Corporate Social Responsability
ARTS & CULTURE
Since 1959, the Odebrecht Group has sponsored initiatives aimed at retrieving artistic and cultural treasures and encouraging the preservation of historical heritage as part of its commitment to enriching the educational process in its local communities.
Odebrecht's cultural contributions have built up a collection of over 200 cultural works, including books and documentary recordings, as well as exhibitions, videos, educational materials and websites.
HIGHLIGHTS IN 2006
The Clarival do Prado Valladares Award is bestowed annually on an original research project focused on topics related to Brazilian history, with an emphasis on the State of Bahia. A tribute to art critic and historian Clarival do Prado Valladares (1918-1983), this award provides incentives for the historiography of Brazil and covers all research and publishing costs.
· Archeologist Carlos Alberto Etchevarne, from the Federal University at Bahia (UFBA), won the 2006 Clarival do Prado Valladares Award for his research project "Man and Nature - Images of Rock Art in Bahia."
· That same year, the 2005 winner, Luiz Alberto Freire, also from UFBA, saw his research published in the book Neoclassical Carvings in Bahia, which garnered the Sergio Millet Award from the Brazilian Art Critics Association.
Construtora Norberto Odebrecht sponsored the publication of the following books: Túneis do Brasil (Brazilian Tunnels) about the 120 tunnels built since 1822; Boaventura Cardoso, on the life and works of this Angolan author; and the 25-volume Literary Works of the Angolan Writers Union collection; as well as DEP (Diplomacy, Strategy and Politics), a journal on South American development strategies.
In Bahia, Braskem sponsored another edition of the annual Braskem Theater Award, the Braskem Arts and Culture Award (in the areas of Music, Literature, Film and the Fine Arts) and the National Academy of Letters of Bahia/Braskem Award, which foster the emergence of new talent. In the city of Porto Alegre, the company sponsored the Braskem on Stage Award, featuring the most important theater arts groups in South America.
Luiz Alberto Freire and Carlos Etchevarne
Professors, scholars, winners
Luiz Alberto Freire and Carlos Alberto Etchevarne are both Federal University at Bahia (UFBA) professors; both have PhDs, Freire in Art History and Etchevarne in Archeology. In addition to teaching at the same school, they share a passion for historical research and are winners of the Clarival do Prado Valladares Award - Freire in 2005, and Etchevarne in 2006.
Luiz Alberto Freire's award-winning research project analyzed: the decorative reform carried out by woodcarvers and painters in a large number of the city of Salvador's Catholic churches throughout most of the 19th century. Their work is described in detail in the book Neoclassical Carvings in Bahia, which was published in 2006 as a result of his work. "I was committed to shedding light on our artist-ancestors' legacy so we can cherish and preserve that heritage," says Freire.
Carlos Alberto Etchevarne won the award for his research project "Man and Nature - Images of Rock Art in Bahia," which will gather information on the vast range of archeological sites containing paintings, engravings and graphic depictions of the peoples that inhabited what is now the State of Bahia before the Portuguese arrived in 1500. "We are going to classify these sites so we can classify them chronologically and determine their styles and territorial scope," says Etchevarne. The results of his research will be published in book form by the end of 2007.
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