IMS Paulista inaugurates exhibition on the life, work and legacy of the writer Carolina Maria de Jesus

The exhibition, which opens on 18 September (Saturday), presents to the public little-known facets of the writer's trajectory, reinforcing the importance of her literary project and her legacy as an interpreter of Brazil. The result of almost two years' research, the selection brings together photographs, manuscripts, videos and documentary material. It also brings together works by some 60 artists in dialogue with Carolina's work.

From September 18 (Saturday), the Moreira Salles Institute will show at its headquarters in São Paulo, the exhibition Carolina Maria de Jesus: a Brazil for the Brazilians. Interweaving different languages, the exhibition presents the writer's trajectory and production, highlighting little known aspects of her life and work.

The selection brings together approximately 300 items, including photographs, press articles, videos and other documents. It also includes works by some 60 artists, some commissioned, which dialogue with the themes investigated by Carolina. The curatorship is by anthropologist Hélio Menezes and historian Raquel Barreto and the curatorial assistance is from art historian Luciara Ribeiro. The exhibition also includes the research work of literary critic and doctor in letters Fernanda Miranda.

Divided into 13 thematic nuclei, the exhibition occupies the 8th and 9th floors of the IMS Paulista, with works also present on the 5th floor, on the ground floor and on Avenida Paulista. The exhibition presents the reflections of Carolina de Jesus (1914-1977) throughout her life, from her childhood in the city of Sacramento (Minas Gerais), in the post-slavery context, through her arrival in the city of São Paulo, the launch and repercussion of her books, to the end of her life in Parelheiros (São Paulo). In the selection, it is possible to observe how Carolina interpreted the contradictions, politics and inequality of Brazil in her period. The exhibition also highlights the historical importance of the author for agendas such as anti-racism, the struggles for literacy and housing.

The title of the exhibition - A Brazil for the Brazilians - refers to two of Carolina's original notebooks, which have been in the IMS's custody since 2006. In 1975, the manuscripts were given by the author to the researcher Clélia Pisa, who interviewed her, along with Maryvonne Lapouge, for the book Brasileiras, published only in France. After Carolina's death, the notebooks were edited in France and published as a book in 1982 under the title Journal de Bitita. In 1986, the work was translated directly from French and released in Portuguese as Diário de Bitita.

Like most of Carolina's work, the book underwent several alterations during its editing process that disrespected the author's text, starting with the modification of the original title, A Brazil for the BraziliansIn the novel, Carolina reminisces about her role as a journalist and writer. In the novel, Carolina reminisces about her childhood and youth in the city of Sacramento (MG), in the post-abolition period, while reflecting on the socioeconomic conditions of the black population.

 

The manuscripts are the main thread of the exhibition, and are displayed right at the entrance. The curatorial team comments on the importance of the book: "In Um Brasil para os brasileiros (A Brazil for the Brazilians), the author elaborates biographical and autofictional narratives as she recalls her childhood, presenting the points of view of characters who have been erased from official narratives written by mostly white, male authors. Carolina thus makes an interesting counterpoint to the literary canons in force in Brazil."

In the exhibition, Carolina's texts and her own handwriting appear in various formats, such as manuscripts, projections on the wall and lambes-lambes. During the research, the originals of the author, mostly deposited in the Public Archive of Sacramento, were consulted. The intention was to show the public Carolina's voice and original writing, bearing in mind that the author's books published until recently have undergone modifications and alterations. 

The exhibition traverses Carolina's literary production, addressing the history and reception of her works and showing the breadth and complexity of her output, much of which is found in unpublished manuscript notebooks. In addition to Quarto de despejo (1960), her best-known work, which recounts her daily life in the Canindé favela in São Paulo, she also published Casa de alvenaria (1961), Pedaços da fome, whose original title was A felizarda (1963), and Provérbios (1963). After her death, Diary of Bitita (1986) and other independent editions of her works were also published. Throughout her career, Carolina also wrote poems, chronicles, plays and lyrics, most of which remain unpublished.

Throughout the exhibition, people will also find little known photographs of the artist. There are images in which the author appears smiling, wearing elegant clothes, such as overcoats and pearl necklaces, with her hair proudly on show. The set includes, for example, an image of Carolina at the airport in 1961, before leaving for the launch of Quarto de despejo in Uruguay. Other photographs show her on a television programme with her children in 1962, or in 1963, wearing a dress she had made especially for Carnival that year. 

By bringing together these photographs, the exhibition seeks to present a new visuality of the author, in counterpoint to the most widespread images, which portray her almost always in profile, with an expression that is sometimes serious and downcast, and her hair covered with a scarf, which eventually became a symbol associated with the writer.

In order to expand this visual narrative, the curatorial team invited the artist Antonio Obá to create a new portrait of Carolina, entitled Meada, one of the main highlights of the exhibition. In addition to Obá, other artists participate in the exhibition, both with commissioned and selected works. The works are distributed throughout the exhibition nuclei, weaving poetic dialogues with the documents and images exhibited, as well as the themes addressed by Carolina, such as the writing process, motherhood, social relations, the occupation of public spaces and the right to the city.

The selection includes artists who lived in the same period as Carolina and whose careers were close to hers, such as Heitor dos Prazeres (1898-1966) and Maria Auxiliadora (1935-1974), and contemporary artists such as Ayrson Heráclito, Dalton Paula, Eustáquio Neves, Paulo Nazareth, Rosana Paulino, Silvana Mendes, Sonia Gomes and the Encruzilhada collective (see the full list below).
 

On Paulista Avenue, near the entrance to the IMS headquarters, for example, will be the sculpture Uma palavra que não seja esperar (2018), by Flávio Cerqueira. Using bronze as raw material, the work represents a girl carrying a stack of books on her head. In dialogue, on a pilaster on the ground floor of the IMS, there will be a poem by Carolina, "Quando eu morrer", reproduced from the original, in the author's own handwriting. Hélio Menezes and Raquel Barreto comment on the importance of the text: "In this poem, Carolina indicates how she would like to be remembered posthumously, 'don't say I was a bum", she says. The text was a kind of guide for the curatorial research of the whole exhibition." 

On the 5th floor, there will be a work by the artist Luana Vitra entitled Escoras para tectos prestes a desabar (2019). The installation works with concepts of architecture, reflecting on themes such as occupation, the hierarchies of knowledge, the central role of workers and the disputes surrounding the country's modernity project, issues also investigated in Carolina's production. 

Another theme present in the exhibition is Carolina's relationship with the press. The research undertaken shows, for example, that the writer had her first publication in newspapers in the 1940s, almost 20 years before the famous article on the writer by journalist Audálio Dantas. 

We will also discuss the role of the media in the construction of a stereotypical imaginary around the author. After the release of Quarto de despejo in 1960, much of the press began to portray Carolina not as a writer, but as an ambiguous character, "the favela writer", treating her as an object of curiosity in sensationalist texts, interviews and photos. It will also show how this treatment is changing over time, with a decrease in the coverage of the artist. In the set, there are reports published in vehicles such as O Cruzeiro, Folha de S.Paulo, Última Hora and New York Times. 

The repercussion of Carolina's work on the international scene is also presented. Quarto de despejo has been translated into more than 14 languages, with separate translations into English and Spanish. The exhibition will bring copies of various international editions of the book, showing how the author's words have moved and influenced readers in different parts of the world. 

Another recurring subject in Carolina's production is maternity. The artist has been the solo mother of three children. Her reflections on the issue - expressed in phrases like "Father's Day. A day without grace", present in Quarto de despejo - reverberate in today's discussions. The exhibition will have a nucleus dedicated to the theme, with records of Carolina with her children, including three rare photographs that belonged to the author herself. 

In addition to her literary work, Carolina composed songs, sang, played the guitar and sewed. This facet of the artist, still little known, will be portrayed on the 9th floor. In 1961, for example, a year after releasing Quarto de despejo, the writer recorded the album of the same name, with songs of her own. Made up of 12 tracks, the rare LP, which belongs to the José Ramos Tinhorão Collection, under the guard of the IMS, will be exhibited. The public will also be able to hear the album's songs, which deal with daily life and class and gender relations. In dialogue, there will be works by the composer and painter Heitor dos Prazeres, a fundamental name of the samba in Brazil. The show will also cover Carolina's experiments with fabric, a material that is the basis of the creations of artists such as Rainha Favelada, who presents a commissioned work for the exhibition, and Arthur Bispo do Rosário.

The exhibition ends with videos and works that reinforce the impact of the artist's work today. "Carolina became a symbol of resistance for contemporary black movements, a reference for strands of black feminism, for literature of black and peripheral authorship. An icon of an unsubmissive Brazil, which put in check an excluding modernity project, which was shaped when the author launched her first book'", states the curatorship.

Running until January 2022, the exhibition will have a wide range of parallel activities. There will be, for example, a film exhibition, conceived by curator and researcher Bruno Galindo, among other events. A catalogue with critical texts will also be launched.