Versão HTML básica
183
Talk about your experience as director of the Escola de Artes Visuais of Parque Lage, of which you were the
first director.
I was the creator of the Escola de Artes Visuais. Before it was called Instituto de Belas Artes [IBA] and we chan-
ged to Escola de Artes Visuais [EVA] of the Parque Lage, in August of 1975. Paulo Afonso Grizolli, who was a no-
teworthy playwright, Tropicalist, and whose play,
Onde Canta o Sabiá
, had a massive success, was appointed
the director of the Departamento de Cultura da Secretaria de Educação e Cultura of the State of Rio de Janeiro,
and called me to direct the school of fine arts. He also informed me that he had invited the maestro Ayrton
Escobar to the school of music and the choreographer KIaus Vianna to the school of dance. I asked for some
time to decide. I newly arrived in the United States and told him that position was not my profile and I did not
want to intermingle in educational activities. At the same time, I felt an enormous need for opening spaces to
discuss art and reflect on cultural queries. Undecided with the invitation, I observed about it to Lina Bo Bardi
whether if should accept or not, and she immediately said, “Accept! And if you feel you must leave, you resig-
ned.” Thereupon we drafted, together, a resignation letter, which was always in my pocket, signed and ready
to be delivered, at any time. From August of 1975 to March of 1979 I manage the school, for many years. It was
an exceedingly rich experience. We adopt an open posture, “on anthropological foundations”, as Lina said.
The school did a retrospective exhibition of the scenarios maquette of Hélio Eichbauer. Even the scenarios
of
O Rei da Vela
. The assemblage was performed by Lina, who became being a sort of counselor. The leading
artists and critics began attending the EAV of Parque Lage. Luis Felipe Noé Argentine artist, when came to Rio
he passed down there. Mário Pedrosa, Ferreira Gullar, Roberto da Matta, were always present. We organized
innovative performances, including even music, such as the
Verão a Mil
, with Caetano Veloso, Jards Macalé,
Milton Nascimento, Gilberto Gil. The shows were organized together with the “poets of mimeograph.” Xico
Chaves was one of that group, as well as Bernardo Vilhena. The EAV became an open space, dynamic, multi-
disciplinary. We launched the newspaper
Lampião Gay
. We open space for expressions which were repressed
by the dictatorship and we suffered the consequences.
Let’s talk about a figure that happened to have enormous importance after you painted her. It became a kind
of
Mona Lisa
tropicalist, the
Lindonéia
. A new Brazilian muse.
Lindonéia
is an invented character, but somewhat autobiographical. I had a girlfriend that was not called Lin-
donéia, but she was a Lindonéia. She was a dancer fromMangueira which I fell in love. I made a picture-frame
of her as if she were a newspaper headline: “A bela Lindonéia de dezoito anos morreu instantaneamente”
(The beautiful Lindonéia of eighteen years old died instantly), Nara Leão was of a very impressive generosity
and wanted to buy or swap the work. I said I still could not disrupt of the work, had a strong emotional con-
nection with it, standing like a picture-frame on my desk. Nara phoned to Caetano Veloso and described the
work trough the phone, a woman behind the mirror without anyone seeing her.
Beautiful, ugly, Lindonéia
disappeared
. Caetano made the music, it was a conceptual thing between the two of us, Nara included it in
her album [Lindonéia, record
Tropicália ou Panis Et Circensis
]
3
. The
Lindonéia
work took 25 years to be the cover
and the muse of Tropicalism. The album cover of Tropicalism was made by me: all the artists inside a box to
live with a green and a yellow ribbon. Also with green and yellow written letters reads:
Panis et Circensis
. Has
no credit on the cover, was Guilherme Araújo who invitedme, I am the author, but unfortunately my name did
3
See the lyrics published in this book. (N.O.).