Brasilia. Following the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Brazil’s successful participation in the Brasilia Trends Fashion Week in 2022 and 2023, the Embassy has started engagements with its organisers on formalising a Creative Industry and Cultural Exchange partnership.
The Embassy met officials from Fashion Campus, a skills training centre of fashion and Association of Business Women and Professionals which focuses on uplifting the business potential of women mostly those in the creative industry like fashion and art.
Association of Business Women and Professionals President Bernadeth Martins hailed the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Brazil’s willingness to work with the private sector in Brazil to improve and market Zambia’s art and fashion in Brazil and South America.
Mrs Martins said the Embassy of Zambia in Brasilia had a special participation with culture and typical garments in 2022, and it is due to the great success recorded that the Brasília Trends Fashion Week is proposing the exchange of fashion designers with Zambia, a country that so enchanted the Brazilian catwalk.
“Having Brazilian entities of the highest level of respect as partners, as well as the Government of Brasilia, Secretariat of Culture and Tourism and Federal Government, we would like to express our willingness to form a commission to visit Zambia that also forms a Zambian commission to visit Brazil, which will be an open door for the Textile industry, manufactured goods and clothing and most importantly, will bring Zambia closer to Brazil, revealed Mrs Martins.
She added that BTFW had the honour of showing Brazil and the world Zambia’s traditional costumes, rich culture, and rare traditional music and hoped that the collaboration would continue.
“We hope to bring Zambian creative fashion designers to Brazil in 2024 so that they can be part of the fashion space that offers participants trainings, workshops, and lectures on how the Brazilian fashion market is conceived and thus paving the way for Zambian designers to have the opportunity to penetrate the South American fashion industry market,” said Mrs Martins.
And Fashion Campus Principal Chief Executive Officer and Founder Mabel de Bones indicated that clothes are one of the world’s ignored lucrative trade that many people do not pay attention but it records millions of dollars in profits and both Zambia and Brazil can benefit from it.
Ms Bones is positive that the continued partnership between the Embassy of Republic of Zambia in Brasilia and the BTFW will give Zambian designers access to new international interactions with renowned creative fashion experts, models and designers participating in the show, facilitating knowledge transfer.
In response, Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Brazil Counsellor Coillard Muvwema assured the Association of Business Women and Professionals and Fashion Campus that Zambia is not short of artistic and fashion skill.
Mr. Muvwema said Zambia has one of the best if not the best quality of emeralds from which fashion accessories like earrings, finger rings, bracelets necklaces among other things are made out of.
“As we prepare for the coming Brasilia Fashion Trends Week, Brazil must be ready to embrace our world sought after emerald made fashion accessories,” Mr Muvwema said. We will bring the best creative industry personalities to Brazil.
The Counsellor said the collaboration leads towards the achievement and implementation of the 2010 signed agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and The Government of the Republic of Zambia.
He added that cultural co-operation can meaningfully contribute to strengthen the bonds of friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries, as well as to raise the level of knowledge between them.
In the agreement, the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Government of the Republic of Zambia agreed to encourage the co-operation between their cultural institutions, public and private, in order to develop activities which may promote the mutual awareness between countries and the diffusion of their cultures as well as promote the exchange of experiences in the field of visual arts, music, theatre, dance, cinema, museums and archives.
Issued by Lloyd Kapusa
First Secretary-Press and Public Relations
Embassy of the Republic of Zambia
Brasilia, Brazil.