Cariocas and tourists can gain new perspectives on Rio de Janeiro’s Port Zone with the exhibition From Valongo to Favela: Imaginary and Periphery, hosted by the Museu de Arte do Rio – MAR starting May 27. The Port Zone – which has undergone various changes throughout its history and is currently undergoing a huge intervention – is the theme of this exhibition that traverses different fields of knowledge to present an overview consisting of 200 pieces, among them objects, iconography, documents and contemporary artworks. Curated by Rafael Cardoso and Clarissa Diniz, the exhibition reaffirms the museum’s mission to communicate with its surroundings, and in this regard constitutes the largest project yet undertaken by this institution.

“The exhibition occupies the expository spaces as territory for narrating the memory of the region”, Clarissa Diniz states. “We’re dealing with a history that has begun long before the existence of MAR, for which the museum has a duty to assume responsibility in the symbolic field, for which we must involve ourselves. We are fulfilling our duty to look at our surroundings and act in this place, and, in order to do this, we must have a minimum awareness of its past.”

From Valongo to Favela: Imaginary and Periphery will occupy the entire third floor of MAR, bringing together a wide selection of images and works divided into eight sections. The first of which, “Formosa Beach [Praia Formosa]”, presents the region prior to its urban occupation, in other words, before the port, slave commerce, and the landfill. The installation Segredos internos [Internal secrets] (2009), by Ayrson Heráclito, will be the point of departure for this voyage in time which also includes paintings by artists such as Hipólito Caron, G.B. Castagnet, and Rosalbino Santoro. The video Acima do nível do mar [Above sea level] (2007), by Waleria Américo, suggests an analogy with urban growth and leads the public to the next level, “Rua do Valongo”, which deals with the space already occupied by the port to discuss commerce and slavery. In addition to works by Rugendas and Debret, the visitor will have access to vast documentation, objects of torture and instruments of punishment.

Following immediately upon this, the exhibit considers the culture and religiosity of the inhabitants of the area known as “Pequena África [Little Africa]”, the name given to this day to the area that once housed the maroon communities of the Port Zone and was the birthplace of samba. One of the first known representations of this musical genre is a watercolor by José dos Reis Carvalho, one of the features of this part of the exhibit, which also features the emblematic panel Orixás (1966), by Djanira, and works that show cultural manifestations such as capoeira and, more recently, the passinho dance.

The exhibition continues with “Bairro Rubro [Crimson Borough]”, introducing the visitor to the atmosphere of abandon that descended on the region since the eighteenth century. Scene of the Vaccine Revolt, the neighborhoods of Saúde and Gamboa were frequented by the lowest echelons of society and consequently the most feared by the aristocracy. Through its backstreets walked thieves, prostitutes, bohemians and capoeiras, figures represented by Lasar Segall, Augusto Malta, Di Cavalcanti and the Bahian artist Virginia de Medeiros – in a pioneering work in the famous brothel of Marinalva, located in the Pelourinho, in the city of Salvador, and mentioned in texts by Jorge Amado.

In the hall between galleries will be a section dedicated to “Praça Mauá” (the square where the museum is located), with images and photographs from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that portray its development and civic significance for the City. The major construction currently occurring at the site is introduced into the exhibit by means of a set created especially to attract the visitor’s gaze to one of the windows with a view to the square.

The next gallery, “Problema Social [Social Problem]”, leaves the waters of the port and ascends the region’s hillsides, with a focus on the Morro da Providência – originally known as the Morro da Favela. The history of the place will be portrayed by means of old photographs and paintings, as well as more recent images, installations and vinyl record covers by Bezerra da Silva. Among them is the LP Eu não sou santo [I’m no saint], in which the singer appears crucified with guns in his hands, in a reference to the role of drug dealers in the communities abandoned by the State.

The exhibition continues through the section “Fato Estético [Aesthetic Fact]”, inspired by the Manifesto Pau-Brasil [Brazilwood Manifesto], by Oswald de Andrade. This manifesto argues for how important it is for artists to look into the favela, to be aware of its aesthetic dimensions. It has inspired works by great names of modernism such as Tarsila do Amaral, Di Cavalcanti, Lasar Segall and, more recently, Hélio Oiticica, Caetano Dias and Caio Reisewitz. After this great tour through the whole history of the port region, the exhibition concludes with “Periferia é periferia [Periphery is periphery]”, which discusses how the gaze directed at the favela, the creation of public policies and the preoccupation with the aesthetic all reposition the periphery. This takes the discussion up to current days for a reflection on the entire project of requalification of the space in question.

From Valongo to Favela: Imaginary and Periphery is the main exhibition of the Museu de Arte do Rio – MAR for the year 2014 and will remain open until February 2015.

Museu de Arte do Rio – MAR

MAR is a space dedicated to art and visual culture. Located at Praça Mauá, MAR occupies two neighboring buildings: the older edifice, a historical landmark in an eclectic style, holds the exhibition hall; the newer building, in a modernist style, is where the Escola do Olhar operates. The architectural plan unifies the two buildings with a fluid concrete canopy, reminiscent of a wave – the Museum’s trademark –, and a ramp used by visitors to enter the exhibition spaces.

MAR is an initiative of the City of Rio de Janeiro in partnership with the Fundação Roberto Marinho. The Museum’s activities include the collection, registration, research, preservation and return to the community of cultural assets. A proactive space in the support of education and culture, the museum originated together with a school – the Escola do Olhar –, with an innovative mission: foster the development of an educational program that serves as a reference for programs in Brazil and abroad, combining art and education based on the institution’s guiding curatorial program.

The museum counts among its major sponsors the Organizações Globo, Vale, and Itaú, and the support of the State Government of Rio de Janeiro and the Ministry of Culture, by means of the Federal Law for the Promotion of Culture. Management is provided by the Instituto Odeon, a private, non-profit organization with the mission to promote citizenship and socio-educational development through the production of cultural projects.

Museu de Arte do Rio

Praça Mauá, 5, Centro
CEP 20081-240
Rio de Janeiro/RJ Brazil
Ph. +55 (21) 30312741
www.museudeartedorio.org.br

Opening hours

Tuesday - Sunday
From 10am to 5pm

Related images
  1. Bárbara Wagner, "Brasília Teimosa", 2007. Jato de tinta sobre papel de algodão, 50 x 75cm
  2. Ayrson Heráclito. Segredos internos. instalação 1994. Foto: Márcio Lima
  3. Maria Buzanosvsky. Jogo da capoeira – Roda do Cais do Valongo, 2014. Fotografia. Coleção da artista.
  4. Carlos Chambelland, Jovem com Frutas
  5. Rugendas, Negros Novos, Voyage Pittoresque dans le Bresil, litografia
  6. Bárbara Wagner, "Brasília Teimosa", 2007. Jato de tinta sobre papel de algodão, 50 x 75cm