EXHIBITION | MEMORY: VISIONS FROM A SMALL LARGE
Credits: Alisson Ricardo
On display from June 29th until September 1st, 2019.
The Museu da Casa Brasileira, an institution of the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of the Government of the State of São Paulo, promoted the exhibition “Memória: Visions of a small square” on Largo da Memória, central São Paulo and former resting point for drovers who carried out the transport of cargo and goods, coming from the western region of the state towards the Tietê River valley in the early nineteenth century.
Credits: Alisson Ricardo
The exhibition mixed text with different visual languages — photos, illustrations, newspaper advertisements, postcards, etc. — and placed Largo in the role of narrator of its own history, of the daily events that took place in that region and of the transformations undergone by the city and witnessed there. Despite the vast historiography on São Paulo, there is almost no material about Largo, which houses the city’s first monument, dating from 1814.
Images Published at the Exhibition
Credits: Disclosure
More than 100 years ago, in 1919, then-mayor Washington Luís commissioned architect Victor Dubugras to prepare a project for Largo da Memória as a way to celebrate the centenary of Brazil’s independence, which would take place three years later. The series of improvements included the construction of curved stairs and the placement of a new fountain and a tile panel, both designed by artist José Wasth Rodrigues. For the first time in a public monument, the panel featured the city’s coat of arms, a symbol created by Wasth and Guilherme de Almeida in 1917.
Opening of the Exhibition
Credits: MCB Disclosure
Since then, the place and its nearby area, Piques, have undergone profound changes. The exhibition “Memória”, by Gustavo Piqueira, told this story framed by a series of graphic readings of contemporary São Paulo carried out by him in partnership with Samia Jacintho, from Casa Rex.
Media Highlights
Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy of the State of São Paulo | Sisem SP | Environmental Graphic Design Center
Check out more details about the “Memory” project by clicking here.
About MCB
The Museu da Casa Brasileira, an institution of the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of the State of São Paulo that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination 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 themes such as architecture, urbanism, housing, economy creative, urban mobility and sustainability. Among its numerous initiatives, the MCB Design Award, the main award in the segment in the country, held since 1986, stand out; and the Casas do Brasil project, to rescue and preserve the memory of the rich diversity of living in the country.
Brazilian House Museum
Av. Brig. Faria Lima, 2705 – Jardim Paulistano
Tel.: +55 (11) 3032.3727
