Commemorative exhibition of the Armorial Movement, led by Ariano Suassuna, arrives at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center in São Paulo

“ARMORIAL MOVEMENT 50 YEARS OLD"

Exhibition: from 20 from July to 26 September 2022, at CCBB SÃO PAULO

I started to get worried about the mischaracterization of Brazilian culture. I thought of bringing together a group of artists who worked in all areas and who had similar concerns to mine so that we, together, we were looking for an erudite Brazilian art based on the popular roots of our culture. And, through this art, we fight against this process of mischaracterization of Brazilian culture”. 

Ariano Suassuna – in an interview aired on Rede Globo Recife, in November 2013

Advertisement

The Centro Cultural Banco do Brazil Sao Paulo open to the public on the day 20 July (on wednesday), the show "ARMORIAL MOVEMENT 50 YEARS”, exhibition that brings together art, musical meetings and conversations about armorial art. This important artistic movement launched in Recife, in 18 October 1970, was created and led by playwright, teacher, painter and renowned writer Ariano Suassuna (1927-2014).  The project is sponsored by Bank of Brazil and BB Seguros, through the Federal Cultural Incentive Law.

Curated by Denise Mattar and general coordination by Regina Rosa de Godoy, the exhibition will occupy the entire CCBB SP building. There will also be a special program with musical shows and events to discuss the legacy of the armorial movement.. The show also offers interactive activities and access to digital content such as the virtual tour of the show and audio streaming playlist..

As featured, the public will be able to see approx. 140 works of art (the vast majority had never left Recife), in various formats, of important artists for the Armorial Movement, among them the own Ariano Suassuna, Francisco Brennand, Gilvan female, Aluísio Braga, Zélia Suassuna and Lourdes Magalhaes.  “The exhibition is faithful to the proposal of Ariano Suassuna, introducing new generations to the pioneering and engaged work of the author, showing how he proposed a return to Brazilian roots, with deep respect for diversity and traditions, but presenting everything in a magical way, playful, and full of humor — a humor that makes you think”, says Denise Mattar.

Advertisement

PROGRAMMING

THE EXHIBITION

Upon entering CCBB São Paulo, the public is welcomed by the Jaguar Caetana, scenographic element inspired by Suassuna's drawings, and who is the host of the exhibition.

Organized in cores, the show takes over the entire CCBB São Paulo. In each of them, an exclusive expographic treatment was defined that brings out the diversity, the traditions and the most representative roots of Northeastern popular culture, as idealized by Ariano Suassuna. And, as explained by producer Regina Rosa de Godoy, magically, playful and full of humor.

The visitor's immersion in the fascinating universe of Armorial art begins at Fourth floor, with the core Ariano Suassuna, Life and work, which provides a complete illustrated chronology, author's books and manuscripts and videos of his famous show-classes. A cultural dive into the fertile creative imagination of the master. In this step, also highlights the sertanejo alphabet, created based on the research Ferros do Cariri, a Sertaneja Heraldry.

The Third floor is dedicated to the costumes created by the artist from Pernambuco Francisco Brennand (1927-2019) for the movie A Compadecida (1969), first feature film directed by George Jonas based on the renowned play Auto da Compadecida, by Ariano Suassuna. Beyond 12 drawings made in watercolor ink, costumes of the five main characters of the story are also presented. Compadecida's outfit is original from the movie, the Clown costumes, Devil, john cricket, and Emanoel – or Black Christ, were recreated especially for the exhibition by costume designer Flávia Rossette. The public will also be able to watch scenes from the movie A Compadecida, which brought together a famous cast at the time, including Antonio Fagundes, Armando Bogus and Regina Duarte, and photos of the filming carried out in Brejo da Madre de Deus, Pernambuco.

On Second floor the two moments of the Armorial Movement are presented, the call Fase Experimental (1970-1974) and the Second level (1975 – 2000). “Fase Experimental”features the beginning of the movement that was launched on the day 18 October 1970 with an exhibition of plastic arts and a presentation of Armorial Orchestra. Among the plastic artists of this period are represented: Aluísio Braga, Fernando Lopes da Paz, Miguel dos Santos, Fernando Barbosa and Lourdes Magalhães.

There are, also, to Sala Especial Samico, a highlight given by the curatorship of the show, emphasizing the coherence and permanence of Gilvan Samico's work (1928-2013), aligned since the years 1970 until 2013, to the principles of the Armorial. Well known for his woodcuts, the artist is also represented in the exhibition by paintings.

This module also brings back the work of the Orchestra and the Armorial Quintet, groups that have performed with great success, creating classical music with popular influence.

the award-winning Armorial Quintet had as members consecrated figures of music, like or master, guitarist and composer Antônio José Madureira and multi-artist Antônio Carlos Nóbrega. The group recorded four LPs, discography that the exhibition revisits with album covers, plus photos and musical instruments.

The "Second level” of the Armorial Movement, also presented in Second floor do CCBB SP, brings together the illuminogravures of Ariano Suassuna, the lithographs, ceramics and tapestries by his wife Zélia Suassuna, paintings by Romero de Andrade Lima, by Manuel Dantas Suassuna, and shows by the Grial Dance Group.

This kind lighting gravure is a neologism created by Ariano Suassuna mixing the words illumination and engraving. In these works it is possible to see a little-known facet of Ariano, the plastic artist, interacting with the writer. The author produced two albums, each containing ten boards: Sonnets with an Alien Motto (1980-84) and Sonnets by Albano Cervonegro (1985-87) which together form a poetic autobiography.

The Ilumiaras (another neologism created by Suassuna) are places of art and culture that were implemented by Ariano when Secretary of Culture of Pernambuco. As Ilumiaras Acauhan, Jauna, Zombie, Coroada and Pedra do Reino are presented through photographic panels.

The dance is portrayed in photos, costumes and projections, through the Ballet Grial, created by Ariano and the dancer and choreographer Maria Paula Costa Rêgo in 1997.

On First floor is the module "Armorial – Today and always", bringing together film and TV productions, made from the plays of Suassuna, as Farce of Good Laziness, The stone of the Kingdom, The Compadecida's Report, and the spectacle Lunario Perpétuo by Antônio Nóbrega.

On basement the public will be delighted with the module “Armorial – References”, contemplating the beauty of woodcuts, signed, among others, by J. Borges, Master Noza and Master Dila, among others, and also the City of Cordel, created especially for the exhibition by Pablo Borges, son of J. Borges. It is an instagrammable space that allows a playful journey through popular culture, with its stories and singularities.

At the end of the exhibition, there are references to popular revelries, like maracatu, Reisado and the Seahorse, gathering masks, suits, Photos, videos, banners and props. It is important to remember that the exhibition has works by private collectors., artists and institutions that made works available for the exhibition Armorial Movement 50 Years, such as the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPe), Museum of Modern Art Aloísio Magalhães (MAMAM), Brennand Workshop, Manuel Dantas Suassuna, Gilvan Samico's family, Diogo Cantareli, Maria Paula Costa Rego, J. Borges, Lourdinha Vasconcelos, among others.

For the months of August and September, the public will have an even deeper contact with this Movement.  It is when a series of events called “Conversations about Armorial Art” e “Armorial Music Shows” enters the program in parallel with the exhibition.  The rich program includes a special event – “Spectacular Class – From Beggar to Painter” – presented by Manuel Dantas Suassuna, son of Arian, in which the plastic artist resumes and unfolds his paths in art from a first armorial influence of his father and artists of the time and current. This series of events presents and recreates for the public of CCBB São Paulo the atmosphere of sharing ideals and the cultural effervescence of the time, captained by Ariano Suassuna and the artists involved.

  • “Conversations about Armorial Art” will be a cycle of theoretical/thematic meetings that will address the Armorial creation in the different genres: Literature, Teatro, Music, Dance and Visual Arts. To explore the versatility of the Armorial Movement and the dialogue with the various artistic languages, the guest curator is the poet, teacher, fictionist andessayist Carlos Newton Junior, one of the exhibition's consultants and specialist in the work of Ariano Suassuna. "By promoting a retrospective of the 50 years of the Armorial, the exhibition makes it clear that the poetics of the Movement idealized by Ariano Suassuna is still alive and fruitful, indicating a direction that has been followed by artists of more than one generation, each of them going their own way. there is no need to talk, therefore, in uniformity or restriction of creative freedom, quite the opposite. The inexhaustible wealth of popular culture, greatest source of armorial art, with its Iberian elements, indigenous and african, induced the creation of an open poetics, that connects us, in the last instance, both the tradition of Mediterranean culture and the traditions of folk art from third world countries”, says Carlos Newton Junior.
  • The series Armorial Music Shows brings together top quality musicians who work in several Brazilian states, who present on stage new, and the already consecrated, Armorial music composers. from Paraíba, from Curitiba, of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Pernambuco.  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The exhibition concept was designed by the award-winning curator Denise Mattar, who did a thorough research and mining work in the Movement's vast collection to remember – with delicacy, charm and grace – the wealth of knowledge and cultural practices impregnated in Armorial art. The expography and architecture were under the responsibility of the designer Guilherme Isnard. The consultancy is provided by the plastic artist Manuel Dantas Suassuna (son of Ariano Suassuna) and poet, fictionist, essayist and professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco, Carlos Newton Junior. The visual identity is signed by Ricardo Gouveia de Melo and Ana Lucas. Finally, project and general coordination is by the producer Regina Rosa de Godoy, director of company R. Godoy Marketing and Culture: “Take this exhibition to São Paulo, city ​​that has always received and welcomed thousands of Northeasterners, is to take some of the earth, of the accent, joy, of hope and the Brazilianness of the northeast. It is a great responsibility to present this cultural effervescence of the Armorial Movement to the new generations in various states., valuing and expanding the look at popular culture. As a daughter and granddaughter of northeasterners, taking this exhibition to CCBB São Paulo is to unite worlds around the armorial, says Regina Godoy. The show "ARMORIAL MOVEMENT 50 YEARS OLD" came up with a bold commitment: reintroduce to the public, especially to the new generations, Ariano's unique and challenging proposal to create, just over five decades ago, an erudite art based on the most authentic and traditional popular artistic and cultural manifestations of the Northeast and other regions of the country. Designed to mark the 50th anniversary of the Armorial Movement, celebrated in October 2020, the project had its launch postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and arrives in São Paulo after having passed through CCBB Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro with enormous success. after São Paulo, the shows ARMORIAL MOVEMENT 50 YEARS goes to CCBB Brasilia.

From the black and white of woodcuts, passing through the multicolored ornaments and costumes of popular festivals and the choreographies of the dances. By the rhythms of the songs and the music, of fiddle sounds, fife and viola. By the sound of the verses of the strings and the singers. All paths lead to a unique experience. A cultural trail without borders, like the idea planted, behind, by Arian and that, now, arrives refreshed, little more than 50 years later, the exposure.

Receive news from Exhibitions and Events in general in our Whatsapp group!
*Only we post in the group, so there is no spam! You can come calmly.

The exhibition offers yet another gift to the public.: whoever wants can take the tour of the exhibition listening to two hours of musical Armorial by accessing the QR code located in some places in the show. The playlist is on Banco do Brasil's Spotify and offers the viewer an even deeper dive into the eclectic, multiple and fantastic universe of the Movement created, in 1970, by Ariano Suassuna. just check: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3khehNaZ5lMS4IULmn6TQq?si=nhbnKdEsQk6-thJQJm86Xg&utm_source=whatsapp&nd=1

ACCESSIBILITY

The exhibition Armorial Movement 50 Yearsfollows accessibility and inclusion standards. It will have a bilingual audio guide and resources from the Musea app, exhibition-oriented content platform, that allows a better insertion in the contents, with audio description, visit in pounds, in addition to providing more information, such as curiosities and virtual visits.

ABOUT DENISE MATTAR

Denise Mattar is one of the most awarded curators today. She held the position of technical director of cultural institutions, such as the Brazilian House Museum (1985-1987), the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (1987-1989) and the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro (1990-1997). Since 1997, works as an independent curator, having received over the years four APCA awards (São Paulo Association of art critics) and two ABCA awards (Brazilian Association of Art Critics). Accepted the invitation of Regina Godoy for this challenge to portray the Armorial Movement, with its fantastic animals and all its plurality.

Sign up to receive Event News
and the Universe of Arts first!

ABOUT REGINA GODOY

creator of the show Armorial Movement 50 Years Regina Rosa de Godoy marks with this exhibition 30 years of experience in cultural management and production and 20 years of partnership with curator Denise Mattar. Specialized in holding events of special importance for Brazilian art, enables creative and transformative actions in the most diverse languages, serving expressive institutions of the segment in the country. In partnership with the CCBB, it has carried out over 15 years events in the areas of Dance, Music, Teatro, lectures on Philosophy and Art and art exhibitions.

SERVICE

“ARMORIAL MOVEMENT 50 YEARS OLD"

Tour virtual: tourvirtual360.com.br/armorial

Exhibition Period: from 20 from July to 26 September 2022

Free entrance - Tickets available at: www.eventim.com.br or in person at the CCBB box office

Centro Cultural Banco do Brazil Sao Paulo

Address: Rua Álvares Penteado, 112 – São Paulo History Center.

Opening time: Every day, from 9:00 to 8:00 pm, except Tuesdays.

Accessible entrance: People with disabilities or reduced mobility and others

people who need the access ramp can use the side door

located to the left of the main entrance.

Affordable Parking and Shuttle Vans: The CCBB has an agreed parking on Rua da Consolação, 228 (R$ 14 for a period of 6 hours – it is necessary to validate the ticket at the CCBB box office). The shuttle is free to and from the parking lot. On the way back, stops at República subway station. The vans run between 12 and 21h.

Public transport: The Banco do Brasil Cultural Center is 5 minutes from São Bento Metro station. Search for bus lines with boarding and alighting on Libero Badaró and Boa Vista Streets

Taxi or App: Disembark at Praça do Patriarca and walk along Rua da Quitanda to the CCBB (200 meters)

More info: (11) 4297-0600

bb.com.br/cultura | twitter.com/ccbb_sp |facebook.com/ccbbsp | instagram.com/ccbbsp / ccbbsp@bb.com.br

Related:

Leave a Comment