History

Photo: Área de Serviço

Faísca was created in June 2015 as a monthly zine fest. The event was the first of its kind to have this frequency in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

From 2015 to 2017, 23 editions of the event were held in Belo Horizonte.

More than 350 different exhibitors participated in the program during that period, including artists, designers, photographers, printers, art collectives and independent publishers.

The 24th edition of the initiative was Faísca International Riso Festival, held exceptionally in the virtual format, featuring 51 guests from 10 different countries, in more than 76 hours of programming, available on YouTube (/faiscafestival).

Results

This journey provided several positive results for the local art publishing scene, stimulating new artists, the circulation of artworks by already established artists, the emergence of new events of the genre in Belo Horizonte and the financial circulation directly aimed at the autonomous publishing field.

Locations

Usually held at BDMG Cultural Institute and also occupying the street where the building is located, in Belo Horizonte, Faísca has also taken place in other locations of the city: underneath Santa Tereza Viaduct, at Liberdade and Savassi squares, and Una University. It also made partnerships with other cultural initiatives: International Comics Festival (FIQ) in 2015; Letters Circuit (2016) and the Photography and Cultural Heritage Circuit (2017) – both organized by the State Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage of Minas Gerais (IEPHA / MG); Traço – live music and drawings Festival (2016); Belo Horizonte International Photography Festival (FIF-BH) in 2017.

Faísca no FIF
Photos: Área de Serviço & Luiz Carlos Oliveira

Seasons

Season 4: new format

Years: 2020/2021

  • In September 2020, Faísca held its first edition as the International Riso Festival. Learn more about the event here.

The previous events were divided into three seasons.

Season 3

Year: 2017

Number of editions: 8

Period: from May to November (with two editions in July)

  • 23th: November 18, Centro Universitário Una (Una University) Liberdade.
  • 22th: October 21, BDMG Cultural and Bernardo Guimarães Street.
  • 21th: September 16, BDMG Cultural and Bernardo Guimarães Street.
  • 20th (special edition): August 19, Liberdade Square, in the program of Circuito Fotografia e Patrimônio Cultural (Photography and Cultural Heritage Circuit).
  • 19th (special edition): July 30, Liberdade Square, in the program of Belo Horizonte International Festival of Photography (FIF-BH), in partnership with Dia de Feira (Fair’s Day), a project that takes musical performances to fairs.
  • 18th: July 15, BDMG Cultural and Bernardo Guimarães Street, in partnership with Dia de Feira (Fair’s Day).
  • 17th (special edition): June 17, BDMG Cultural and Bernardo Guimarães Street, celebration of Faísca’s two-year anniversary, in partnership with Dia de Feira (Fair’s Day).
  • 16th: May 20, BDMG Cultural and Bernardo Guimarães Street.
Photos: Área de Serviço

Season 2

Year: 2016

Number of editions: 9

Period: from April to December.

  • 15th: December 17, BDMG Cultural.
  • 14th: November 19, BDMG Cultural.
  • 13th (special edition): October 8, BDMG Cultural, in the program of Circuito das Letras (Letters Circuit).
  • 12th: September 17, BDMG Cultural.
  • 11th (special edition): August 6, Savassi Square, in the program of “Traço – live music and drawings” festival.
  • 10th: July 16, BDMG Cultural.
  • 9th (special edition): June 18, BDMG Cultural, celebration of Faísca’s one-year anniversary.
  • 8th: May 21, BDMG Cultural.
  • 7th edition: April 16, BDMG Cultural.

Photo: Luiz Carlos Oliveira

Season 1

Year: 2015

Number of editions: 6

Period: from June to November.

Editions’ dates and locations:

  • 6th (special edition): November 14, underneath Santa Tereza Viaduct, in the program of  Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos – FIQ  (International Comics Festival).
  • 5th: October 17, BDMG Cultural.
  • 4th: September 19, BDMG Cultural.
  • 3rd: August 15, BDMG Cultural.
  • 2nd: July 18, BDMG Cultural.
  • 1st: June 20, BDMG Cultural.
Photos: Luiz Carlos Oliveira

Other actions and events

Year: 2017

  • Inauguration, on November 30, of Fanzinoteca Faísca (Faísca’s Zine Library), which is the first public library dedicated to zines and other independent graphic works to open in Belo Horizonte. Location: Usina de Cultura (Centro Cultural Nordeste).

Year: 2018

  • Held in March, Communication Strategies For Autonomous Authors workshop was a partnership between Faísca and Catarse, in the program “Oficinas Plana Volta ao Nada”, by Plana Festival. Catarse headquarters, São Paulo.
  • Held in October, Faísca Cell – Meetings per Democracy, a week of collaborative productions among artists, to think about Brazil’s political scene. Location: Usina de Cultura (Centro Cultural Nordeste).