Photographs by Hiroto Yoshioka are the basis of the exhibition that can be seen by the public from October 27th, during the celebrations of the cultural center’s 30th anniversary
USP’s MariAntonia Center opens, on October 27th, at 7 pm, the exhibition Batalha to preserve: Maria Antônia, 55 years old – photographs Hiroto Yoshioka, curated by the architect and professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) at USP , Eduardo Costa, and the historian Deborah Neves. Visitation takes place from Tuesday to Sunday, and on public holidays, from 10 am to 6 pm, with free entry.
Neves highlights that, in addition to expanding the public’s knowledge about the conflict, the exhibition seeks to bring the spirit of the time of effervescent student demonstrations around the world in 1968. “This was the year of student battles in France, Italy and Germany and for civil rights in the United States. It united workers and students in Mexico. It was the year of the general strike of Brazilian students, of the march of 100 thousand in Rio de Janeiro for the end of the dictatorship. Therefore, we also bring two sets of images from after the battle, on October 8, 1968, when students took to the streets to resist and make the UNE Congress happen; and a student conference in Japan, also carried out by Hiroto Yoshioka”, he reveals.
The exhibition also highlights the forms of struggle and communication with past technologies, such as the mimeograph machine – which operated like a printing press; the graffiti on the wall – which served as clandestine advertising of ideas and calls; or through photography – past-present technology that served to circulate ideas through so many books microfilmed by Hiroto Yoshioka and to record the images on display.
The set of images by photographer Hiroto Yoshioka was donated to USP’s MariAntonia Center.
Who is Hiroto Yoshioka
He was born in 1943 and experienced the international movement that marked the Generation of ’68. He entered the architecture and urban planning course at USP, where he interacted with intellectuals and colleagues who changed his life. He is proud to have photographed the play Morte e Vida e Severina, staged in 1965 at the PUC Theater and awarded at the IV University Theater Festival in Nancy, France. He collaborated with Ação Popular taking photographs for militants’ passports, microfilmed books and made photography his life.
A little of history
The Rui Barbosa building, where the MariAntonia Center is located, was built in 1930, originally as part of the Liceu Nacional Rio Branco. In 1949, USP’s Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters (FFCL) occupied the building, and other faculties of the university, as well as other institutions, made up an effervescent base of university life in the center of the city of São Paulo.
During the dictatorship, on the 2nd and 3rd of October 1968, a confrontation took place, led by students from USP and Mackenzie and military police, known as the Battle of Maria Antônia, which resulted in the death of a high school student, dozens of injured, in addition to the depredation of the USP building, today the Rui Barbosa building.
In 1991, the complex’s buildings began to be returned to USP and, in 1993, the main building, Rui Barbosa, was reopened as the Maria Antonia University Center. In 1998, the Joaquim Nabuco building was also returned, unusable, underwent renovations and was reopened in 2017, integrating the cultural center, with new exhibition spaces and auditorium.
Who are the curators
Eduardo Costa
is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) at USP, has a PhD in History from the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at Unicamp, and completed a sandwich doctorate at the University of Coimbra. He leads the research group Archives, sources, narratives between city, architecture and design (CNPq) and coordinates the research Visual Culture and Intellectual History: Archives and architectural collections”.
Deborah Neves
Post-doctoral researcher at Unifesp, she has a PhD in History from Unicamp, a master’s degree in Social History from USP, a specialist in Recent History Research (Caicyt-Argentina), a specialist in Cultural Heritage Management from UNIFAI (2011), a bachelor’s degree and a degree in History from USP. She worked as a historian at the Historical Heritage Preservation Unit of the State Secretariat for Culture of São Paulo, linked to Condephaat (2010-2023) and coordinator of the Doi-Codi Memorial Interinstitutional Working Group.