Terra Lume – Mostra Cultural do Lume Teatro, an annual project for the exchange, training, and dissemination of performing arts created by the Interdisciplinary Center for Theatrical Research at Unicamp (Lume Teatro), was the winner in the Theater category of the 2026 São Paulo State Governor's Award, a traditional award for São Paulo's culture.
In this edition, 13 projects were recognized in different areas of artistic production, with the aim of valuing works carried out in the capital, the interior, and the coast of São Paulo state. The awards included categories such as visual arts, audiovisual, circus, dance, music, theater, museums, promotion of reading, and appreciation of cultural heritage. The ceremony was held at the Teatro Sérgio Cardoso, in the city of São Paulo, on July 29th, and distributed more than R$ 400 in prizes.
For Jesser de Souza, actor, researcher and head of communication for Lume, the recognition comes at a particularly significant moment for the group, which is celebrating four decades of history. The award also coincides with the resumption of the tour of the show Kintsugi – 100 Memories , which premiered in 2019 and had its run interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Souza, winning the Governor of the State Award is the result of a combination of factors that have increased Lume's visibility. In addition to its 40-year history, there's the fact that, for over 25 years, activities have been held at the group's headquarters, which has transformed over time. "What began as a program of courses has evolved to include presentations, an international symposium, lectures, technical demonstrations, and audiovisual productions. It has grown significantly," he explains.
Souza further emphasizes that the nomination for the award already represented a form of recognition for the group. "The mere nomination for this award, which is so important, and competing with the people who were nominated along with us, was already an award," he states.
The actor and researcher also highlights the diversity of the projects recognized in this edition. For him, one of the most important aspects of the award was the presence of initiatives developed in the interior and coastal regions of the state, without the capital concentrating the recognitions. “There is a shift in thinking about the function of art in society, and it needs to be decentralized,” he assesses. “This recognition has to be distributed throughout various places in the state, taking into account the conditions that each group or individual has to carry out the work.”
The Governor of the State Award was not the only recent recognition received by Lume. The group was also nominated for the Shell Award, in a special category related to its 40-year history. The nomination considers the way the group narrates its history through Kintsugi – 100 Memories.
The show blends autofiction and fragments of one hundred personal and collective memories, using the Japanese technique of repairing ceramics with gold and the metaphor of Alzheimer's to discuss scars, pain, and the beauty of imperfection. The production was planned for a national tour of approximately 180 days in 2020, but those plans were interrupted by the pandemic. "The show ended up being transformed into a performance for three cameras, in an empty theater, and streamed online. Now, the production has resumed touring cities like Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, and Brasília," says the actor.
Lume has previously received the Shell Award for its ongoing research. This time, it is competing in a special category, alongside other projects. The ceremony is scheduled for March in Rio de Janeiro. For Souza, the awards help to give visibility to a trajectory built over decades, but "the main recognition remains the possibility of keeping research and artistic production in motion."
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