Minister for Culture and Communication, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has welcomed the initiative taken by Brazilians in favour of the Gol de Letra Association in France, within the context of the current Year of Brazil initiative. The Association, created by two well-known Brasilian footballers, Rai and Leonardo, aims to provide artistic training to children from the underprivileged districts of Brazil. An exposition, Chinelos de Deus, about the mythical Brazilian sandal, the thong, has been revisited by 50 international artists. The artists include Ora Ito, Mathieu Chédid, Cristina Réali, Elie Médeiros. In addition, through the Association, the works of young artists will be presented from June 14 till June 22 in the chapel of Petits Augustins at the National Academy of Fine arts of Paris. During the evening of June 14 the work of the young Brasilian artists will be auctioned, under the chairmanship of Master Pierre Cornette of Saint-Cyr, the other sandals will be the object of a silent auction during the exhibition. All of the collected funds will be transferred to the Gol de Letra association. Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres was keen to associate the Ministry with this initiative by placing at its disposal the chapel of Petits Augustins at the National Academy of fine arts of Paris. He also asked an artist to create a pair of thongs setting the scene for the launch of the event. For further information, CLICK HERE