EXHIBITION | JOURNEY TO FREEDOM: IN SEARCH OF THE JAPANESE SOUL OF A NEIGHBORHOOD
Photos: Mariana Chama and Marcio Scavone
On display from May 28th to July 13th, 2008.
The show celebrated the centenary of Japanese immigration in Brazil and brought in the photos of Marcio Scavone, curated by Roseli Nakagawa, a poetic look at the traditional spaces of Liberdade. It is a trip to Japanese culture, its objects, architecture and faces that are part of this lively and pulsating neighborhood, significant in the construction of São Paulo’s identity.
Immaterial look in search of spirit and tradition, living memory of a Brazilian Japan that manages to go beyond time and space, the essay reveals affections and memories, marks the passage of time in blocks, alleys, corridors, galleries, bar counters with the smell of sake and beer, quiet temples, and stores of strange electronic objects. Check out some of the records exposed at the show:
Photos: Marcio Scavone
“I transform the eastern neighborhood of São Paulo into a metaphor for the search for familiarity in a strange land”, says Scavone. “Even the characters in the neighborhood that populate the exhibition and the book take on a timeless attitude, as if they were part of a portrait album frozen in time and space.”
A curiosity about the images presented in the show is that they were made before the implementation of the Clean City Law. Thus, most of the posters, plaques and texts that have always been part of the traditional landscape of Liberdade were registered.
During the opening of the exhibition, a book of the same name was released which brought 116 color photos, taken by Scavone, about the daily life of the São Paulo neighborhood. Published by Alice Publishing Editora, with version in Portuguese and Japanese, the work has a special format: two covers, one western and the other eastern, homage to the Japanese way of making books that will allow reading from right to left or in the opposite direction. Check the records of the opening held on May 27:
Photos: Mariana Chama and Marcio Scavone
Opening: 27/05, at 7pm
Visitation: from 05/28 to 07/13
Sponsor: Mitsubishi Motors
About Marcio Scavone
Famous for his ability to reveal the personality of his subjects through his minimal gestures and looks, the photographer Marcio Scavone was born in São Paulo in 1952. His qualities have already been recognized with awards such as the Clio Awards and the Golden Lion, in Cannes. He is also the author of the books “Entre a Sombra ea Luz”, 1997; “Invisible Light”, 2002; and “The Illustrated City”, 2004.
About MCB
The Museu da Casa Brasileira, an institution of the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of the State of São Paulo, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, is dedicated to the preservation and diffusion of the material culture of the Brazilian house, being the only museum in the country specializing in architecture and design. The MCB’s program includes temporary and long-term exhibitions, with an agenda that also includes educational service activities, debates, lectures and publications contextualizing the museum’s vocation for the formation of critical thinking on topics such as architecture, urbanism, housing, economics creativity, urban mobility and sustainability. Among its numerous initiatives, the Design MCB Award stands out, the main segment award in the country held since 1986; and the Casas do Brasil project, to rescue and preserve memory about the rich diversity of living in the country.
Abertura: 27/05, às 19h
Visitação: de 28/05 a 13/07
Patrocinio: Mitsubishi Motors
Brazilian House Museum
Av. Brig. Faria Lima, 2705 – Jardim Paulistano
Phone.: +55 (11) 3032.3727
