THE PROJECT

A 30-day expedition taking a piano on a boat doing concerts and workshops for riverside communities between Belém and Manaus.
The performances involve the screening of our first short film “Raízes – A Piano in the Amazon”, a piano concert including works by contemporary composers from the Amazon  and workshops on the history of the piano and the honored composers.

The project “A Piano in the Amazon – the Great Expedition” is presented as a continuation of the RAÍZES project. An artistic, pedagogical and social production that took the music of contemporary Amazonian composers to its own people. The new expedition to the Amazon rainforest will sail for 1660 km, and the piano will reach even more remote villages along the Amazon River.

DEPARTURE FROM BELÉM DO PARÁ

Our expedition will departe in January/2023 from Belém do Pará, lasting approx. 30 days with arrival in Manaus scheduled for Feb/2023.

THE STORY

The first expedition took place in riverside communities along the Arapiuns River, within the Tapajós-Arapiuns extractive reserve in the State of Pará in 2017.Workshops were held with local children and young people, based on the knowledge and approach to my musical instrument: the piano. As a result, we produced a CD and a documentary released in 2018, “Raízes – A Piano in the Amazon”.
The first expedition took us to the heart of the Amazon, to reveal a unique universe of sounds and cultural manifestations of its people.

The piano traveled by boat to remote riverside communities where residents had the opportunity to see, hear, play and connect with the instrument for the first time.

At the end of the project, the piano was donated to a local organization, the Municipal Philharmonic of Santarém.

THE FILM

The film portrays the expedition from the transport of the piano that left Belém do Pará to its arrival in Santarém, where our second boat was waiting. It shows the team’s adventures, day-to-day life and living together on the boat. The expedition took the music of local composers to remote riverside communities and provided the locals with the experience of seeing and hearing the instrument for the first time.

Through the acquisition and transport of the piano to the workshops and musical performances on the banks of the river, the project also strengthened the bonds of union between riverside communities and their artists.

“Raízes” was released in 2018. In Brazil it was broadcast by TV Cultura and SESC TV. The short film was awarded and screened at film festivals in England, USA, Finland, Italy, Portugal and Morocco.
See the full list of awards here:

– Hilltop Film Festival, USA 2021 – Winner Best Documentary

– Cawcine National Festival, Brasil 2021 – Winner Best Director

– Kalajoki Film Fest, Finlândia 2019 – Winner Best Photography

– Kalajoki Film Fest, Finlândia 2019 – Honored Mention

– Alter do Chão Cinema Festival, Brasil 2019 – Winner Best National Medium-length

– London International Motion Picture Awards, Inglaterra 2020 – Official Selection

– Intimalente Visual Ethnographic Film Festival, Itália 2019 – Official Selection

– Roe Prisma Independent Film Award, Itália 2019 – Official Selection

– Lift-Off First Time Filmmakers, Inglaterra 2019 – Official Selection

– Morocco Adventure Film Festival, Marrocos 2019 – Official Selection

– Fest Cine Poços de Calda, Brasil 2019 – Official Selection

– Matosinhos Festival Cinema Aventura, Brasil 2019 – Official Selection

Watch the full movie in HD

From the community’s point of view:
– To present and propagate the cultural knowledge of musical and audiovisual art for inhabitants without accessibility to this type of production and form of execution.
– Reveal the importance and degree of prominence in its insertion in the whole, as well as maintaining the memory of its artists.
– Awaken interest, curiosity and desire to grow, rescuing self-esteem, a sense of belonging and community awareness, stimulating the search for its preservation and cultural value.

From the artist’s point of view:

– To approach the environments in which the composers are inspired, live or lived, affirming the purpose of immersion, proposing an in loco investigation of the roots of the music I chose to interpret.

– Seek direct contact with composers, believing to increase their perception and understanding of the language through which the composer communicates through his work, feeling more capable of transmitting to the public the uniqueness of this music.

From the composers point of view:
– Disseminate their works to the target audience, media and government representatives so that they become aware of their composers, strengthening and uniting themselves for the continuity of the local culture;
– Recognize and reinforce their values and memories, triggering a promising cultural movement in the region.

Meet the composers of the songs released on the first CD and that were part of the film’s soundtrack. Here is the Spotify link:

https://open.spotify.com/album/3zn8Urcitb4G4VoMSERvKx

Composers

Albery Albuquerque, Thiago Albuquerque, Lúcia Uchôa, Luiz Pardal, Vicente da Fonseca, Wilson Fonseca, Altino Pimenta e Tatiana Cobbett.

OUR TEAM OF DIRECTORS

Carla Ruaro – Pianist, Producer and Director
Tatiana Cobbett – Artistic Director
Gustavo Roriz – Musical Director
Mário Valmont – Local Producer

EXTRA SURPRISE
Donation of 20 pianos from London.

With the success of the first expedition, the project has just received in London a donation of 20 pianos that now need to cross the Atlantic to their destination in Alter do Chão. The pianos will be distributed among cultural projects in the region, where I will be able to help in the preservation and create partnerships with the community, and to Casa Ikowé, our new cultural space created together with my partner Gustavo Roriz for the creation and development of projects in music education, festivals, immersions and exchanges.

The donated pianos are uprights from different brands.

If we reach the target goal for our expedition, the EXTRA amount of this campaign will be used to take the pianos from London to the Amazon.

BE PART OF THIS STORY!
*If you need help or more info on how to participate, send me an email and I will be happy to talk to you, carlaruaro@gmail.com.

Welcome aboard!
A big hug,
Carla