International Council for Cultural Centers (I3C)

I3C President, Dr. Nadezhda Savova, met on November 14th, 2012, in Brasilia with the Brazilian Sub-Minister of Cultural Diversity and Citizenship, Marcia Rollenberg. This meeting came as a follow-up to the conversation between Dr. Savova and her Excellence Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at an event about sustainable development in Salvador de Bahia in January.

Sub-Minister of Culture Rollenberg confirmed the Brazilian interest in cooperation between the Brazilian network of community cultural centers pontos de cultura and the Bulgarian chitalishte, for their multiple similarities and potential to learn from each other. Thus, Mrs. Rollenberg already invited Dr. Savova to the national meeting of the Brazilian pontos in 2013 and to also invited Dr. Savova as an expert to take part in the work meeting of European and Brazilian experts in May 2014 to develop a strategy of cooperation between Brazil and Europe in the field of cultural policy.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has Bulgarian roots through her father, who was born in the Bulgarian town of Gabrovo, also the home-town of the first Bread House and to Dr. Savova's ancestors. In January, Nadezhda Savova and President Rousseff talked about the possibilities for cultural cooperation between Bulgaria and Brazil and President Rousseff was happy to discover the historic connection between the Brazilian network of pontos de cultura cultural centers and the Bulgarian chitalishte, examined in detail in Dr. Savova's dissertation at Princeton. For all of this, cooperation in the field of community cultural centers and cultural policy geared towards them is now forming between Bulgaria and Brazil.