Page 115 - ARTE!Brasileiros #38

evoke the city, life in urban space, places and characters, architecture But surely there are many people in need of a place to store
and history. Arranged as a cinematic continuum of images, not weird-shaped books, spineless limited-edition publications, the
guided by chronology or hierarchy, they represent snapshots and type that instead of leafing through, we fold or cut, or whose
fragments of essays as a specific imagery left by photography: the pages can be detached, discarded, turned into paper planes.
photographic camera, a technological device, registers the urban While there is no proper furniture, or a shabby wall for us to
landscape, captures fragments of time, yields visibility and memory.” hang the poster of that great concert, the good old bookcases
The text then continues: “On the other hand, an entire nucleus are getting crowded by the minute. Collecting independent
can be seen that is composed of one abstract photograph, based publications is again a hip activity – specialized fairs brought on a
on the medium’s formal and technical experimentation and, breath of fresh air to that same craze that the punks transformed
as of the 1930s, strongly influenced by the experience of the into a dirty phenomenon in the 1980s.
modernist architecture and its bases on rationalism, as well as by The growth of Feira Plana, now in its fifth edition (March 17
the transformations this modern city provoked on our perception through 19), fed on this independent market of multiple identities
of space and the condition in which we live.” as much as it boosted it. After a stint at Museu da Imagem e do
Beyond the city, there is another perspective that takes into account Som, the annual event occupies the Bienal de São Paulo building,
the formative and pedagogical elements that so captures Silvio with 250 exhibitors, including international publishing houses,
Frota’s interest and that privileges children and their universe. from the United States, Colombia and Korea, among others. In
“About Children” presents itself as a mosaic of the child’s life: with addition to this, São Paulo also hosts the fairs Miolo and Tijuana.
family, friends, at school. But also as a portrait of victims of violence. Plana’s creator, Bia Bittencourt is building a collection that may
“The photos are presented as fragments, the summoning of a soon become a keen selection of this period of graphic and literary
common imagery, to be arranged and interpreted by the visitors, vigor. “I own from zines with 1 x 1 cm to heavy books I brought
particularly schoolchildren with their families, according to each from trips and almost abandoned at the airport. My collection
person’s experience and background,” he says. stays at Casa Plana (cultural space located in downtown São
The first floor, in its turn, is dedicated to new acquisitions: “There is Paulo). They are all accessible and available to visitors. Many
not a curatorial ‘a priori’ besides the choice, inside of the collection, people call us in search of books for research,” she explains.
of the works relative to the authors’ importance, of nationalities The profile of Plana’s clientele, she says, is varied. “There are
and generations,” explains Mesquita. designers, artists and people from the graphic universe. There
The second floor is dedicated to photographers and photographs of are collectors and aficionados, youngsters who hang out just
the Brazilian Northeast. Naturally, Paula e Silvio Frota’s collection for the flirting. Elderly men and children. Researchers, teachers,
contains numerous images of the region and also of the North of Brazil: students.” Bittencourt says that her collection grew with gifts she
“It represents a broad repertoire of references – photographers, gets from small publishing houses and friends. “This way I could
artists, themes, archives – that inform on photography’s founding focus my acquisitions when I travel and in rarities,” she says.
role in the development of a local modern visuality and a cultural Actress Livia Prestes tells about another behavior that arose
identity imbued and resounding in the national imagery, notably with the expansion of the independent market, which is the
from the second half of the 1940s on.” interactivity between collectors and their friends. Prestes says
Thus, photos by Pierre Verger, Marcel Gautherot, Jean Manzon that she keeps at home a book where she registers all the items
and José Medeiros present us with a selection of both the Brazilian she loans (she has a preference for graphic novels). From the
photography and Brazil. They cover the way through which this most recent items in her collection, she highlights a work from
rich region was presented to the Brazilian people from the 1940s the amordepica.com collective, with stories their authors classify
and 1950s on, and often through the pages of magazines such as as “love, orgies and bad vibe.”
O Cruzeiro and Manchete. Editor Júlia Ayerbe says she classifies her publications “based
The great honoree, who was granted a special hall, could not be more on type and format than content,” what also gives us the
other than Chico Albuquerque (1917–2000). Acknowledged as idea that concerns over aesthetics have been more central than
the first advertising photographer in Brazil, in 1948, Seu Chico, those over content. Small or more fragile items end up being piled
as he was known, he was also the still photographer for Orson together, because they can be invisible when alongside large-
Welles’ 1942 film It’s all True. He was also the mentor for a group format, hardcover books, for instance. “I notice a preeminence
of photographers that has become a reference in Brazil, such of image over text,” she sentences. “I think today the design
as Celso Oliveira, Tiago Santana and Ed Viggiani, in the early and the graphic project are more important elements.” Ayerbe
1980s, when he helped assembling a photojournalism team for rebuts the possibility of fetishization of her items, similar to
the newspaper O Povo, in Fortaleza. A beautiful tribute – this year what occurs with artworks. “This production goes against what
marks the centenary of Seu Chico’s birth. galleries want; the idea is not for the object to be unique, but
something many people can own or purchase,” she ponders.
1 | PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE SERIES MUCURIPE, CHICO ALBUQUERQUE Only, inevitably, small, limited editions end up adding value to
older collections, even if this value is not always economic, but
COLLECTIONS INDEPENDENT EDITORIAL MARKET | PAGES 86 TO 88 documental. The literature teacher Iuri Pereira owns the originals
to one edition of the Jornal Dobrabil, a satirical brochure in A3
DON’T BURN AFTER READING format, signed by Glauco Mattoso in the 1970s, and which he sent by
mail to artists from the movements of Tropicália and Concretismo.
Pereira purchased the individual pages (some of them released
INDEPENDENT EDITORIAL MARKET GAINS MOMENTUM WITH FAIRS AND by publishing house Iluminuras for R$43) for R$500.
CREATION OF NEW PRIVATE COLLECTIONS His is a vast collection, mixing historical items (from the 1970s
on) to products bought at current zines and independent
BY GUSTAVO FIORATTI publications fairs. Regular visitor to second-hand bookstores,
the teacher owns the edition in which the theater company
TOK&STOK STILL HASN’T INVENTED specific furniture for Teatro de Arena documents the creative process of the play
collectors of fanzines, independent books and similar publications. Arena Conta Tiradentes. He also owns the books Atlas and

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