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14 December, 2011

Building Brasilia

Photographic exhibition on the construction of Brasilia is part of the 2011 Europalia International Arts Festival, in Brussels. (till 15/01/2012)

Greek version

At the initiative of Jean-Luc Vanraes, Minister of External Relations, and in the framework of the cooperation agreement signed in 1997 with the Federal District of Brasil, the Brussles Capital Region takes the opportunity of the international festival Europalia.Brasil to organize an exhibition about the construction of the capital of Brazil, called "Building Brasilia" (Brasilia em Construção).

The exhibition, with 62 photographs from the Moreira Salles Institute (IMS) collection, will be open till January 15^th, 2012, at BIP (Brussels Info Place), in Brussels, Belgium as part of the Europalia International Arts Festival and offers a wide view of the period of Brasilia's construction with a special emphasis to the architectural pieces by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer (i.e. the Presidential Residence, the Ministry of Foreign Relations' headquarters etc.). There are also images of the Núcleo Bandeirante, a neighborhood that was officially created in 1957 to house the millions of workers who were drawn to the city during the years of construction.

The architects responsible for the curatorship are Alfredo Britto and Pedro Évora along with IMS curator Heloisa Espada. The exhibition gathers images by Marcel Gautherot (Paris, 1910- Rio de Janeiro, 1996), Peter Scheier (Glogau, 1908- Airing, 1979) and Thomaz Farkas (Budapest, 1924- Sao Paulo, 2011). They are all European that immigrated to Brazil in the 1930's and 1940's and became important references in the Brazilian photography scene of the 20th century.

The photographs by Marcel Gautherot, Peter Scheier and Thomaz Farkas taken in Brasilia between the end of the 1950's and the following decade are among the most important eyewitnesses of the construction of Brasilia. From the beginning of the 19th century, politicians and intellectuals had already been discussing changing the capital from Rio de Janeiro to the inlands of the country. It was President Juscelino Kubitschek (1902-1976), that performed the change prescribed in 1981, in the first Republican Construction of Brazil. Brasilia started to be built in 1956 and was inaugurated on April 21st of 1960. The architect Oscar Niemeyer was asked to project the main public buildings of the capital. The city's director plan, by Lucio Costa was chosen through an open competition for architects who resided in the country. This exhibition presents the record of an important moment for the Brazilian society and the world architecture.