Interview

Interview with Imaculada Kangussu, 05.02.2019

By Miguel Gally (ABRE 2018-2020)

With its transfer to Minas Gerais, ABRE benefited from an established structure for the international congresses of aesthetics that had, since 1993, been held in Belo Horizonte by Rodrigo Duarte and in Ouro Preto by you, Romero and Cintia. You were also responsible for creating FiFi (in 2002), which became the first national itinerant event in aesthetic. While ABRE’s official event came to be the International Congress of Aesthetics, FiFi stands out for its presence, throughout its history, in all regions of the country, except North. Given this brief presentation, when and from whom did the idea for the Colloquium of Philosophy and Ficcion come from? Was the Master Program in Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art of UFOP [Federal University of Ouro Preto], created in 2006 , determinant in this process?

The idea for FiFi occurred during a colloquium about the third critic at the Federal University of Santa Maria. There, I met with Márcia Tiburi (UNISINOS, at the time) and Jorge de Almeida (USP – University of São Paulo) and complained about them missing the Congress of Philosophy and Language that had recently taken place in Ouro Preto, to what they replied that they were not aware of it. They suggested that a new event be organized – even without any money, per sign-up – and that they would come then. That’s when I suggested the theme Philosophy and Ficcion.

Parentheses: There is a dispute about the designation (1) I think I came up with the name at that moment, (2) Olimpio thinks he was the one who thought of it when I mentioned the idea to him and (3) Emília Mendes, professor at FALE-UFMG, claims that she was the one who suggested the name to me at a bar… so the origin of the name is uncertain. End of parentheses.

Rodrigo, Daniel Omar Perez e Horacio Martinez, who were also in Santa Maria at the occasion, accepted the invitation right away and the first FiFi became a reality, with the presence of the people whose names you can see on the poster attached (Hilan Bensusan and Lívia Guimarães are missing because they came along after the poster had been printed). It was organized by Olímpio and me. No one thought of the masters program then, to my knowledge…

The itinerancy happened without any planning? Or was there a concern about the necessity of an event of aesthetics that toured through the main center of studies in the country?

We weren’t think of a second event until Cecília [Maria Cecília de Miranda Coelho], impressed by the first event, suggested a second FiFi to Hilan. I immediately accepted, eagerly…

So in 2004 the second event took place in the State of Santa Catarina, in what city? And which institution supported the event?

Yes, in Florianopolis, at the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

It was since the fifth edition (Brasilia, 2013) that FiFi became an international event?

Yes.

Who is responsible for keeping FiFi?

It changes. Currently the core group is Carla Damião (main conductor), Cecília, Hilan, Ana Lúcia de Oliveira and Ana Chiara.

Would you like to say more about the arrival of ABRE in Minas Gerais and/or about the creation of FiFi?

Yes. I would like to say that I participated (presenting orally) since the first congress of aesthetics, organized by Rodrigo; on the second one I was already in the organization as a student and kept on until I stepped away from the organization. Before that, I followed ABRE’s move to Belo Horizonte and occupied the vice-presidency for many years. I also emphasise the participation of Rodrigo and other ABRE members in FiFi. In attention to the title of your message, “History FiFi and ABRE”, I would like to say that I think of FiFi as one of ABRE’s activities and that’s why I always chose to publish the annals of the events through ABRE, even though it meant more bureaucratic work, since it would be simpler to publish with UFOP.