Mix of cultures explores different views of Brazilian art

Telma Gadelha is presenting her series of paintings entitled “Warriors, Dogs and Kings” at the art gallery of the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF) during the “A Ponte” event. The renowned painter, born in Bahia and raised in Ceará, currently resides in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition features approximately 12 new works, made in acrylic and/or oil on canvas. In addition to Telma Gadelha, other exhibitions in this exhibition include works by Jamex, Thiago Almeida and the collective Raquel Reine Areias Gandra. They were all selected through the UFF Visual Arts Notice to exhibit at the gallery and participate in a group show at the Janete Costa Museum, in Ingá. This project is an integral part of the 13th Interculturalidades – Inventação, an event that celebrates Brazilian art and culture, with a program prepared by the UFF Arts Center and the Niterói Art Foundation. Entry is free for all interested.

Telma Gadelha’s works in this project are the result of her recent trips to Cariri, Ceará, where she studied the festive processions of the Cycle of Kings, especially the quilombos of Juazeiro do Norte. In Telma’s paintings, we are immersed in the grandeur of the celebrations through the details. Her screens work like cameras that focus on small shots, cuts and zooms, removing specific characters or aspects of the costumes from the crowd. The works, of varying sizes between 35 x 25 cm and 160 x 130 cm, are dominated by vibrant colors such as green, blue and red.

Although the faces are not visible, the paintings depict iconic figures of the processions, such as the masters who lead each group, accompanied by kings, queens, princes, princesses, ambassadors and warriors, represented by crowns, cloaks and armor adorned with ribbons, sequins and mirrors. We can also identify the emblematic comic characters of the festival, the Matthews and Catilinas, with their faces painted black. Telma expresses: “This exhibition is, above all, a celebration of the festivity of the people of Ceará. These are paintings that pay homage to the colors and movements of the Reisado, the battle between light and darkness, chaos and order.”

Reisado, also known as Folia de Reis, is a popular event that celebrates the visit of the three wise men to Bethlehem. This celebration begins at Christmas and lasts until January 6, when the kings present the baby God with the gifts of a king ( gold), divinity (incense) and mortality (myrrh). These twelve days are considered as days of luck and prophecy, reflecting the twelve months of the following year. Each Reisado is led by a master, who brings originality to his group. In Juazeiro, one of the best-known Reisados is the Reisado Discípulos de Mestre Pedro, also called Reisado dos Irmãos, led by masters Raimundo and Antônio, who are portrayed in Telma’s works.

Interview with Telma Gadelha:

How did your recent trips to Cariri Ceará influence the creation of the series of paintings “Guerreiros, Cães e Reis” that is being presented at the UFF art gallery?

I grew up in Fortaleza and was born in Bahia. Growing up in Ceará was a remarkable experience. I’ve always heard about Cariri, but it’s been a while since I lived there, I’ve been in Rio de Janeiro for a long time, I haven’t been to Cariri. The first time I went to Cariri was about 15 or 20 years ago.

Cariri is the epicenter of the hinterland and interior of the Northeast states, located in the south of Ceará, on the border with Pernambuco, close to Alagoas and Sergipe. It is a cultural hotbed, especially the city of Juazeiro do Norte, which stands out for its pilgrimages due to the story of Padre Cícero. It is a center of culture, especially in Juazeiro and the João Cabral neighborhood.

The first time I went there, I fell in love. There is an incredible amount of artistic expressions, from visual arts, music, cordel to reisados. More recently, I decided to live there for several reasons. I met friends and, together with my father, we decided to live there. One of the memorable experiences was diving into the festivities of kings in Juazeiro do Norte, mainly in the João Cabral neighborhood.

You even mentioned that your works focus on details and specific aspects of the festive processions of the Cycle of Kings. Can you tell us about how you chose these details and what they represent to you?

There are Kings celebrations in several states. My focus was very specific, as I don’t know much about others. It was an immersion in the work process. As I created several paintings, I became more and more interested in the details.

This party is a spectacle of lights, splendor, mirrors, ribbons and sequins. The way they carry it out is spectacular. What I would like to highlight is that, for me, they are the real artists. There is no artistic expression more meaningful than the art that emerges from a group working together. This is evident in the peripheries, where less privileged and humble people create the most interesting artistic expressions. When these people come together and work on the details, the result is magnificent. Their work on the headpieces and breastplates, as they call them, is impressive. Each Reisado group has its peculiarities. They tell their story through choreography, but also through these unique props that are a hallmark of each Reisado master and group. As I progressed through the paintings,

Your paintings portray characters from the Reisado, a popular event that celebrates the visit of the three wise men to Belém. How do you approach the representation of these characters in your works?

In fact, the characters in Reisado are probably Egyptian in origin. Later, this festival was celebrated at the end of December, on December 25th. The Romans also had festivities at this time. In the Iberian Peninsula, there were similar groups, as this tradition dates back to Europe and mixed with indigenous and Afro cultures in Brazil. It is a fusion of several ancient cultures.

Reisado characters include kings, warriors and dogs and devils, who are present to mate. This is a mix of ancient cultures that date back before Christianity. Later, Christianity adopted December 25th as the birth day of Jesus Christ. These festivals were linked to harvests and the passing of the seasons. The characters at these parties have several interpretations, and it is difficult to say for sure, as they are a combination of ancient cultures that have mixed over time.

The Matthews, for example, are a reference to the Iberian festivals and the Dionysian festivals of the Mediterranean. After the arrival of Christianity, these ancient traditions were brought to Brazil during colonization and mixed. I am especially enchanted by the Mateus, who are like clowns with their faces painted black and lead the Reisados. They are usually adults, but sometimes also children, and they perform a certain amount of theater. This is a very important character that I would like to explore more in my paintings. They have a habit of sticking out their tongues. I’m interested in studying this gesture of resistance, as there is a reference to it.

In addition, we have characters known as caretas, who have influences from different cultures over the centuries.

His exhibition is part of the “A Ponte” event that celebrates Brazilian art and culture. How do you see the role of art in building bridges between different cultures and communities?

I believe we are in a very interesting moment. The expression ‘naïve art’ is losing its importance. What matters is the narrative that the person brings, no matter where they come from, no matter the culture, be it popular, naive, intellectual, academic or street. This is something very enriching. We’re living in this moment, and I think the most important thing is that I love seeing people talking about street games, graffiti and skateboarding in the streets. Before painting Reisado, I was even doing some paintings that had a very urban vibe, a connection with the city. I find this fascinating, because what we call ‘contemporary art’ is very inclusive. In fact, anyone can be an artist. You don’t need to have attended a gym. It all depends on your ability to create an interesting narrative, and that’s wonderful.

In addition to being a painter, you are also an environmental activist and ambassador for Greenpeace Brazil. How does your passion for nature preservation intertwine with your artistic expression?

It’s a difficult question. I’ve painted things that talk a lot about the environment. It’s interesting, because before, if you saw on my Instagram, before this series, I did a series about the bottom of Guanabara Bay and our environment. I mean, our environment, we who live in a city that grew up on the edges of a lagoon or, sorry, a bay. And the current state of this bay is not ideal. It was a series of denunciations about what is happening to the environment. I think the artist is always talking about the world around him. I think Reisado is a festival of resistance. I’m not really sure how this intertwines with the environment, but in other works of mine, I’ve said something like ‘the work deals with environmental issues’. I believe that the artist is always talking about the world around him, the world in which he lives.

Lastly, what do you hope visitors take away with them after experiencing your “Warriors, Dogs and Kings” exhibit? What message do you want to convey through your art?

I think my painting brings joy, you know? A resistance. As if I wanted people to feel that beauty, the will to live, and brilliance spring from the poorest communities. I want you to feel the shine of Reisado as a shine that comes from a very popular, ancient, ancestral expression that permeates all of history to this day. Above all, it is a brightness of life that appears in places that are not rich neighborhoods, of the bourgeoisie. It is one of the simplest communities. It’s like in our music, especially in music of Afro origin, in which people were enslaved, tortured and brought all the joy to Brazil. I think that’s what Reisado is, it brings joy, regardless of its origin, and I believe someone can feel that when seeing these paintings.

The UFF Art Gallery emerged in 1982 with the mission of promoting and fostering discussion around contemporary art in Brazil. Throughout its history, it received recognition when it was awarded by ABAPP – Brazilian Association of Professional Visual Artists as the main cultural gallery in Rio de Janeiro in 1984. After the revitalization of the entire Arts Center, the UFF Art Gallery renews its commitment with contemporary Brazilian art. Through the search for contemporaneity, the gallery seeks to challenge the artistic scene and provide information and insights into the production of contemporary art, serving both the academic community and the local population.

Interview with Sávio Ribeiro (exhibition editor together with Adilson Dávila):

In your view, as the exhibition “A Ponte” represents a meeting between different forms of art and artists from different generations and regions of Brazil, how did the idea for this exhibition come about?

The exhibition is part of a cycle of exhibitions and projects that were approved, if I’m not mistaken, at the beginning of the year. The notice was opened to receive different projects, and these were considered. There was even an increase in new projects, expanding the vision of how to compose the year of exhibitions. This is, if I’m not mistaken, the third exhibition of this project, which features Tiago, Ultramex and the photography collective, all integrating interculturalities. I believe it all starts with screening the curation of projects. Then, the house curator, Alan, who receives these projects, tries to make the best combinations for that specific project. We have dialogue with museums and other cultural facilities in the city, and we plan to bring three of their pieces to dialogue with these contemporary artists who were already in the project.

How does this exhibition challenge the conventional conception of popular and contemporary art?

I believe in actually horizontalizing dialogues, you know, interpreting popular art and where it comes from. Isn’t popular art, in a certain way, cut off by a regional bias or, sometimes, by a prejudiced bias? Is popular art really art? For example, I think she manages to challenge these dialogues, horizontalizing, for example, contemporary production. An artist like the Americans will talk about rationality, bring sensitivity and a message of protest through graffiti. Or the universe of skateboarding played by Tiago, who will think about the priority, not just in skateboarding, but I think in childhood, in life, in fact, with the message that Telma will record in a very sensitive way when she talks about reisado and brings these aspects. I think that horizontalizing the dialogue is what gives strength to be able to dialogue.

What are the concerns of the artists participating in the exhibition, considering the context of inequalities still present in Brazil?

I think the institution itself is already part of a community, a society. Thus, it will be concerned with making, for example, movie tickets accessible. Not just movies, but in a more accessible way. The cheapest ticket in our house is open, I think it can reach some more remote areas, for example. The institution here at SEARTE is a challenge, so the institution can reach these places. I think it’s a challenge, and federally, some other institutions achieve a little more. I think perhaps it is an effect of a work being studied by more contemporaries. But in any case, we actually try to open, for example, with events that took place in September, like they are free. He understands? We, even though we don’t have the capacity to place the entire city within the institution, I think we will try, for example, based on these forms and the dialogue of art. She will not live only in her exhibition, there are several means of communication. I think that based on the exhibition, not transforming it into something distant to the point of different audiences. It’s going to talk about skateboarding, for example, it’s going to bring young people together, maybe it’s going to bring Jamex, it’s going to bring us closer to a dialogue of rationality and that we know what the insertions of these speeches are.

We know that until next time we will discuss the regional aspect more. I think, of course, she will discuss, not just the artist, but within the exhibition, integrating these different games. I think it’s there. not transform it into something distant to the point of different audiences. It’s going to talk about skateboarding, for example, it’s going to bring young people together, maybe it’s going to bring Jamex, it’s going to bring us closer to a dialogue of rationality and that we know what the insertions of these speeches are. We know that until next time we will discuss the regional aspect more. I think, of course, she will discuss, not just the artist, but within the exhibition, integrating these different games. I think it’s there. not transform it into something distant to the point of different audiences. It’s going to talk about skateboarding, for example, it’s going to bring young people together, maybe it’s going to bring Jamex, it’s going to bring us closer to a dialogue of rationality and that we know what the insertions of these speeches are. We know that until next time we will discuss the regional aspect more. I think, of course, she will discuss, not just the artist, but within the exhibition, integrating these different games. I think it’s there. integrating these different games. I think it’s there. integrating these different games. I think it’s there.

What are the expectations regarding the impact the exhibition can have on viewers’ appreciation and understanding of art?

Understanding is the way each person interprets the world, whether in the way they express themselves or communicate. Everyone is capable of understanding and appreciating art. Sensitivity is something that can be developed in this context. Sometimes we are in a rush, trying to figure things out and rushing through life. However, when we enter an art gallery, we suddenly stop and begin to deal with time in a different way.

I believe that understanding is related to how bodies, which are often not inserted in artistic spaces, adapt to these environments. It’s about understanding how these people, who may not be the traditional audience for these spaces, will interact with them. For example, we have several people who attend exhibitions and are not necessarily a leisure audience. We also have collaborators, people who work in the space, who will deal with the architecture of the exhibition and observe the typography in an individual way. The exchange of experiences occurs in these meetings, with people who are moving through this universe.