“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.

The airplane in the serrado…… Brasilia

Is it a cross, or an angel, or a butterfly? Well when you look at the street map of Brasilia 9 out of 10 people see an airplane……

In the fifties the Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek had a plan to build a new city in the serrado (savanna). Rio de Janeiro was becoming too crowded and developing the inland was strategically a good plan. So a contest was held and the city planner Lucio Costa won. The now famous Oscar Niemeyer became leading architect.  On the 21^st of April 1960 the new capital of Brazil was inaugurated. The main government organizations were already moved to Brasilia.

Parliament of Brazil

The large green axis (from the TV tower looking to the Parliament). In the middle the bus/metro station.

The green axis (left the sector Hotels North / right Hotels South)

The city is built around two green axes. Along these axes are the Sectors. There is a Bank Sector, a Hotel Sector, Embassy Sector, Cultural Sector, Sectors to live,  etc. Most sectors have a North (north side of the vertical axis) and a South (other side). So you can be in Hotels North or Banks South. To make it difficult…. There are no street names! Within the sectors the addresses are indicated by bloc and apartment.

Praça dos Tres Poderes (picture is deformed a bit, but it gives a good impression of the space).

The nose of the plane is the “Praça dos Tres Poderes” (the Square of the Three Powers). On this square are the Parliament, the High Court and the presidential working palace; the “Palacio do Planalto”.

Palacio do Planalto (presidential working palace)

The High Court

The Parliament (To the right the "bowl"of the Congress / to the left the "dome" of the Senate)

Going up the green axis there is on the right side of the Parliament the Ministry of Justice, with its waterfalls, and on the left side the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Further up are the other ministries in monotonous office blocs.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The other ministries (north)

In the middle of the axes is the bus station and the metro station. Between the ministries and the bus station are the Cathedral and the Museum. Obvious Niemeyer…..  flowing forms and white concrete.

Parliament, ministries (south), Cathedral, museum

Part of the museum

The Cathedral (there are construction works going on.... )

The city has a place on the World Heritage list. This exceptional plane is based in the serrado for ever ….. 

More about the architecture of Oscar Niemeyer in: An igloo in the sunshine