The famed international arts festival, held every two years and featuring a different country or region in every edition, takes us to Brazil the whole winter long. In Europalia are exhibitions, performances and other events that examine every aspect of Brazil’s cultural heritage – from its music and fine arts to its literature and gastronomy.

Three years in the making and involving the consultation of thousands of artists and experts from across Europe and Brazil, Europalia has grown to the immense proportions of its subject. Belgium and its neighbouring countries will host more than 600 events and exhibit some 2,650 works of art in more than 200 venues.

“Our main goal is to open up the world through culture,” explains Kristine De Mulder, the event’s general director. “We’re trying to show as complete an image as possible of Brazil’s artistic world and of what this country can teach us.”

While most of us, if asked about Brazil, would be able to name carnival, bossa nova or samba, much of Brazil’s deep-rooted cultural history remains unknown in Europe. “There are so many interesting things happening there right now – in dance, theatre, literature and cinema, but also in archaeology and contemporary art,” says De Mulder.

Diversity is the driver of this year’s festival, a theme which De Mulder says was obvious from the very start of their research. “I think Brazil is a country where diversity is part of life.” They even have a word for how they approach incorporating new cultures into their own – antropofagia. Coming from the Greek anthro, meaning human, and phagos, eating, this term describes a kind of cultural cannibalism.

“Brazil is known to swallow the cultures it encounters,” De Mulder says, “from the native Indians to the descendants of African slaves, the Japanese, the Arabs, the Europeans, the Chinese. You have all these different cultures and ethnic groups, but in the end they’re all Brazilian. And they are very proud to be.”

A few must-sees stand out on the vast programme. First and foremost: Brazil.Brasil at Bozar. It is what De Mulder calls “a revelation”, an exhibition that tells the story of Brazil’s search for an identity through art. It starts at the beginning of the 19th century, when Brazil was a Portuguese colony, and tracks its movements away from the European academy to the creation of a truly national art inspired by the reality and exoticism of Brazilian life.

Índios no Brasil, meanwhile, takes a fascinating look at what it means to be an indigenous person in Brazil. “You are not born an Indian,” De Mulder says. “You become an Indian by performing certain rituals and rites throughout your life.”

There are no less than 150 concerts scheduled – from classical and contemporary samba to accordion, carnival and choro, by some of Brazil’s biggest stars – on the stages of Brussels and Flanders.

So where to begin? At Club Brazil, “the beating heart of the festival,” as De Mulder calls it. This colourful event space-cum-information centre at the foot of the Kunstberg will hold concerts every Friday, dance courses on Saturday and endless workshops. “And all for free,” De Mulder points out. “Except for the bar.

Until 15 January

Across Brussels and Flanders
www.europalia.be