Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Colin at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Colin posing with ‘Road to the Pico do Jaragua’ by Henrique Manzo (1896)
‘End of Romance’ by Antonio Parreiras (1912)
Immigration and identity have always been huge topics in Brazilian artwork because of the native Indian, African slave, European and Asian mix that formed Brazil as a country. It is important to see how this subject has always been present in Brazilian art, and has prompted continued revival. Brazil’s 20th century modernist movement took Almeida Junior’s portraits of mixed-race rustic peoples and used them as an inspiration for a newer answer to an old concept, a starting point for national painting. Below we have two paintings, one an older yet satisfyingly striking portrait by Junior and below this a more modern yet equally striking image of a mixed-race rustic person.
‘Study of Caipira’s Head’ (1893) by Almeida Junior
‘Mestico’ (1934) by Candido Portinari
The painting below by Rubem Valentim (from the Bahia region) has distinct Afro-Brazilian influences with its geometrical shapes which represent the vast and mixed cultural heritage of Brazilians. The next painting by an anonymous artist is entitled ‘America’ and while its immediate impression seems to be regal and adventurous, a closer look shows human bodies being piled, burned, even cooked in the background throughout the piece. This imagery represents the brutality the natives faced after the arrival of new settlers, who viewed the natives often as ugly and uneducated. The forest painting ‘Amazonian Indians Worshipping the Sun God’ below was created by Francois Auguste Biard, an artist who believed just this – he viewed the natives as “…ugly, devious, torturous, and lazy,” though his representation of their sun-god worship is breathtakingly magical.
‘Untitled’ by Rubem Valentim
‘America’ by Anonymous
‘Amazonian Indians Worshipping the Sun God’ by Francois Auguste Biard
Our favorite painting by far was a gorgeous colorful landscape of Rio by Alessandro Ciccarelli. So pretty was this image (it seemed to be lit from the inside like a Thomas Kinkade) and so complimenting was the frame around it that we just had to get a photo of it. Perhaps a later home will include a copy of this spectacular piece.
‘Rio’ by Alessandro Ciccarelli
There was a distinct change of pace at this point in the art museum – a switch from older, more classical paintings, to very modern, very in-your-face stuff! Take the following, for example, are photographs of Brazilians familiar with poverty – a favela boy with striking eyes and a girl who has seen the rougher side of Brazilian life.
Favela Photos at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Finally, Colin and I headed to the basement. On this lower floor we came across some open rooms were art was being restored by professionals. While we knew how common this was, we were quite surprised to see the room was accessible to the public (at least, visually – no restoration by us was allowed!).
Modern Art at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Art Restoration at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Tucked away in the basement was also a rather strange exhibition… it was an almost ghost like and provided us with some creepy pictures! See us interacting with the exhibits below:
Colin with Modern Art at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Colin with Modern Art at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Francesca with Modern Art at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
Modern Art at Pinacoteca Museum, 2013
After the art museum, we took a chance at the Portuguese Language Museum which seemed promising at first – what a great chance to learn some Portuguese words… we thought! Turns out virtually the whole exhibit was actually in Portuguese, with no English translations available in any form. But there were some interesting political cartoons inside that didn’t require any explanations! We chalked it up as mostly a wash. If you know Portuguese go here for some flashy looking exhibits about the history and etymology of the Portuguese language, if not, skip it for now until an audio guide is available.
Sao Paulo Graffiti, 2013
Museum of Portuguese Language, 2013
Museum of Portuguese Language Timeline, 2013
Colin Displeased With Lack of English at the Museum of Portuguese Language, 2013
Political Cartoon at the Museum of Portuguese Language, 2013
Political Cartoon at the Museum of Portuguese Language, 2013
After some lunch at a corner shop, we headed to another church where we had an interesting experience. While wandering around we came across a small revolving wooden door in the wall of the church. Curious, we tried to ask someone what it was. Since he only spoke Portuguese, he walked with us over to the door and knocked on it, promptly walking away. Baffled, we stood there waiting for what was to come. The door turned around and there was a small prayer book and a bunch of bundled up packets of white paper. Upon opening, we discovered small typed prayers were rolled tightly into small bits. We watched a woman come up and knock, give a donation, collect her papers, and put them in her mouth. Apparently, we later learned from a guide at the church, they are like ‘medicine’ for the people – ingesting prayers. Hmm… ok. We collected our papers, but passed on eating any of them.
Prayer Medicine Box in Sao Paulo, 2013
Included in the previous museum ticket was entrance to one last place, the Resistance Memorial, a place which turned out to have a combination of prison cells, strange modern art, and no English translations. At least it was free this time!
Colin at the Resistance Memorial, 2013
Francesca at the Resistance Memorial, 2013
Modern Art at the Resistance Memorial, 2013
We finished up at this last place, thankfully finding an ATM in the basement with the help of a museum guard (Travelers Tip: WARNING - Working ATMs are VERY difficult to find in Brazil for UK and American debit/credit cards!) and then headed home, wading through the rush hour traffic on the way to our Vila Rock Hostel.The next morning (January 30th) we spent the day exploring what was undoubtedly the best museum in Sao Paulo: the ‘Estadio Municipal’ Football Museum (figures, huh?). This museum is located under the football stadium in Sao Paulo and is extremely interactive and interesting!
Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
Football Museum at the Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
No pictures were really allowed inside, but the museum had various sections which I will describe for you here:- a radio/video section where you could listen to broadcasts and journalists’ comments
- a flashy video of Brazilian crowds reacting to wins on large video displays under the stadium itself (you can see the stadium’s exposed pillars)
- the history of football’s development in Brazil in relationship to Brazil’s history
- examples of the football’s psychical development through history
Football Development at the Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
- diagrams of the different plays football teams use against each other
Play Diagrams at the Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
- memorabilia from various players/games- examples of objects favela kids use as footballs
Favela Footballs at the Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
- a mock football kick game which calculates how fast you kick- a 3D movie showing the bones of a football player in motion
There was also the stadium itself we were able to walk into for pictures. It looked like there was going to be a game going on later that day, but it was empty for now!
Colin at the Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
Francesca at the Estadio Municipal in Sao Paulo, 2013
After the Football Museum, Colin and I took a great walk through an upscale café area on a street called Augusta, and while we were tempted to stop, Colin had made us a packed lunch for later so we managed to hold off. Instead we found another modern art museum – this one didn’t allow for pictures. That was OK with us though, turned out to be pretty sparse inside. However, we did manage to find out there was a ‘make your own modern art’ class going on while we were there! Time for us to get creative! (After all, we could probably, as you could, make most of the ‘modern art’ in this museum ourselves anyway…). Take a look at what we put together in the couple hours we had!
Francesca and Colin’s Modern Art in Sao Paulo, 2013
After our art experience we had to rush around a little to make it to Trianon park and the House of Roses before they closed. While the park looked really cool, we saw a huge spider and ran out of there right quick! We walk down Avenue Paulista, one of the most interesting areas in this business city – probably considered the center as it seemed to be the financial hub filled with banks and hectic commercial buildings. The House of Roses proved much more calm: an amazing rose garden surrounding an old and creaky house built in the 1920’s was the backdrop for some great photos!
Trianon Park in Sao Paulo, 2013
House of Roses in Sao Paulo, 2013
House of Roses in Sao Paulo, 2013
One of the final (and unfortunately, mandatory) stops of the day was a free Yellow Fever vaccine for the two of us we had planned to get. We read online that you could simply walk in to the Instituto Pasteur on Avenue Paulista and show them your passport and you will be given the vaccine – 10 minutes, in and out. Turns out the rumors were true! We did have a little help from Kyle, our new translator friend, who helped us explain what we needed and after the shots we were on our way for dinner.
Since Sao Paulo is filled with Italians we thought we’d try a pizzeria: Speranza! The pizza was pretty good, and we tried a sausage cake appetizer that was nice, but it was quite pricey, even by Sampa standards. I think we’ll try to stick with more local food – it was a nice break, but not nice enough in my opinion!
Instituto Pasteur in Sao Paulo, 2013
Speranza Pizzeria in Sao Paulo, 2013
The 31st of January we spent going to yet another hospital for more vaccines. We wanted to make sure we were covered before heading up to the North of Brazil. Einstein Hospital (www.einstein.br) proved to be well worth the wait instead of getting our vaccines in the USA as it ended up being less than a third of the price! Plus we had our own personal English translator the hospital gave us who sped us through place to place making sure we received everything we needed and had all our questions answered. Thanks, Einstein!Colin will pick up next talking about our bus to Paraty and our time on the beach…
Love,
Francesca
