February 10, 2022

14:02

Marcela Leiros – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The 1922 Week of Modern Art, which occurred in Brazil, is considered a milestone in the history of art in the country, especially with regard to the appreciation of national culture. To celebrate 100 years of the “most important cultural event in the history of the country”, will be held from 14 to February 18, the colloquium “Brazil 2022: Centenary of the Week of Modern Art”, with a day dedicated especially to the discussion of the importance of the presence of elements of the Amazon and indigenous culture in Brazilian art.

The Week of Modern Art took place from February 13 to 17, 1922, at the Municipal Theater in São Paulo, and each day of the week worked on a cultural aspect: painting, sculpture, poetry, literature, and music. The event is recognized for marking the beginning of Modernism in Brazil, a movement that assimilated cultural and artistic trends from Europe, incorporating the Brazilian context and valuing cultural characteristics of the country, such as indigenous myths, popular culture, and the ancestral traditions of the Brazilian people.

“It was the most important cultural event in the history of the country, I have this perception. A movement that allowed the renewal of culture, of thought, and was the starting point for the establishment of Modernism in the country”, shares the Amazonian poet Tenório Telles, one of the curators of the event, which will take place online.

Indigenous participation

Being an event that values the country’s history, the culture of the native peoples will have a special place in the last day of the program. “The Amazon was very important when Modernism appeared, because Mário de Andrade, in 1927, came to the region, to Roraima, where he learned about the myth of Macunaíma and wrote the book, one of the most important in Brazil. On this last day, indigenous leaders and Amazonian researchers will participate and there will also be presentations of indigenous songs and dances”, added Tenório Telles.

Mário de Andrade was, and still is, one of the main names in the movement. The writer helped organize the Week of Modern Art of 1922 and worked alongside great Modernist personalities such as: Guilherme de Almeida, Oswald de Andrade, Menotti Del Picchia, and Manuel Bandeira, in literature; Heitor Villa-Lobos and Guiomar Novaes, in music; and Anita Malfatti, Tarsila do Amaral, Di Cavalcanti, and Candido Portinari, in the fine arts.

The colloquium, a culmination of a project conceived in 2019 and started in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, is organized by the Graduate Program in Literature and Literary Criticism at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), in partnership with the Célia Helena Center for Arts and Education, with cultural support from the Amazonas State Government, the Manaus City Hall, the Jahu Municipal Department of Culture, and the SESC São Paulo Editions.

You can check the complete program and register for free at: https://www.semanade22pucsp.com/.