Event in Rio seeks reflection on artistic creation based on memory

On the 13th and 14th of this month, Rio de Janeiro will host the first edition of MEMO – Music, Exhibition and Memory. The free event will be held at Parque Gloria Maria, formerly Parque das Ruínas, in Santa Teresa, central region of the municipality, with the aim of encouraging reflection on artistic creation based on memory, the pandemic and technology.

The creator of MEMO, who is also the curator and general director, Lu Araujo, said that she started thinking about the event during the covid-19 pandemic. “Because I think the issue of memory was a very important factor in us being able to get through that phase. At various times, we clung to the memory of the past to think that we were going to overcome that to have another moment in life, because it was such a unique thing, we had never experienced anything like that, a global event”, he said, in an interview. The Brazil Agency.

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Lu Araujo highlighted that the population also built a memory of the pandemic, although he considers that people are saying little, as if it hadn't happened. “I think we have entered into a process of recovery and damage reduction that, somehow, most people don't talk about this subject, perhaps because of the pain of the moment, the difficulties faced, the losses they suffered.”

Therefore, MEMO proposes to think in some way about this past, the present and the future, addressing themes related to that moment, but considering things that worked as allies, such as art and technology itself, “which saved us, allowing us to communicate with others, to be in contact”. The complete program can be accessed at site of the event.

Reflection

Within the context of memory, one of the points of reflection is the memory that is imposed. According to Lu Araujo, the pandemic also created a repositioning of important issues for Brazilians in particular, such as social, gender and race issues. “I think MEMO aims to create an event for reflection, but without being sad or musty. Talk about this with a little more caution, talk about affections, the memory of places and places of memory. That's what we're aiming for in this first edition. I feel a great strength in this theme and I really want to continue doing this festival.”

Lu Araujo said that he intends to propose an edition of MEMO also to the University of Porto, in Portugal, with which he partnered in 2022 for a project on the Amazon, which was Casa Comum. The idea is to suggest an event on the issue of memory in the field of arts. In the edition of the festival in Rio de Janeiro, there will be a little of this, with the participation of anthropologists, visual artists, technology scholars, among other specialists. She believes that the event will grow, strengthen and broaden horizons in the field of discussions.

Activities

The activities include shows, contemporary art exhibition, memory circles or conversations, memory research workshops. They will all take place at Parque Glória Maria and at Teatro Ruth de Souza, in Santa Teresa. The project has support from Rio's city hall and the Municipal Department of Culture, through the Carioca Culture Promotion Program (Foca).

You shows They show quality work that, in some way, is reviving great artists “who we can’t always revere in everyday life”, highlighted Lu Araujo. Andrea Ernest Dias Quartet, with the show A Wheel for Moacir Santos, will celebrate the trajectory of this black musician, born in Pernambuco, who ended his days as one of the great film composers in Hollywood. The violinist duo Ana de Oliveira and Sérgio Raz, with the participation of Marcos Suzano and Quarteto de Cordas, will release the new album Armoriando (Selo Sesc), which honors the fiftieth anniversary of the Armorial Movement, led by writer, philosopher and playwright Ariano Suassuna. Another highlight is Leila Maria, who will take her album to the MEMO stage Ubuntuan original tribute with reinterpretations of Djavan's work and African-inspired arrangements.

The new generation of music will be present with Chico Chico, who presents his new EP with two recently released songs: Mirror It is Between Buildings; with the singer Priscila Tossan, with the show Beauty Is You Girl, in addition to hits by Cartola and Luiz Melodia; and DJ, percussionist, music producer and DJ researcher Tata Ogan, who will present a setlist special dedicated to the “affective memory of Brazilian music”.

Lourival Cuquinha is responsible for one of MEMO's most important moments: the exhibition Violent Hazing. The artist's work reflects on the exercise of freedom, whether that of the individual in relation to society, or that of art in relation to institutions. His multidisciplinary work, which encompasses visual arts, audiovisual and intervention, is often marked by interactivity with the public and the urban environment.

Workshops

MEMO will also feature workshops aimed at working on memories and experiences. One of them is physical, called Banners: Memory and Tradition, and will be taught by designer and art educator Maristela Pessoa, so that people can create their own banners. Another workshop will be given by psychologist and trauma therapy specialist Priscila Lobianco. The proposal is to promote a delicate expansion of the dialogue with our implicit memories and generate the necessary movement of transformation and healing. “We will work on the body, reflection at this moment and we will also create patuás as a type of thing that offers protection”, said Lu Araujo.

An unprecedented project, MEMO is part of a series of actions that will be carried out during the year 2024, with the support of the renowned MIMO Festival, an event with 20 years of existence, also created by Lu Araujo, and whose pillars are music, heritage and education in the field of arts.