS; 

3) End-of-the-year Message by the Navi (Centre of Virtual Learning) of UFRGS' Administration School; 

4) VT of New Millenium's Day Ceremony in Porto Alegre. 

PICTURES FROM 15^th DECEMBER 2002: 

Bom Princípio-RS 

Christmas Concert at Igreja Matriz:

When Christmas and the New Year come closer, a new spirit, made up of joy and hope, takes over people – no matter if they are children, adults or elderly.

Singing is one of the most subtle and rich ways of manifesting human feelings. At Christmas, singing delights the soul and creates an excitingly magic world.

In many towns, the municipalities, along with local people, promote several Christmas events. Among the most important ones in Rio Grande do Sul, there are the "Natal Luz" (Christmas of the Lights) in Gramado; and the "Sonhos de Natal" (Christmas Dreams) in Canela. However, there are numerous smaller and local events, such as the "Concerto Natalino" (Christmas Concert) in Bom Princípio and the "Natal Conto e Canto" (Christmas of Short Stories and Singing) in São Vendelino (which calls itself "The Little Paradise").

During the night of the 15^th of December 2002, several choruses from the town sang Christmas songs, touching the audience and "helping establish and renew the spirit of Christmas for many generations".

See some pictures of choruses singing at the Igreja Matriz, built in 1900:

1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13

In addition, see a compact VT of the event, produced by EATW of UFRGS' Administration School, clicking HERE.

 =>   Other information on Bom Princípio-RS:  see on Terragaúcha web site

PICTURES FROM 6^th DECEMBER 2002: 

RIO DE JANEIRO-RJ 

In the auditorium of BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social – National Bank of Economic and Social Development), the 20 most innovative experiences of the 2002' Award Circle of the Programa de Gestão Pública e Cidadania – Programme of Public Management and Citizenship, promoted by FGV-SP (Getúlio Vargas Foundation, São Paulo), and sponsored by BNDES and Ford Foundation.

There were 988 applications from all over the country, in many different fields. From the RS, two initiatives reached the finals: Environmental Licensing (from Porto Alegre) and CITRESUL- Intermunicipal Consortium for the Treatment of Urban Solid Residues (from Três Passos-RS and other neighbouring towns in the "Celeiro" region).

The project of underground traffic in Porto Alegre rationalises the occupation of the underground and air space, allowing for a reduction of street excavations, is environmentally friendly and makes it feasible to implement a citywide optical fibre network, capable of linking several offices and institutions as part of a large public communications network. To some extent, the project causes what was privatised in the field of telecommunications to be public again. Some people say that "a lemonade has been made out of a lemon".

The CITRESUL project groups together several towns around Três Passos, in a joint effort to collect and recycle urban residues. According to the project, the city governments are responsible for campaigns toward the local people and for collecting the rubbish; and the Consortium is responsible for the trial, separation and final destination of the residues. Thus, the towns are able to recycle 100% of the organic residues, and a great part of the dry residues. In addition, the "rubbish deposits" will end, generating jobs and causing less money to be spent on getting rid of rubbish.

See:

- picture of the city centre, where the head office of BNDES – the event's host - is located:  1

- pictures of the event, which are especially related to the award ceremonies on the most innovative experiences originally from RS:     1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11

PICTURES FROM 1^st  DECEMBER 2002: 

PORTO ALEGRE-RS 

– Flamboyants' time:

At this time of the year, this Madagascan species paints in red many places in the city, such as this one, on Artur Rocha Street, in the neighbourhood of Montserrat:   1

In addition, see these beautiful pictures of flowering flamboyants, taken last year:    1,   2,   3,   4,   5

Also, see again one of the most beautiful pictures among the almost 10,000 photographs on the Wcams web site, taken at Moinhos de Vento Park, at the beginning of last year:   1

PICTURES FROM 01 TO 17 NOVEMBER 2002:

Porto Alegre-RS:

48^th Porto Alegre Book Fair:

The city's Book Fair has become the most popular event in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul: more than a million people visit the fair – writers, teachers, students, intellectuals, professionals, children, elderly people, and interested people in general –, all of them intending to get in touch with books and whatever is related to them.

The fair always take place at this time of the year, between late October and early November, at the time the jacarandas (blue flowers) and guapuruvus (yellow flowers) are blossoming. People in Porto Alegre already know: when the jacarandas blossom, the Book Fair is coming on.

This very popular fair takes place at the most central and "democratic" spot in the city, which makes no distinction on grounds of social class, faith, occupation, race or any other category; everybody is welcome and may leaf their books at the several stands near trees, gardens, streets and buildings. 

Some time ago, vessels used to go ashore on the area where nowadays the square lies. The city inhabitants fought to keep it and even to expand it. Its original name was "Praça da Quitanda" (Grocer's Square), then "Senador Florêncio" (Senator Florêncio) and at last "Praça da Alfândega" (Customs' Square), because of the duty formerly performed at the square, the city's main entry door.

After Porto Alegre's harbour was built, the city's main entry was reformed. Then, a new avenue (called "Avenida Sepúlveda") with palm trees was opened, linking the square to the harbour, and two grand buildings were built side by side – they still are part of the city's architectonical inheritance: the National Treasury Service (nowadays MARGS) and the Post Office (Correios e Telégrafos – nowadays Memorial do RS). 

As time goes by, the Fair becomes more and more expressive and receives more and more visitors, who walk across the lanes to assimilate a little of its spirit and culture. The Fair has an atmosphere of that is difficult to interpret. That's why it keeps a very traditional and peculiar way from the beginning to the end. The inauguration bell, old stands, bargain stands where you can find all kinds of books, clowns amusing the kids, lanes full of people, books that are leaved several times before somebody decides to buy them, the humming at the cafeteria and, also, the cultural atmosphere at Margs' pub – where academics and ordinary people try to look intellectual and mix up in this world of make-believe, in this fantastic world that only cities such as Porto Alegre are capable of replicating.

 Recently, the square has started featuring good attractions: the exhibitions at MARGS, Memorial do RS and Santander Cultural, all of them visited by thousands of people, and numerous delegations from schools.

At MARGS, there is an exhibition named Paris 1900, featuring 175 works of the French museum Petit Palais. The works were produced between 1880 and 1914, period marked by the Belle Époque in France. These were some of the most important moments in the history of Paris, when the city was being modernised after the reforms implemented by the Baron of Haussmann, such as the opening of large boulevards, public lights, the Eiffel Tower (in 1889) and the subway (in 1900).

Renoir, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodin, Vuillard, Bonnard, Moreau, Redon, Chabine and Nadar are some of the masters featured at the exhibition. Among the works, the portrait of the actress Sarah Bernhardt, painted in 1876 by Georges Clairin, and the painting "Ofelia" stand out.

At Santander Cultural, probably the most beautiful building in Porto Alegre, an expressive art exhibition, named Passion and Violence, continues until 5 January 2003.

Because of the Book Fair, the Praça da Alfândega shows its vocation as the cultural centre of southern Brazil. When the work dedicated to Érico Veríssimo is finished, the city will be able to show its real identity: the academic, cultural and technologic centre of southern Brazil. And it will certainly welcome a growing number of tourists, not only from within the state, but also from other states and even from abroad, for the legacy of people such as Mário Quintana, Érico Veríssimo, Theodor Wiederspahn, Aldo Locatelli and many others is just fantastic.  

See some pictures of this year's Book Fair: 

  1,   2,   3,   4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   10,   11,   12,   13,   14,   15,   16,   17,   18,   19,   20,   21,   22,   23,   24,   25,   26,   27,   28,   29,   30