Page 89 - ARTE!Brasileiros #42

the totalizing unit of such powerful fields like science, religion and EXHIBITION SÃO PAULO | PAGES 42 AND 43
art, is not something exclusive to the early 20th century. In 1987, on
the occasion of the exhibition of abstract art in Los Angeles in which IN THE NAME OF THOSE
her work was shown for the first time, a critic came in trying to put
it back in the secondary space- and invisible -to which women were WHO CAME BEFORE
relegated, reversing the speech for the sake of equality, to say that
she “would never have received such treatment if was not a woman”. THE PRESENCE OF ANCESTRY IN THE LEGACY OF MESTRE DIDI GOES
Despite working intermittently, left more than 26000 hand and BEYOND RELIGION, BEHAVING LIKE A POLITICAL ACT BY THE ARTIST
typewritten pages, in which she explains the internal organisation of IN FAVOR OF HIS PEERS
her work, seeks to explain and organize the multitude of symbologies
present in her work, formed by a interweaving between complex BY JAMYLE RKAIN
geometric shapes, symbols, letters and colors. And also a set of 1200
paintings, drawings and watercolors. Died at the age of 82 years, IN 2017, it was celebrated the centenary of Mestre Didi, as it was
the victim of a hit-and-run, and her heir, her nephew, respected the called the soteropolitan Deoscóredes Maximiliano dos Santos.
wish expressed in testament to keep guarded by 20 years more A plastic artist, writer and spiritual leader, he received several
her non-figurative works. “There is no doubt that she had absolute honors in the state where he was born. Now it is the turn of Didi
science of her own time, from the force of her images and the ‘s trajectory to be celebrated by Almeida e Dale Gallery in São
potential of these for the future. She has very clear what she was Paulo, with the exhibition Mo Ki Gbogbo In - I greet everyone that
doing, “says Volz, noting that even after the opening of the boxes, opens on April 7.
it has taken two more decades for her work started to gain visibility. To understand the art of Mestre Didi, one must understand the strong
Only in 2013, an itinerant retrospective, starting with the Moderna connection that he has with his ancestry. Son of an iyalorishá with
Museet, Stockholm. much influence in the introduction of Candomblé in the country,
For the São Paulo’s exibition were chosen 130 works, emphasizing the artist dedicated his life to preserve the memory of his African
the serial structure adopted by the artist, rare in her time. Some and Afro-Brazilian ancestors through the visual, written and oral
of them have never been shown before. According to Volz, the narratives that he produced.
presence of Hilma in Pinacoteca helps highlight the very strong According to Antônio Marcos dos Santos Cajé, a master in African
dialogue between her work and the brazilian art, as a very strong History, Diaspora and Indigenous Peoples at the Federal University of
clash between the geometric and organic form, the strength of the Recôncavo Baiano and friend of the artist, the question of ancestry
religious syncretism and the idea of universality. in Mestre Didi can not be seen only under the religious gaze: “When
we speak about ancestry, we speak about culture in general. It has
PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION | PAGES 38 TO 41 a central role in religion, but not only. It is spoken in the name of a
ONLY ONE PLATE larger group”, he says.
The artist was deeply concerned about the identity of black people.
He believed that through the recognition of ancestry, it was possible
SHOW AT IMS AMAZES BY ITS WORK AND CURATORSHIP QUALITIES to make the fight against racism stronger. “Mestre Didi created a
AND BY NATURALY BRINGING THE FINDING OF CONTRAST BETWEEN project for children up to 14 years old to learn about their ancestors
THE PORTRAITS – BEAUTIFUL, SOLEMN AND METICULOUS – AND OUR through tales and oral tradition”, he tells. This initiative goes back to
ABUSED SELFIES the life of Didi himself, since he grew up in Ilê Axé Opó Afonjá, where
he learned about his roots in the stories that were told mainly by
POR HÉLIO CAMPOS MELLO Mother Anininha, whom he considered a grandmother, and Mother
Senhora, his biological mother. For the researcher, this was one of
CHICHICO ALKMIN was born in 1886 and opened his atelier in 1912, the political acts by the artist, who “did not participate in movements,
in Diamantina, Minas Gerais. He died in 1978, two years before his but moved his own community.”
photos were exposed for the first time in Diamantina. There are With his wife, Juana Elbein dos Santos, and the photographer
5544 negatives at his collection, most of glass plates, and they Pierre Verger, who has photographs in the show (as well as Mário
are, from 2015, under Instituto Moreira Salles’care. Cravo Neto), Mestre Didi went to Nigeria and the Republic of Benin
Curated by Eucanaã Fernandez, they were exposed in the IMS of in 1967. Sponsored by UNESCO, they would make a comparison
Rio and is at IMS, São Paulo, until April 15. Also excellent is the between the sacred art produced in Brazil and West Africa. “It
180 pages catalogue, Chichico Alkmin, Photographer. was a journey in which he looked for his roots. So it was from this
There are six parts at the exibition, portraits made in the atelier, trip that he began to understand his origins much better”, states
landscapes, portraits made outside the atelier and also a museum. Antônio Marcos.
It displayed parts used in the laboratory, glass negatives, almost The works in the exhibition Mo Ki Gbogbo In date, mostly, to a period
300, in addition to a guideline showing how a photograph was after this discovery by the artist. In this way, it is possible to visualize
made at that time. Second Eucanaã Ferraz the set provides “a with much more effort this meeting of Didi with what would be his
kind of portrait of Brazil”. Rightly. In front of Chichico’s lens posed identity. There are 48 sculptures by the artist exhibited by Almeida
riches, poor, black, white. All in a serene and solemn haughtiness e Dale, in partnership with Paulo Darzé Gallery. Also, testimonies by
. Actually a picture of a Brazil that today would be very welcome. Mestre Didi will be available for the public to watch and to listen to.

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