Development and culture in a plural perspective

The programming of SESC’s cultural and sports centers reflects the commitment of the businesspeople in the commerce, service and tourism industries in regard to the well-being and quality of life of the workers in these sectors, their dependents and their community. The institution’s actions in various areas, spanning from sports to tourism, from food to artistic languages, from digital culture to education for sustainability, all share as a central aim the responsible and efficient use of the resources made available by its supporters for the benefit of its primary public.

Within this perspective, the holding of the 11th edition of the Bienal Naïfs do Brasil at SESC Piracicaba lends continuity to one of the most relevant events for forging tighter links between the artistic languages and the community. This relevance is owing not only to the longevity of this exhibition, but mainly to the type of relation that it has encouraged over the years between artists, artworks and spectators, based on values and meanings that contrast with those that have become common for the inhabitants of large cities.

The recognition of the importance of features that make up people’s cultural identity is one of the hallmarks of SESC’s actions. The current show is further proof of the valorization of elements that are not restricted to daily life in the cities. It should be emphasized that this intention goes hand in hand with an extremely important element of this entity’s thinking, which holds that one’s understanding of contemporary phenomena is better when one contemplates the various facets of human development from a holistic point of view.

After all, the worldview of those who work in areas of direct contact with society, as is the case of the commerce, service and tourism industries, should be characterized by an ability to perceive the interdependencies between the countryside and the city, the small towns and the capital, larger cities and smaller ones, as well as by a consistently balanced effort in carrying out larger and smaller undertakings, conserving the local initiatives, the symbols of each region’s sustainable growth. It is in this sense that the Bienal Naïfs do Brasil evinces the constant attention that SESC devotes to the plural conception of development and culture, always thinking about these two dimensions in an interconnected way.