In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Centro MariAntonia is presenting the exhibition Imagem-Testemunho: experiências artísticas de presos políticos na ditadura civil-militar, featuring artwork by political prisoners in Brazil’s 21-year dictatorship.
By Sandra Lima / Art: Felipe Althman
On April 27, at 7pm, Centro MariAntonia da USP will opens the exhibition Imagem-Testemunho: experiências artísticas de presos políticos na ditadura civil-militar. Held in partnership with the Memorial da Resistência, the exhibition includes drawings, paintings, collages, and prints made by 12 political prisoners during the 1970s in São Paulo prisons. These testimonial images, collected over the years by former political prisoners Alípio Freire and Rita Sipahi, have been part of the collection of the Memorial da Resistência de São Paulo since 2023, which currently has more than 300 works. Admission is free and visitors can visit the museum from Tuesday to Sunday, and on public holidays, from 10 am to 6 pm.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary on May 27, 1993, and with a vocation for democratic resistance, the defense of human rights, and political memory, the Centro MariAntonia is adding this exhibition to its commemorations by bringing together a significant collection of works that speak of daily life in prison, state violence, the struggles, feelings, and positions of political prisoners. The director of the Centro MariAntonia, José Lira, points out that at a time when democracy is once again under threat, “it is essential that we return to the testimony of those who dared to stand up against tyranny. Because their voices, their gazes, their hands, their bodies, often beaten by the regime’s repressive apparatus, hold treasures of social memory and imagination.”
Curated by researcher and art critic Priscila Arantes, the exhibition features works created in different prisons in the city of São Paulo – Tiradentes, Carandiru, Penitenciária Feminina, Hipódromo, Presídio Militar Romão Gomes (Barro Branco) – and sometimes inside the Departamento de Ordem Política e Social (DOPS) itself. Arantes explains that “these records are constructed during an experience of political violence and resistance in the prison space, highlighting the value of this production as a testimony and historical source of the harsh years of dictatorship in the country”.
The 41 works, made with materials found inside the prison or brought in by relatives and friends, are a collection of experiences of prisoners from different political organizations, some of them artists before they were arrested, others who only had this experience during their period of confinement. In addition to the set of artworks, the exhibition includes 16 other documents, 7 video testimonies specially produced for the show, and a set of related cultural and educational activities.
Members of the exhibition
Aldo Arantes / Alípio Freire / Ângela Rocha / Artur Scavone / Carlos Takaoka / José Wilson / Manoel Cyrillo / Regis Andrade / Sérgio Ferro / Sérgio Sister / Rita Sipahi / Yoshiya Takaoka
Testimonials
By Aldo Arantes, Angela Rocha, Artur Scavone, Manoel Cyrillo, Rita Sipahi, Sérgio Ferro, and Sérgio Sister, who are part of the collection of the Núcleo do Museu da Pessoa MariAntonia.
Who is the curator?
Priscila Arantes is a critic, curator, teacher, and researcher in the field of art, curatorship, museums, and contemporary aesthetics. She has a degree in philosophy from the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), a master’s and doctorate in Communication and Semiotics from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), and a post-doctorates from Penn State University (USA) and the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp). She is currently vice-director of the Faculdade de Filosofia, Comunicação, Letras e Artes at PUC-SP and a researcher-collaborator at Museu de Arte Contemporânea (MAC) of USP. She was the director and curator of Paço das Artes from 2007 to 2020. Between 2007 and 2011 she was deputy director of the Museu da Imagem e Som (MIS), working as a program curator. She is on the editorial board of several scientific publications. She has been vice-president of the Associação Brasileira dos Críticos de Arte (ABCA) since 2022 and a member of the Associação Nacional de Artes Plásticas (ANPAP). Among the awards she has received are those from the Society of Latin American Studies for taking part in the Conference in Liverpool (London/2016), the Fundación Cisneros/Getty Foundation/ (2016), da Getty Foundation ( 2012) and finalist for the 48th Prêmio Jabuti for the book Arte@Mídia:perspectivas da estética digital (Fapesp/Senac). She is the author of several books and curator of exhibitions in Portugal and various cultural institutions in the country.
Translated by: Lara Yoshime Shizuko Fukushima