Page 106 - ARTE!Brasileiros #55

ENGLISH VERSION IN MOURNING I STRUGGLE

selected works belong simultaneously to several FullY reaDY to be reopeneD after six years reopening and imposing the need to find new
of these categories. And they establish enriching of renovations, the Museum of the Portuguese ways of contacting potential visitors – the
dialogues with each other. There is, for example, Language has already started to warm up its museum has also been taking the opportunity to
an interesting reverberation between the slides engines in anticipation of finally being able develop new forms of virtual interaction with the
used by Paulo Freire in the 1960s for literacy and to open its doors, which should happen in public. It took advantage of the international day
the work ABC da Cana, by Jonathas de Andrade, late July or as soon as the pandemic allows. of the Portuguese language to show a little of its
or the painting Esperança, by Leonilson, which In addition to the physical reconstruction, which new face, conducting a series of conversations
also uses the alphabet as a raw material . reassembled the structure destroyed by fire and online presentations, which have already
The omnipresent word sometimes gives in 2015, the institution took the opportunity been seen by more than 15,000 viewers, with
way to less explicit poetic approaches. This is to conceptually reorganize itself and update figures of great relevance in thinking about
the case of the group formed by the works of content and communication strategies with the the role of language, such as Mia Couto, José
Lygia Pape, Lenora de Barros, Lia Chaia and public. Overall, the project concept remains the Eduardo Agualusa and José Miguel Wisnik. It
Anna Maria Maiolino, in which the focus shifts same, based on an anthropological, historical also launched cycles of virtual lectures and
from the written symbol to the physicality of the and social perspective on the language, as intends to establish cycles of debates, teacher
language. The idea of cut, stain or impossibility outlined nearly 20 years ago. training, film screenings, soirees, and other

of controlling one’s language, something As this is basically a virtual collection, the activities capable of spreading this production
common to the work of these artists, makes archives were not destroyed by fire and it beyond the physical space.
the approach between them very powerful. was possible to reassemble a large part of Going outside is, in fact, one of the museum’s
The list of artists represented in the exhibition the original exhibition. The possibility – and mottos, either in terms of content (to which
is large, with very rare and deliberate gaps, as in need – of redoing the exhibition from scratch digital communication can contribute a lot)
the case of São Paulo poets linked to concretism. brought, however, the opportunity to improve or in spatial terms, connecting more intensely
“We tried to avoid a literary character, privileging the permanent exhibition and update important with the surroundings of its headquarters at
the presence of the poetic word in the artistic aspects, incorporating transformations the Estação da Luz, through which hundreds of
field”, explains Moacir. These exceptions aside, language underwent in the period and proposing thousands of people walk every day.
the great masters of art who appropriate the a reflection on contemporary debates related
word are there. Authors such as Arthur Bispo do to identity issues, which has been intensely institutions | transportation [pages 54 to 57]
Rosário, Mira Schendel, Cildo Meireles, Paulo mobilizing the debate in recent years.
Bruscky, Antonio Manuel, Leonilson, Élida The institution also opened space for a more TRANSARTE INSTITUTE:
Tessler, Vânia Mignone, Marilá Dardot, Ivan intense dialogue with various fields of culture,
Grilo, Jaime Lauriano, among others, appear, in addition to its intimate relationship with FOR A LGBTQ+ FUTURE
often with more than one work. literature, incorporating new ways of thinking
There is a permanent effort, in terms of about language also based on everyday elements Designed by Maria Helena Peres Oliveira,
editing, to undo categories, to demonstrate and other forms of expression, such as the arts. the gallery becomes an institute, with
that artistic expression often derives from an visuals. The result of this new approach is the a definitive space to ensure the artistic
attentive look at the world of the street and museum’s first temporary exhibition, already production of the community
things, whether maracatu banners, dish towels, accessible to small groups of visitors, entitled
cachaça labels or signatures of pixo. A clear Lingua Solta. “Since back then, we wanted to By leonor amarante
example of this hybridity is the work Você me dá bring objects crossed by the language”, explains
sua palavra?, by Elida Tessler, which promotes the institution’s special curator, Isa Grinspum the olD Certainties, still present in the
sewing throughout the exhibition. Thousands Ferraz. After all, as Mozambican writer Mia Brazilian art system, are gradually being erased
of hanging clothespins zigzagged, supported Couto says in an online talk organized by the with initiatives such as Transarte, a pioneer
by drying ropes. About them, a number of institution, “the Portuguese language does not gallery in the presentation of artists with the
people invited by the artist wrote a word that work in the abstract”. lgBtQ+ theme and which is now becoming an
was special to each of them. In a presentation Among the novelties brought by the museum institute. Since appearing on the art circuit, he
made on the occasion of the international day in this new guise are also the increment of has been experiencing physical and conceptual
of the Portuguese language, Tom Zé revealed the timeline, which runs through the history transmutations. Now he leaves the bohemian
his: “Disobedience”. of the Portuguese language from Lazio, in Vila Madalena and settles, in permanent
Originally, the exhibition was thought of as ancient Rome, to the present day, with the headquarters, in Gabriel Monteiro da Silva,
another nucleus of the museum’s permanent problematization of fundamental moments stronghold of the upper class in São Paulo,
activities. But the difficulties arising from the in this trajectory, such as the 1500 year - in with other challenges.
pandemic, the lack of technical conditions at the which testimonies of indigenous leaders such Any new situation, which is added to others,
institution - which does not have any collection as Davi Kopenawa and Ailton Krenak were is enough to oxygenate a sense of the future.
of works of art, so it does not have equipment included, questioning the idea of discovery Designed by Maria Helena Peres Oliveira,
such as a technical reserve, conservation team, and explaining the process of invasion of already Transarte opened its doors in 2012 showing
etc. - and the wide presence of works loaned by inhabited lands. In an almost opposite sense, what it came from. He exhibited works by the
private and public collections meant that the the installation Nós da Língua Portuguesa enigmatic North American artist Timothy
selection started to be exhibited on a temporary (“we” both in terms of intertwining and of a Cummings, the result of a one-year residency
basis. On the other hand, it gained a space three pronoun that indicates a collectivity) highlights held in São Paulo. No traveling backwards or
times greater than previously planned. It is the the importance of Portuguese as a language forwards will be able to unravel his tormented
only museum activity that can already be seen by of liberation for African countries, allowing for work, and not even the self-portraits leave a clue.
the public and is accessible to specific groups a confluence of different peoples and dialects For Catharine Clark, a San Francisco gallery
and by appointment, until the end of June, to in a common project, experienced in countries owner, “Cummings’ work is both classic and
reopen, together with the entire museum, from like Mozambique, Angola and Cape Verde. subversive, formally beautiful and thematically
the end of July. Finally, among the novelties, Isa Grinspum creepy.” For Maria Helena, the photographer
highlights the new installation Falares, curated Iwajla Klinke, from Berlin, has an unsuspected
institutions | museum of portuguese language by Marcelino Freire and Roberta Estrela D’Alva, quality and that is why she was also invited. She
[pages 50 to 52] which creates a forest of canvases in which it works the beam of natural light as a narrative
is possible to take a walk, watching a web of instrument. The series Ritual Memories, with
REVAMPED, MUSEUM testimonials, of iconic speeches, Portuguese naked backs of young people, mixes strangeness
and sensuality with sequential takes: man alone,
accents and tribes.
OF THE PORTUGUESE virtual technology was one of the museum’s man mirror, man narcissus, man faggot. The
When it opened in 2006, the massive use of
operation is fluid, but opposite to spontaneity.
LANGUAGE IS REBORN IN strong marks. Today, with a greater familiarity Klinke adorns them sometimes with rats and
DOWNTOWN SÃO PAULO of people with this type of resource and the frogs hanging around his neck, sometimes
with light plastic shuttlecocks or delicate lace.
improvement of equipment, its protagonism
seems more diluted. “The technology came to On the other side of the ocean, the young
About five years after the fire that hit its the service, to tell a story. As the language is Brazilian Bia Leite discovered very early on
headquarters at Estação da Luz, the impalpable, images and sounds are very useful. that dreams and perception are built hand
institution reopens in 2021 with updates We do not seek interactivity for interactivity”, to hand with life. She learned to disarm her
to its contents, but keeping as a basis points out the curator. According to her, what attackers with a telltale paint job. Awarded in
the same curatorial project that made it matters is to stimulate the visitor’s interest the Transarte lgBtQ+ edict for the canvas Born
recognized as much as possible, making them leave the to ahazar, which became known as Criança
Viada, she gained notoriety by graffiti on painting
museum with more questions than they entered.
Faced with the challenges posed by the prejudiced insults suffered by homosexuals
By maria hirsZman pandemic – which has been delaying its since childhood. Bia tries to get rid of the
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