Guest are invited around a discussion with H.E. Hermano Telles Ribeiro (Ambassador of Brazil), Carmen Labaki (Lebanese-Brazilian film director and producer), Roberto Khatlab (Curator of the exhibition), Suzanne Menhem (Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Lebanese University, Institute of Social Sciences) and Boutros Labaki (Professor at the Lebanese University, the University of Lyon, Saint Joseph University, and the American University of Beirut), whereby the speakers will tackle the relations between Brazil and the Arab World and the Lebanese Emigration to Brazil under the rule of Emperor Dom Pedro II, the migration and Lebanon between the past and the present, and the migration to Brazil during from the Ottoman rule until present day.
6 - 6:05 PM - Welcome note
H.E. Hermano Telles Ribeiro, Ambassador of Brazil in Beirut.
6:05 - 6:15 PM - Introduction
Carmen Labaki, Lebanese-Brazilian movie director and producer, winner of the Best Documentary Film Award 2005 at the Arpa International Film Festival in Hollywood for the film ‘Armenians of Lebanon’.
6:15 - 6:30 PM - Dom Pedro II, the relations between Brazil and the Arab World and the Lebanese Emigration to Brazil
An overview of the research process and findings that lead to the exhibition ‘Alcântara: The Travels of the Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II in the Arab World - 1871 and 1876’, the role of the Brazilan Emperor Dom Pedro II in the relations between Brazil and the Ottoman Empire; his travels in the Arab World and the media coverage at that time ; the Lebanese/Arab emigration to Brazil and the Brazilian-Lebanese in Lebanon.
Roberto Khatlab, curator of the exhibition. Researcher and writer, Director of the Center for Studies and Cultures of Latin America (CECAL) at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK). Author of ‘The Travels of Dom Pedro II. Middle East and North Africa, 1871’, among other books, and of a series of articles on Lebanese-Brazilian emigrants and returnees in the newspaper Orient-Le Jour.
6:30 - 6:45 PM - Migration and Lebanon between the past and the present
Perspectives on historic and contemporary trends in migration from Lebanon, especially to Brazil and Latin America. The reasons behind migration from Lebanon then and now, and estimated figures related to migration.
Suzanne Menhem, Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Lebanese University, Institute of Social Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences with sub-specialty in migration studies from the University of Poitiers (Migrinter) in France. Research Associate with the Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) at Notre Dame University in Lebanon since 2007, in the French Institute of the Near East (IFPO, Beirut) since 2011 and at Tammouz Center Jbeil since 2021. Dr. Menhem is an expert in field survey management and implementation and author of articles and a book.
6:45 - 7:00 PM - Lebanese Emigration to Brazil
A look into the characteristics of Lebanese emigration in each of the following periods: Ottoman rule untill WWI ; from WWI to the French mandate (1918 -1943) ; Independance (1943 -1975) ; multinational wars (1975-1990) ; and contemporain emigration to Latin America.
Boutros Labaki, Professor at the Lebanese University, the University of Lyon, Saint Joseph University, and the American University of Beirut. Head of Research Center at the Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University. Specialized in Economics and Economic History from Paris-Sorbonne and Panthéon-Sorbonne Universities, he worked in the Ministry of Planning (1967-1974) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (1978-1979) and served as First Vice President of the Council for Development and Reconstruction (1991-2000). Author of several books, among which ‘Emigration of the Lebanese : Saga of an early globalisation 1850-2018’ and contributor to many other publications on the theme.
7:00 - 7:30 PM - Q&A
Open floor for questions from the audience and debate moderated by Carmen Labaki.