Movement for the Preservation of Praça São Crispim

Santa Companhia's Relationship with the City

Since the Thoughtful Saturdays in 2015—monthly events held at Verve Galeria promoted by Santa Companhia—we’ve been researching urban space as a collective. Every event began with our performances at Praça Benedito Calixto.

In 2016, the research deepened when we studied Anthropophagy and the urban space of R. Frei Caneca, along with its social connections to LGBTQIA+ identity issues. The entire process was full of provocations because the street is a space of living, open dramaturgy. We experienced moments of violence, and others of deep poetic power. R. Frei Caneca didn’t embrace us—or maybe our idea didn’t embrace it. Luckily, we found a square nearby that moved us: Praça dos Arcos. That’s where Antropofrei was born.

Later, during Cora Primavera, we had the opportunity to dive into urban space again. We rehearsed outdoors: at Praça dos Arcos, Praça do Maracatu, and the Festive-Scenic Yard of the UNESP Institute of Arts. These rehearsals included collective discussions in public spaces (with all 45 members of the team), explorations of poetic generation, and vocal and physical training. With Cora, we performed at Praça dos Arcos, R. General Jardim, the promenade on R. XV de Novembro (Curitiba), the Ruínas de São Francisco (Curitiba), Praça General Osório (Curitiba), the Vigília Lula Livre (Curitiba), and the outdoor space of Teatro de Container. The street is where Santa Companhia transforms and is reborn. It was our "rehearsal room," our "stage," our camarim (dressing room), our center of debate and reflection, and our meeting point through the theatrical event. The whole Cora process began on February 24, 2018, and completed its first tour in June 2019.

After the process of creating and touring Cora, Santa Companhia began an artistic investigation in the Vila Ipojuca/Lapa region of São Paulo. The street is pure movement, where life’s conflicts reside—life itself. It constantly provokes us with its ever-evolving dramaturgy, open to the here-and-now.

October 2019

In the second half of 2019, the core acting group of Santa Companhia started a new research process for a ritual-manifesto performance. In October, we approached Vila Ipojuca in the Lapa district, in São Paulo’s West Zone. We conducted a Deriva—a poetic exploration exercise based on listening, presence, and playful interaction with urban space. We were called to the region by something we couldn’t explain—a magnet.

November 2019

In November, our director Rafael Abrahão and our architect/urban planner Fernanda Colejo carried out an urban Deriva on the 20th. Their goal was to walk through the neighborhood and study the processes of gentrification, real estate speculation, and vertical growth. After the walk, they met at the QG da Lapa bar, located at Praça São Crispim, and while talking with the owner, they discovered that the city had launched a PPP—Public-Private Partnership—aiming to sell Praça São Crispim, Praça Rio dos Campos (Pompeia), Praça Portugal (Jardins), a square in Sacomã, and the Linear Park Rio Verde (Itaquera) for the construction of water detention reservoirs (Piscinões). In other words, public green spaces were to be sold to be turned into sewage infrastructure. Specifically, under Praça São Crispim runs the Tiburtino stream micro-basin, currently channeled. Turning this river into sewage for profit was the plan. A public hearing had been scheduled for November 22. We realized that before any artistic action, we needed a social one.

Rafael Abrahão attended the hearing scheduled for 10 AM at Galeria Olido. The panel included: Pedro Algodoal from the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Urbanism; Manuelito Magalhães from the Secretariat of Privatization; Marcelo Carvalho and Victor Sellin from SP Parcerias. Rafael was the only citizen present, and the hearing lasted barely 20 minutes. The residents of the affected areas were unaware of what was about to happen. The public consultation on the PPP’s bidding notice was open until December 11. We had two weeks to act.

On November 25, Rafael called Annabella Andrade, an activist from the Sampa Residents Association and the Comunidade Brasil, and with her help, they reached out to state institutions: the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office. They also visited the City Council to organize a multi-party front to take action. The goal was to extend the public consultation deadline, cancel the Piscinão proposal, and implement the Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Drainage—a much less aggressive and far more modern alternative to Piscinões, dealing more efficiently with stormwater management. We want a real solution to the flooding problem that affects São Paulo’s population. This mobilization was grounded in the following document:

defensoria publica (1)Baixar

While this articulation with the State was happening, all members of Santa Companhia gathered in alternating shifts to collect signatures for a petition from residents and shop owners at Praça São Crispim, and invited them to a discussion circle on December 7. Fernanda Colejo coordinated a group of architects to design the Sustainable Drainage Project, including Luís Rossi and Paula Lemos from the firm Cota 760, Rafael Sampaio (a local resident from the IVA group), and permaculture expert Pedro Bruschi.

December 2019

The beginning of December was intense. Everything revolved around making the conversation circle a success: we pressured the City Council to ensure that council members would be present; we pressured the City Hall to send representatives; we engaged with the Public Prosecutor’s Office; we collected signatures and mobilized residents; we also developed a counter-proposal to the gray infrastructure: the green and blue infrastructure.

Then came December 7, the First Conversation Circle for the Preservation of Praça São Crispim. More than 80 residents attended, along with the offices of council members Eliseu Gabriel and Gilberto Natalini, and Mr. Pedro Algodoal, a technician from the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Urbanism. Over the course of three hours, all residents were able to express their opinions. Unanimous rejection of the Piscinão. The community united to block the project by every legal means possible. The main tools used were the Public Prosecutor's official document and mass responses to the public consultation. The community was engaged—the Movement for the Preservation of Praça São Crispim was born.

January 2020

At the beginning of the year, the architects’ group was already meeting to continue developing and articulating proposals for green infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Second Conversation Circle for the Preservation of Praça São Crispim took place. During this meeting, residents grew stronger and organized into two working groups: Socio-environmental and Cultural. Actions would now be promoted in the square. From this struggle and movement, it became clear that the Residents' Association also needed a branch focused on sustainability and socio-environmental issues.

That same month, together with local residents, we planted 12 trees, organized a collective cleanup effort, crowned the trees, secured more public trash bins, and had two public bus stop benches replaced.

February 2020

In February, we held another collective cleanup and a Picnic in the Square, which included conversation, games, and an urban intervention in memory of the Tiburtino stream and micro-basin—created with Rafael Sampaio and Maurício Ramos. After the Third Conversation Circle for the Preservation of Praça São Crispim, we coordinated with the office of Council Member Gilberto Natalini to organize the First Meeting on Sustainable Solutions and Socio-environmental Affirmative Actions, scheduled for March 4 at the City Council. The event was promoted by Comunidade Brasil and Santa Companhia.

Comunidade Brasil collaborated with Fran Kauê, a social leader from Itaquera, who mobilized his neighborhood in defense of the Parque Linear Rio Verde. At the same time, we built an alliance with the collective Pompeia Sem Medo, part of the Frente Povo Sem Medo, to mobilize for Praça Rio dos Campos, located in the Água Preta basin.

That same month, Council Member Gilberto Natalini visited Praça São Crispim and was shocked by the proposal to destroy a square with more than 60 trees to create a sewage basin. At the end of the month, there was a community breakfast with residents and engineers to discuss sustainable solutions for the square.

March 2020

On March 1, we held a Poster-Making Workshop for the First Meeting on Sustainable Solutions and Socio-environmental Affirmative Actions. The event's panel included politicians Council Member Gilberto Natalini, Eduardo Jorge, Pedro Algodoal, and experts Professor Dr. Paulo Pellegrino, Beatriz Codas, Paula Lemos, and Fernanda Colejo. At the end of the event, Santa Companhia de Teatro performed a song composed by Rafael Abrahão and Claudio Mascaro: Tiburtino.

During the tour of Cora Primavera in Curitiba, we had the experience of performing at the Vigília Lula Livre on April 7, 2019, the day that marked one year of political imprisonment for former president Lula. Although the show couldn't be fully performed that day, we ended up doing the first concert of Manga Régia, playing songs from the play intertwined with theatrical excerpts. That day marked the birth of Manga Régia, Santa Companhia’s musical nucleus. Embracing the possibility of performing concerts, we went on to play at events like the Festival Lula Livre Warm-up (at Teatro Oficina), Escola Florestan Fernandes, and Associação Cecília.

In March 2020, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to hold the Fourth Conversation Circle.

April 2020

Thanks to the collective efforts for Praça São Crispim—of politicians, civil society, merchants, associations, and institutions—and also due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PPP for the water detention basins (Piscinões) was suspended.

Resp. Of. 66.2020 PPP Piscinoes

No Struggle, No Victory

Let’s see what comes next. May we achieve sustainable drainage systems.