Exhibition "Frans Krajcberg: for an architecture of nature

About the exhibition 

FRANZ KRAJCBERG: FOR AN ARCHITECTURE OF NATURE

In honor of the centenary of Frans Krajcberg, the MuBE holds, from May 7 to July 31, in partnership with the Institute of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Bahia (IPAC), the historic and anthological exhibition "Frans Krajcberg: for an architecture of nature", curated by Diego Matos, chief curator of the Museum. The exhibition will feature artworks from various places such as Sítio Natura, in Nova Viçosa (BA), where the artist produced most of his work, as well as artworks from private collections and museums. In all there will be about 160 artworks among sculptures, paintings, drawings, engravings and objects.

The artist and environmentalist's centennial occurred in 2021 and will be celebrated in this exhibition, bringing all its power and diversity, besides including his artistic production that connects with nature and his ecological activism, without losing sight of a historical look that presents in full his technical, conceptual and environmental accuracy. The exhibition also marks the beginning of the preservation, conservation and divulgation work of the collection and of the Sítio Natura, donated by the artist to the Government of Bahia, with which the MuBE is cooperating. "Our team spent 16 days in Nova Viçosa collaborating with the IPAC team in the cataloguing and recovery of Krajcberg's artworks and the Sítio Natura. More than 40 people were involved, many from the region itself, in this great collective effort to preserve this important collection", comments Flavia Velloso, president of the MuBE.

For João Carlos Cruz, General Director of IPAC, "the partnership with the MuBE and this exhibition, with free admission, represent an excellent opportunity to boost the Frans Krajcberg collection donated to the Government of Bahia while promoting its revitalization and democratization, bringing benefits to all". The agreement between IPAC and the Museum also includes the publication of 4,500 copies of educational material about the exhibition, Frans Krajcberg and Sítio Natura, which will be distributed to students from the municipal and state public schools of Nova Viçosa.

With this exhibition, "We rescue one of the initial missions of MuBE: to be a centre for discussion of issues of art and ecology," says Matos, curator of the show. "Democratizing art and showing its relationship with nature and diversity are perennial objectives of the MuBE and of all the actions we carry out. More than checking the aesthetic and exquisite appeal of the artworks exhibited, the public has the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the richness and complexity of Brazilian culture and the environmental cause", he continues.

For this exhibition, the MuBE brings in its external area a little of the atmosphere of Sitio Natura de Nova Viçosa to São Paulo. Through scenography with two whale carcasses borrowed from the artist's collection and landscaping signed by Ricardo Cardim, with sand floor and trunks that also came from the Sitio Natura. And as a tribute, during the first days of the exhibition, Jailson da Silva Sena, Krajcberg's former assistant will assemble, in this area, a work following the same technique that was taught to him by the artist, giving the public the opportunity to know part of the process that was used by him in his production. "Passing on this teaching is our way of helping to preserve the memory of Krajcberg", comments Jailson da Silva Sena. For conservation reasons, all the artworks by Frans Krajcberg will be presented in the internal areas of the Museum.

After the MuBE, the exhibition goes to the inauguration of the new Wanderley de Pinho Museum, in Salvador, where the cataloguing, preservation and restoration artworks of all Frans Karjcberg's collection donated to the State Government of Bahia will be concluded. The pieces will return to Nova Viçosa after the conclusion of the revitalization and technical adaptation artworks of the Sítio Natura spaces.