“The mentally ill are like humming birds ….

…. always two meters above the ground”  -  Arthur Bispo do Rosário

At the age of 29 he was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. The rest of his life, 50 years until his death in 1989, he lived in the mental hospital of Colonia Juliano Moreira in Rio.

Chosen by God, Bispo set out on a survey of his own world…. reconstructing this world to offer it to God. All his work in preparation for the Last Judgement.

In his home town in the North-East of Brazil it is tradition that the men work on sewing the banners and costumes for the procession of the Madonna. He used this handcraft to express himself in words. Although at the bienal I saw mainly lists of names, of quantities, he wrote also poems, stories. Bringing together words, signs, objects to form a coded language that confirms the motto of the 30th Bienal: “An imminence of poetry…” 

His robe for meeting God. A life time work.
(see also: The Imminence of Poetry... )

Video’s:
Hugo Denizart : O prisioneiro da passagem
Documentário em torno de Artur Bispo do Rosário, artista plástico, interno na Colônia Juliano Moreira. realizadas por Fernando Gabeira na década de 1980.

Biography's:
Biography English
Biography in Portuguese 

Information about the 30th Bienal de São Paulo

The imminence of poetry.....

The imminence of poetry: The 30th “Bienal de São Paulo”

Hreinn Fridfinnsson

It is on the brink of happening; poetry speaks through the language of art.

I can show no more than just a glimpse of this wonderful event: Too much to see in one time. Too much to show in one blog post. See for yourself.

Alexandre da Cunha

Savvas Christodoulides

Ciudad Abierta

David Moreno

David Moreno

Lucia Laguna

Hreinn Fridfinnsson

Arthur Bispo do Rosário

Halfway the exhibition I was happily surprised by the fact that there was work of Arthur Bispo do Rosário. I had seen his work on the Internet by chance and had had no hope of seeing it in São Paulo. There is a museum for his work in Rio de Janeiro. For me it was one of the highlights of this Bienal. I will try to make another blog only with his work.

Eduardo Berliner

Iñaki Bonillas

Kriwet

Sigurdur Gudmundsson

Frédérique Bruly Bouabré

Anna Oppermann

Hans Eijkelboom

Hans Eijkelboom

The building itself, a creation of Niemeyer, is a happening in it's own right; especially build for presenting these Bienals. For the photographer of the exhibited works it is a disaster because of the reflection of the light falling directly from outside on polished (glass) surfaces.

São Paulo, flying in from the west.....

Flying is interesting, when you are able to see the landscape. Especially landing in a city is fascinating. It is like seeing a movie through the window of your plane…..  

When you see this mountain, the Pico do Jaraguá with the large TV antennas, then you are in São Paulo. It is the highest mountain in the city of (greater) São Paulo.

I always try to take a lot of pictures, but it is difficult to take good ones. The window can be very dirty or scratchy, or frozen, or have little water drops inside the double glass. You might be to near the wings and the engines, so gasses make everything hazy. But sometimes you are lucky.

No turbulence, no rain, not a blinding sun. Like when we flew back from Brasilia to São Paulo, Congonhas. There lies the city. Not many words are needed. Just look at the buildings, the enormous city, the pattern of streets, the different houses.

The many high rise buildings, but also houses with gardens. Here live 20.000.000 people.

The Ibirapuera park is visible at the top of these two pictures. You can see the obelisque and the Museu de Arte Moderna.

We are almost there........