Samambaia Cultural Complex: a living history

The Samambaia administrative region was only set up towards the end of the 1980s but on December 15 and 16, 2018, it officially opened its latest cultural facility. The complex was built in an accessible location and its buildings cover around 13,100 square feet (4,000 m²) of the 44,852 square foot (13,670.80 m²) plot.

For the city's journalist-cum-artist Élton Skartazini, the story behind the Samambaia Cultural Complex is truly epic, involving artists, the government, and the community at large. Local residents, artists, and cultural agents started demanding a cultural facility in 2007. 

1st Samambaia Regional Seminar for Culture in 2007. During this event, the Regional Council for Culture was set up to coordinate the fight for the Samambaia Cultural Complex. Several seminars were held over the following years. 

Artists marching through the city streets in 2011 to mobilize residents to support the building of the Samambaia Cultural Complex.

The Complex Soirées are traveling cultural events that take different kinds of culture and entertainment directly to local residents all over Samambaia. They came about as part of the fight to build the Samambaia Cultural Complex. To date, there have been 121 Soirée events. 

The Complex Soirées won over the local community, increasing support for the Cultural Complex as residents realized that they'd like to have a place for cultural events. 

That's how a new building site appeared in Samambaia town center. The result would be a lovely new Complex. It's emotional seeing a dream that was just a drawing on a piece of paper become a real building. The internal walls at the Complex serve as canvasses for local painters and graffiti artists    

Built on a plot of 44,852 square feet (13,670.80 m²), the first phase of the Samambaia Cultural Complex was officially opened in 2018. The Federal District's Urban Development Fund invested around  4.8m Brazilian reais (approximately 925,000 US dollars) in the project.  

The Complex has the dual-purpose Verônica Moreno theater-cum-cinema with a dressing room, an arts library, a large multi-use area, workshop rooms (for theater, music, visual arts, dance, and audiovisual activities), office space, and toilet facilities, as well as a large patio and its own parking lot.  

There are more than one million people living within a radius of 12 miles (20 km) of the Complex, many with creative talent and others simply keen to enjoy the art and culture on offer. The facility is the result of a popular movement involving artists and the community, with the Samambaia Regional Council for Culture also having played a key role. 

The Cultural Complex's vision and mission are "to encompass the diversity in all forms of artistic and cultural creation and enjoyment so as to strengthen the region as a creative hub and as a beacon for art and culture, ensuring a positive impact on the creative economy chain in the Federal District and its surroundings". 

Having dreamed for so long, Samambaia residents saw their Cultural Complex finally open at the end of 2018. At the official opening event, they were greeted with a varied program that catered for all tastes.

Two days of music, poetry, theater, workshops, and an arts and crafts fair were laid on for the local community. Admission was free and the facilities were adapted to allow access for all, without any restrictions. Artists from Samambaia, the Federal District, and the surrounding area lit up the inaugural event.   

The Complex is a huge facility, fully equipped to promote culture. It currently houses a dual-purpose theater-cum-cinema with dressing room, an arts library, a large multi-use area, and workshop rooms for theater, music, visual arts, dance, and audiovisual activities. It also has office space, toilet facilities, a large internal patio, and two large parking lots.  

No final decision has been made on how to use the arts space but for now, it is used as exhibition space for visual art works and popular culture. 

This is the largest space in the entire cultural complex. With 256 seats, including some reserved for people with limited mobility and overweight visitors, the theater is equipped with a sound and lighting booth. One set of lights for the stage and another above the audience. It has already been used for theatrical performances, lectures, and concerts.

Local performers can use the dressing room at the Verônica Moreno Theater to get ready before going on stage. 

Measuring around 207 square feet (63m²). At the moment, this is used for the flute classes that are being run for children and teenagers. It has also been used for weekend courses and as a meeting space for organizations such as the Samambaia Council for Culture.

This space is ideal for sound and video editing courses. It is also suitable for film and video screenings for smaller audiences.

A space for drawing and painting workshops and general art and craft classes. Some of the suggestions for classes in this space include special painting, embroidery, crochet, and t-shirt making.   

The most flexible space at the Complex. It measures 717.75 square feet (218.75m²), so there's plenty of space for people to move around easily. Its size and location mean that it can host a variety or workshops and events, ranging from capoeira classes (the dance-like martial art form) to art and craft fairs. It also tends to be used as a rehearsal space for any noisy productions. 

The internal walls at the Complex serve as canvasses for painters and graffiti artists from the local community.