"Through this auspicious confluence of sister rivers, we seek to strengthen the fraternal ties between communities on both sides of the Atlantic with different ancestral cultures, but who speak the same language," justified the Lousã cooperative, which is the promoter of the International Literary Festival of the Interior (FLII) -- Words of Fire.

According to the cooperative, the signing of this agreement, which will take place on June 15, "marks the beginning of the first twinning process between native communities of Brazil and Portugal, more than 500 years after the arrival of the Portuguese, in 1500, to the coast of the future largest Portuguese-speaking country".

"Two months before the commemoration of the 202 years of Brazil's independence, the Silveiras seal the beginning of a rapprochement that will involve cooperative work in different cultural areas, namely arts and literature," he explained.

The Arte-Via Cooperative recalled that, "about 100 years ago, the inhabitants of Silveira de Cima and Silveira de Baixo, as well as the neighboring Salgueiro and Pé da Lomba, driven out by the state-imposed deforestation of the commons, began transatlantic emigration in search of better living conditions".

Emigration to the United States and Brazil occurred "mainly to Baixada Santista, where the largest community of former residents of Serra da Lousã resides in the lands of Vera Cruz".

"This dramatic process culminated in the total loss of the population of those and other agropastoral places in Serra da Lousã, in the late 1960s," he added.

The cooperation protocol between the two homonymous entities of Portugal and Brazil will be celebrated in Silveira de Baixo, next to the chapel of São Lourenço, in the municipality of Lousã, district of Coimbra.

"With the approval of the cacique, traditional leader of the Rio Silveira, the twinning agreement is celebrated between this Guarani village, on the border of the municipalities of Bertioga and São Sebastião, in the state of São Paulo, and São Lourenço -- Association of Natives and Friends of Silveira de Cima, Silveira de Baixo, Salgueiro and Pé da Lomba, headquartered in Silveira de Baixo," explained the cooperative.

Before the signing, there will be music, dance and poetry by the Filhas da Terra (Claúdia Almeida, Eva Potiguara, Ju Cassou and Vanessa Ratton) who will star in a unique show based on the biographical album "Guerreiras da Ancestralidade", authored by the collective Mulherio das Letras Indígenas, which in 2023 won the Jabuti Award, in the category of Literature Promotion.

The show is part of the program of the seventh edition of FLII -- Words of Fire, organized by a consortium coordinated by Arte-Via that brings together local authorities, companies and other institutions from nine municipalities in the districts of Coimbra and Leiria and which will take place from June 14 to 17.

Leia Também: Natureza e frio da Serra da Lousã inspiram disco do pianista Jó Dutra (Portuguese version)