Page 113 - ARTE!Brasileiros #55

However, all the radicality that marked the BooKs | “enCiClopÉdia negra” [pages 88 to 92] the Afro-Atlantic experience of around 550
period of consolidation of Beuys’ work in the deceased characters. For the authors, “If the
1960s and 1970s, with the exercise of extensive A BOOK OF MANY criterion for being included in this book was
dialogue with other artists and groups such death, the objective is life.”
as Fluxus, and Arte Povera in Italy, and the HANDS, MINDS However, these numbers should not be
strong presence of performance artists such AND LIVES considered as representative of the scope and
as Marina Abramović and Ulay, will transform diversity of these stories present in Encyclopedia
in the following decade. Organized by Flávio dos Santos Gomes, Negra. On the contrary, the book refuses
The 1980s are marked by the idea of the Jaime Lauriano and Lilia Schwarcz, the use of statistics in favor of affirming the
“return to painting”, especially in Germany, with Encilopédia Negra confronts the singularities of these characters, highlighting
the emergence of so-called neoexpressionists historiography that denies visibility to the the protagonism through the nomination,
such as Georg Baselitz and Anselm Kiefer. This contributions of black people; publication recognition of deeds, the updating of the social
new context was certainly very discouraging also unfolds in an exhibition at the value and complexity of these actors’ lives in
for Beuys, which probably led him to create view of the conditions of our past and Brazilian
the multiple postcard With this I abandon art, Pinacoteca gift. The result is an organized, non-exhaustive
on November 1, 1985, almost three months narrative capable of circulating throughout all
before he died, on January 23, 1986, due to a By tiago gualBerto regions of the country, affirming an attention to
heart attack. the memory of lgBtQi+ women and people rarely
This postcard is part of a series of nine manY will remember the enCYClopeDias present in publications dedicated to celebrating
sentences, all handwritten, in chalk, on a dark composed of dozens of volumes and many kilos contributions to the formation of our society.
background, just like a blackboard, material he elegantly arranged on the highest point of the In this sense, in addition to confronting
so often used in his works, related to his teacher room’s bookcase. In addition to an investment the colonial historiography responsible for
facet. It should be noted that, knowing himself in their children’s education, book collection denying visibility to the contributions of black
ill - Beuys had long been weakened as a result was often interpreted as a sign of good financial people, the book plays an important role in the
of his plane crash - he leaves this last set of condition and an appreciation for knowledge. re-presentation, organization and dissemination
works where there is no image, no color, only An object that should be transmitted from of information usually kept in research centers,
text. Another of the texts written in this series generation to generation and consulted by libraries and specialized centers. It is about
of postcards is: “The error already begins when the whole family and even by neighbors and offering this knowledge beyond the university
someone prepares to buy a screen”(der Fehler schoolmates. The prints in golden letters on spectrum. Researchers, teachers, students of
fängt schon an, wenn einer sich anschickt, wide spines reinforced its importance and that different ages will find in the Enciclopédia Negra
Keilrahmen und Leinwand zu kaufen) of its contents. A source of unquestionable material that is easy to access and handle, in
Therefore, the message of the postcards is information and knowledge and a guarantee addition to indications of research references
clear: Beuys no longer saw the possibility of of good grades. integrated into the entries.
conveying his ideas in the field of art, nor taking Part of the new generations used to Google’s For this, the authors are nourished by the
part in it. Just as he was fired from the Academy, search engine and so many other online fruits of social movements and the pioneering
and never elected by his political associations, platforms available on the internet may be spirit of the intellectual achievements of different
the artist found that neither in art his message unaware of the role encyclopedias and their generations of black and black historians, social
achieved the necessary repercussion. An Enlightenment tradition played in our way scientists, artists and researchers. Among
emblematic artist of an experimental period in of interpreting the world and knowledge. By the numerous predecessor publications
art history, which begins in the post-War period, bringing together intellectuals and thinkers used as a reference for Enciclopédia Negra,
Beuys arrives pessimistic in the 1980s, when the from the most varied fields such as philosophy, Fala, crioulo: depoimentos (1982), by Haroldo
art market gains strength and power again and arts, economics, science, politics, among Costa, stand out, in which we have access to
the experiments move into the background. It is others, the French Enlightenment movement interviews with names such as Pelé and actor
the decade of the end of history and, according improved to challenges to freedom of thought Milton Gonçalves, but also with anonymous
to Artur C. Danto, the end of art. and expression from the 18th century onwards. characters, housewives, sweepers and
Beuys participated in all the important shows It is one of the most efficient Western tools hairdressers, sharing their trajectories and
of the art circuit: four times in Documenta; for sharing accumulated knowledge and for perspectives on Brazilian racism. In another
once at Skulptur Münster in 1977; represented formulating a social organization guided by significant example, A Mão Afro-Brasileira
Germany in Venice, in 1976 with Tram stop- the lighthouse, by the light of reason. (1988), a book organized by the plastic artist
Monument to the Future; and in 1980, with However, we will not need abundant and director of the Afro Brasil Museum Emanoel
Das Kapital Raum from 1970 to 1977; he also examples to recognize the weaknesses and Araujo, we find black protagonism in the visual
represented Germany in three Biennials of São abuse committed in the name of this project arts, dance, music, poetry and literature of
Paulo (1979, 1985, 1989) and was consecrated of access to universal knowledge through several generations. Among many other titles,
with a retrospective at the Guggenheim in New “enlightenment” over the last few centuries. For Quem é Quem na Negritude Brasileira (1998),
York in 1979, which earned him great prestige now, just remember the hundreds of pictures by professor and poet Eduardo de Oliveira, and
in the United States. that illustrated any encyclopedias of luxurious the Dicionário da Escravidão Negra no Brasil
His epitaph, however, points out that, in covers, sometimes sold door to door. Hundreds (2004), organized by Clóvis Moura and Soraya
fact, these great exhibitions represented little of white men, Europeans and Americans and Silva Moura, form, alongside the researches and
for Beuys, and that he already envisioned an their great achievements for “humanity”. A publications by Nei Lopes, Oswaldo de Camargo,
unpromising future for art. Sad observation few decades ago, copying the contents of Conceição Evaristo, Fernanda Miranda, Lélia
for who argued that: these encyclopedias and their indisputable Gonzalez, ways to understand the contributions
stories were part of a school agenda based on developed from Africa and its diaspora, the
Only art, that is, art conceived at the same reproduction at the expense of learning. impacts of colonialism and the impossibility of
time as creative self-determination and as a In this context, prior to the online sales understanding the world without this knowledge.
process that generates creation, is capable market, bookstores were spaces of intimidation Therefore, Enciclopédia Negra, in dialogue
of freeing us and leading us towards an for a wide range of the Brazilian population who with these intellectual achievements, is not
alternative society (BORER, p. 28) historically saw themselves included on their restricted to approaches that associate
shelves only as research objects. One of the black participation in Brazilian history with
reasons for the success of old encyclopedia the economic cycles of sugar, mining and
bibliographY sellers. coffee during the period of slavery. Nor does
Christensen, Liz (org.) (2011). Beuys and well The book Enciclopédia Negra, by the historian it privilege prejudiced narratives that reduce
beyond. Teach as art. Frankfurt: Deutsche Bank. Flávio dos Santos Gomes, the visual artist black insurrections to simple rebellion. Added to
Borer, Alain. (2001). Joseph Beuys. São Paulo: Jaime Lauriano and the anthropologist Lilia the authors’ own experience in relation to studies
Cosac Naify. Moritz Schwarcz, published in March 2021 by on slavery, post-abolition and reconstruction
farias, Agnaldo. (2001). Bienal 50 anos. São Companhia das Letras, presents itself as an of black profiles, trajectories and biographies,
Paulo: São Paulo: Fundação Bienal de sp alternative to confronting the structural racism the book presents sensitivity in the compilation
farKas, Solange (2010). A revolução somos nós. present in materials far-reaching reference tool. of this multiplicity of references observed here
São Paulo: Associação Cultural Videobrasil/ It is a survey on the contribution and history of and that, in large part, in other publications on
Sesc important black personalities in Brazil over the the theme, are observed only in the midst of
harlan, Volker (2004). What Is Art?: last 400 years, focusing on the broad period of censorship, inattention and negligence. This
Conversation with Joseph Beuys. East Sussex: slavery and post-abolition. Based on a collective situation can, unfortunately, be observed in the
Clairview Books. investigation, marked by the collaboration restricted selection of authors present in the
sChuster, Peter-Klaus (1999). Das XX. of different researchers and specialists, the catalogs of major publishers dedicated only to
Jahrhundert: ein jahr hundert kunst in publication brings together 416 biographical responding to the demands for materials after
Deutschland. Berlin: Nicolai. entries, individual and collective, based on the enactment of Law 10.639, of 2003, which
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