Ivete Sangalo e Buchecha no Maracaná

Buchecha é Flamenguista!!!

Gabriel Orozco at MoMA, New York

Great review on the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2009/12/21/091221craw_artworld_schjeldahl?currentPage=2

Londoners x Lisboners

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

ROCKET MAN!

Californication - Season 3 Finale - Great Episode with great music: Elton John's Rocket Man - I admit, I cried!!! :P

Nick Serota is SO cool!!! :)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/dec/13/arts-bosses-school

EU GOSTO É DO VERAO!!!!

I like the Summer!!! Mommy, Me and Johnny!

Beatriz Quintella - ONV

Listen to my mother - Beatriz Quintella on this link of the Portuguese Parliament. Her institution Operacao Nariz Vermelho - www.narizvermelho.pt, clowns for hospitalized children that visits more than 30.000 children in Portugal per year, won the Gold Medal for the Parliament's Human Right's prize and here are parts of her acceptance speech! I'm so proud!!!

http://tv1.rtp.pt/noticias/?headline=46&visual=9&tm=8&t=Assembleia-da-Republica-reconhece-trabalho-da-Associacao-Portuguesa-de-Deficientes-e-Operacao-Nariz-Vermelho.rtp&article=302008

Cell Texts

Check out this amazing project by Eyal and Ines Weizman.

http://celltexts.org./page/about

Fool's Garden - Lemon Tree

FLAMENGO 20009 - HEXACAMPEAO BRASILEIRO

TU és TIME DE TRADIção RAçA, AMOR E PAIXãO OH! MEU MENGO!!! EU SEMPRE TE AMAREI ONDE ESTIVER ESTAREI OH MEU MENGO!!!! UHUUUUUU!!!!!

Lindo Demais!

Marrakech - November 2009

Marrakech Nov/2009 - "A Proposal for Articulating Works and Places" - Luiza Teixeira de Freitas with the curator Abdellah Karroum during the installation of Loredana Longo's piece

L's Agenda/ November 2009

Exhibitions/Art Events:
A Proposal for Articulating Works and Places – Palais Bahia, Marrakech, Morocco
John Baldessari “Pure Beauty” – Tate Modern, London
Heather Cantrell - 'A Study in Portraiture: Act II' – MOT International, London
Yto Barrada 'Palm Project' Picnic - Marrakech, Morocco

Talks:
Joseph Kosuth talks about his work – Marrakech, Morocco
Don't look Back/ Radical thinkers and the arts since 1909 (with Terry Eagleton, Simon Critchley, Kate Soper, Eyal Weizman and Alberto Toscano – Tate Britain, London

Films:
Alice in Wonderland (1951) – Produced by Walt Disney
Gomorra (2008) – Directed by Matteo Garrone
Dirty Sexy Money – Series 1

As Metamorfoses de um Touro

As Metamorfoses de um Touro

(extraído de "O Correio da Unesco", de fevereiro de 1981, ano 9, nº2, pág. 32 e 33)


A história do touro teve lugar no antigo ateliê de litografia de Mourlot, na Rua de Chabrol, em Paris, em 1945. Quem a conta é Jean Célestin, artesão litógrafo que trabalhava para Picasso e que disse dele: "Picasso me marcou. Ter trabalhado com ele enriqueceu a minha vida." Célestin não se cansa de repetir: "Ele tem um... quero dizer... tem dons incríveis. Ele é dotado de... ora, é um pintor."

Vale a pena ouvir a história do touro naquele ateliê enorme, onde se vê a tinta em massa brilhante, as máquinas rodando, os cartazes pendurados, trabalhadores em atividade, pintores passando.

"Um dia", diz Célestin, "ele começa o famoso touro. Um touro soberbo. Bem roliço. Pensei que estava pronto. Não estava. Veio um segundo estágio, um terceiro. Sempre bojudo. Picasso continua trabalhando. 0 touro já não é o mesmo. Vai diminuindo, diminuindo de peso. Henri Deschamps me disse que Picasso estava tirando em vez de pôr. Ao mesmo tempo ele ia decompondo o touro. E a cada passo tirávamos uma prova litográfica. Ele via que estávamos um pouco perplexos. Dizia uma brincadeira e continuava trabalhando. Outro touro apareceu. E cada vez sobrava menos touro. Picasso me olhava e ria, e uma vez disse a Henri: 'Vamos dar isso ao açougueiro. A dona de casa poderia dizer, quero este pedaço.' Finalmente, a cabeça do touro estava parecendo uma formiga."

E Célestin conclui a sua história: "Na última prova só restavam algumas linhas. Eu olhava o artista trabalhar. Ele suprimia, suprimia. Pensei no primeiro touro, e disse comigo: é curioso; ele terminou por onde normalmente devia começar, Mas Picasso procurava o seu touro. E para chegar ao touro de um único traço passou por todos aqueles outros touros. E quando se vê esse traço único não se pode imaginar o trabalho que o artista teve."

"Há pinturas que parecem não ter nada mas têm tudo" , disse Corot. 0 processo seguido por Picasso para chegar a esse touro é um exemplo magnífico. Cada etapa tem sua carga de realidade, e cada realidade busca uma nova verdade. E a versão definitiva leva em si a imagem que nos vem à mente quando dizemos a palavra touro.

Texto de Hélène Parmelin

Fotos tiradas de Picasso Lithographe,

de Fernand Mourlot, Ed. H. Sauret, Mônaco

Research Quotes VII

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W.H. Auden

My encounter with VeVe

During this last month in Marrakech I have to say that the most interesting person I met was a 3 year old (almost 4 according to her) named Vega Violet.
She is without doubt the most inteligent, fast and clever 3 year old (almost 4) I've ever met. We had great conversations throughout the two days we passed in each other's company. Here is a taste of it:

L.: Veve, I love your scarf, it's beautiful!
Veve: Thank you, but it's not a scarf, it's a foulard!

Marrakech November 2009

http://works-and-places.appartement22.com/
http://www.aimbiennale.org/

Directly from Marrakech...

...for the next 20 days!

L's Agenda/ October 2009

Exhibitions/Art Events:
Miroslaw Balka – Tate Modern, Turbine Hall Comission 2009/10
Pop Life: Art in a Material World - Tate Modern
Jill Magid, Authority to Remove - Tate Modern, Level 2 Gallery
Ed Ruscha – Hayward Gallery
Gustav Metzger - Serpentine Gallery
Sophie Calle - Whitechapel Gallery
Ed Ruscha - On the Road: An artist book – Gagosian Gallery, Davies Street
Castellani/ Flavin/ Judd /Uecker - Haunch of Venison
Yinka Shonibare, MBE – Stephen Friedman Gallery
Clunie Reid – MOT International
Juan Uslé – Frith Street Gallery
Lisson Presents 6: A Troubling Metamorphosis of Loose Ideas Into Cast Forms – Lisson Gallery
Anish Kapoor – Lisson Gallery
Heimo Zobernig – Simon Lee
Sculpture of the Space Age – The David Roberts Foundation
The object of the attack – The David Roberts Foundation
Jim Goldberg: Open See – The Photographers Gallery
Sara Ramo – The Photographers Gallery
Robert Mapplethorpe: A Season in Hell – Alison Jacques Gallery
John Baldessari – Spruth Magers London
Collector Collecting - Gallery 32
Ugo Rondinone: Nude – Sadie Coles HQ
John Bock: The Big Sleep – Sadie Coles, Balfour Mews
Robert Bordo – Mummery+Schnelle
Frieze Art Fair 2009
Zoo Art Fair 2009
Marius Engh – Supportico Lopez – Berlin

Talks:
Miroslaw Balka and Paul Herkenhoff in conversation – Tate Modern
Ed Ruscha – Hayward Gallery
Paulo Herkenhoff on the XXIV Bienal de São Paulo

Books:
Man in the Dark - Paul Auster
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley

Films:
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) – Directed by Woody Allen (with Javier Bardem; Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz)
When Harry met Sally (1989) – Directed by Rob Reiner (with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal)
Two for the Road (1967) – Directed by Stanley Donen (with Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney)
Rome II
Nip Tuck 4

Walter De Maria - The Broken Kilometer

If you are ever in New York, don't miss this fantastic installation!
It's been there since 1979 and I never knew about it!

http://www.diaart.org/sites/main/brokenkilometer

Lawrence Weiner at his best!

...









"The purpose of art is to question the material relationships to their world in relation to human beings.

The purpose of curating is to agglomerate those questions (in effect to present them).

Why should an artist curate the next WHATEVER show WHENEVER." Lawrence Weiner

This is part of The Next Documenta Should be Curated by An Artist an e-flux's project Curated by Jens Hoffman

A Tribute to Stephen Gately...

I know it's quite cheeky, but I couldn't avoid it and this blog is about me, who I am and the things that shape my life. Not only was Boyzone part of my teenage years, Stephen Gately was my favourite one. I was quite upset when he came out and got married to his boyfriend, I probably thought I still had some chances hahaha... Anyway, I hope he is well wherever he is. Stephen Gately (1976 - 2009)

700 Sundays - Billy Crystal

This book is beautiful! He wrote it in an amazing form. I truly recommend it! I just wish I could have seen the play.

Research Quotes VI

The current obsession with keeping everything tidy, not accepting long grass and leaning tombs, and treating a funeral as a refuse disposal problem, reflects a deep malaise in society. Death was never a tidy thing: it is foolish to try and make it so, and to compartment it away from life and the living.

James Stephen Curl, 1972

Memooorieesss... lalalala....

I sign up with Le Cool magazine on line (both London and Lisbon).
This week on the Lisbon one there was the most amazing text invitation for a party, where the writer described everything that a child from the 80's growing up in Portugal would remember. Oh that sweet sweet nostalgia... ohhh why do we have to grow up?! I know my english readers won't understand, but it's too special to translate!

Here is the text by Mami Pereira:

“Quantos-queres?”, “Três”, “Um, dois, três”, “Qual queres?”, “O quadrado”, “ahah és o tipo gordo do Duarte e Companhia!”... ai que saudades do que já lá vai, de nos lembrarmos dos seios da Tieta no genérico, de nunca perceber o que é que a Perpétua tinha na caixa que guardava, do Blandiblu, das Peta-Zetas, dos Pez que encravavam às vezes, dos autocolantes do Tou, das Super-gorila tão duras ao princípio, das mixed K7s, dos discos dos Ministars, Ondachoc e Ana Faria e os Queijinhos Frescos, das Bombocas, das pulseiras-régua que afinal faziam mal, do leite com chocolate Toddy, da Ondamania, dos Pushpops que deixavam o dedo peganhento, da Minha Agenda todos os Natais, dos Pega-monstros que sujavam as paredes e isto sem falar da roupa que nos vestiam, suspensórios a segurar calças de bombazine coçada e sapatos de carneira para dar boas caneladas no recreio. É trazer isso tudo e vir para o convívio e para a danceteria. Once an 80s child, always an 80s child?" Por Mami Pereira

Exhibitions/ Films/ Books

I am starting this new section of my blog, where I list Exhibitions I've been to, films I've seen and books I've read. This is inspired by my friend Bridget Donlon's blog - with her authorization of course. It is mostly done for myself, so that I can keep track of what's going on in my life.

Last two months:

Exhibitions:
- Damian Ortega: Do It Yourself, ICA, Boston
- Carlos Contente, Galeria Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro
- Dan Graham: Beyond, Whitney Museum, New York
- In and Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art, 1960 – 1976, MOMA, New York
- Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, MOMA, New York
- Radical Nature–Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet, Barbican Centre, London
- Susana Mendes Silva, X, Marz Galeria, Lisbon
- Emissores Reunidos, Serralves, Porto
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- Fogg Art Museum, Harvard
- Yale University Art Gallery, Yale

Films:
- Julie and Julia, directed by Nora Ephron
- Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant
- Fargo, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen,
- The Colour of Paradise, directed by Majid Majidi
- Notes on a Scandal, directed by Richard Eyre
- The Proposal, directed by Anne Fletcher
- He’s just not that into you, directed by Ken Kwapis - on the airplane.
- Rome: Series 1

Books:
- Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
- Leviathan, Paul Auster

Research Quotes V

So, I’ll continue to continue to pretend my life will never end…

Simon and Garfunkel in Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall

Hot n Cold - Katy Perry - Don't ASK!!!

Look for the video "Dont Text and Drive" on YouTube - you need to sign in. It's shocking how people are worried about the Swine Flu and get so extremist about it and forget to think about little things like the one on the video - Car a......ccidents have such a higher rate of death and one can really avoid it in so many ways! Leave your mobile in your bag when driving!

Berenstain Bears

Today while planning my trip to Istanbul with my three American friends - Bridget, Hannah and Caryn, I had the most awesome "memories" moment... Hannah kind of quoted the Berenstain Bears - I was soooooo happy!!!! I flew right back to being 6 years old and living in NY...

I'm really grateful of having this group of friends that were children at the same time as myself and can remember these small things with me!

Brilliant!

"The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continual lying to other men and to himself." (Book II, Chapter 2)

From Dostoievski's The Brothers Karamazov

BACK FROM HOLIDAYS!

Los Justos

Un hombre que cultiva su jardin, como queria Voltaire
El que agradece que en la tierra haya musica.
El que descuebre con placer una etimologia.
Dos empleados que en un cafe del Sur juegan un silencioso ajedrez.
El ceramista que premedita un color y una forma.
El tipografo que compone bien esta pagina, que tal vez no le agrada.
Una mujer y un hombre que leen los tercetos finales de cierto canto.
El que acaricia un animal dormido.
El que justifica o quiere justificar un mal que le han hecho.
El que agradece que en la tierra haya Stevenson.
El que prefiere que los otros tengan razon.
Esas personas, que se ignoran, estan salvando el mundo.

por Jorge Luis Borges

Research Quotes IV

I have already died all deaths,
And I am going to die all deaths again,
Die the death of the wood in the tree,
Die the stone death in the mountain,
Earth death in the sand,
Leaf death in the crackling summer grass,
And the poor bloody human death.

Herman Hesse – All Deaths

PARABENS GONCALO E LULY

Hoje vai ser uma festa. Bolo e guaraná. Muito doce pra MIM. É o MEU aniversário. Vamos festejar. E os amigos receber. Mil felicidades e amor no coração. Que a MINHA vida seja sempre doce e emoção. Bate, bate palma que é hora de cantar. Agora todos juntos vamos lá. Parabéns Parabéns Hoje é o MEU dia Que dia mais feliz. Parabéns Parabéns Cante novamente que a gente pede bis

Yes! Yes! Yes!

No one forgets about the truth, they just get better at lying.

in Revolutionary Road

John Lennon 'God'

I don't believe in magic,
I don't believe in I-ching,
I don't believe in bible,
I don't believe in tarot,
I don't believe in Hitler,
I don't believe in Jesus,
I don't believe in Kennedy,
I don't believe in Buddha,
I don't believe in mantra,
I don't believe in Gita,
I don't believe in yoga,
I don't believe in kings,
I don't believe in Elvis,
I don't believe in Zimmerman,
I don't believe in Beatles,
I just believe in me...

John Lennon, 'God' from the Plastic Ono Band album, 1970

Directly from...

...Ferragudo for the time being!

On the 23rd of June 2009 we celebrated 8 years of togetherness... :) 2922 days to be more precise... Still together, still growing strong!

...and there goes one more minister...

I forgot to post this "beautiful and memorable" moment in Portuguese politics:

Manuel Pinho, Portugal's Economy Minister, has resigned after making a cuckold gesture to an opposition MP during a debate in parliament. ...

Research Quotes III

“Yes, here it is. Well, what of it? Let the pain be.”

“And death. . . where is it?”

He sought his former accustomed fear of death and did not find it. “Where is it? What death?” There was no fear because there was no death.

In place of death there was light.

“So that’s what it is!” he suddenly exclaimed aloud. “What joy!”

To him all this happened in a single instant, and the meaning of that instant did not change. For those present his agony continued for another two hours. Something rattled in his throat, his emaciated body twitched, then the gasping and rattle became less and less frequent.

“It is finished!” said someone near him.

He heard these words and repeated them in his soul.

“Death is finished,” he said to himself. “It is no more!”

He drew in a breath, stopped in the midst of a sigh, stretched out, and died.

Leo Tolstoy – from The Death of Ivan Ilych

A little bit of Ipanema in London...

... first you go on the Northern Line of the London tube (yes, the black one!)... then you get off at Hampstead station, walk through the beatiful town (that makes any other Londoner envious)...and tchara! - Hampstead Heath! The famous beautiful, breathtakingly, birds-singing, people happy park! It's really hard to describe it...

Now a pause, let's hop on the plane, cross the Atlantic Ocean... all the way to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and more specifically to Ipanema, one of its most famous beaches! Ipanema is strategically located between Leblon and Copacabana. It's full of life and it will seduce you in two seconds with its thin white sand, coconut water, beatiful people, warm salty water... ohhh it's just paradise... Well at least it is, for part of the year. There are impossible months, like January or February, or even that odd Sunday in Winter when the termometer hits 35 degrees and everyone can only think of one thing: BEACH! Well... these moments are everything but paradise... they are hell on earth! Temperatures that seem unthinkable to human kind, thousands of people trying to fit one on top of each other, leaving no space in between, everyone is sweated, talking loud, listening to music, children squeaking, families that bring so many things to the beach that there is an odd sensation that they are moving... anyway, I think I've painted the picture!...

Anddddd back to Hampstead! Temperatures in London are being very perky this year, maybe a little bit too perky in my opinion. (but everyone is happy and summery and that's what counts, so YAY)!

After a couple of days of unbearable heat (just try riding the tube at 5pm rush hour under 30 degrees - you might as well have a nap in an oven), I decided to try one of the places where one can swim/dive around London. TIME OUT always has a Summer article on this and as a good Time Out subscriber, I keep all interesting files very well filled! Anyway... I finally choose the Hampstead Ponds (or Highgate Ponds) to refresh myself on this hot Thursday afternoon.

There we went... first we got to the Men's Pond. It was beautiful, empty, calm, (women are not allowed, so I wished a was a man at that point)...

So, we went on and came to the Ladies Pond... Goncalo was not allowed in... (I don't think he wished he was a woman), so I went to have a look... OHHHhhhhh it looked amazing... only girlies all chitchatting, sun bathing, very civilized... Totally recommend it!

But, we had no choice - Mixed Pond here we come... we crossed the beautiful park once again, saw the views of the city and then finally there it was: It was Ipanema! Just like a hot Sunday afternoon in December! NOOOOOOOOOOOoooooOOOOooooooOO!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! I breathed deeply and there we went... The water was great, refreshing and so on, but outside? Oh my! The whole experience was just surreal! We finally found a little square of grass for my bum and one for his. Goncalo had 4 different feet sticking in his back, I was closer to my "neighbor" than I have ever been to my t-shirt! Suddenly a new group came and sat by us, they all started smoking on top of us and they started stripping down to their sexy knickers .... ohhhhh..arghhhh... Yes the worst part were the people. I'm quite an open person and very anthropological... but it was too much for me! Loads of people in their under-wears, smelly feet in my face, too many unwaxed girls (yes! all over!) and a general feeling of "what the hell am i doing here?"...

We finally found a strategy of lying down outside the Pond area in the grass, where people were just relaxing and going for a dive once in a while.

We finished the day having a nice salad in Carluccio's terrace in Hampstead Heath High Street and it was an awesome day! I feel like a new person and I'm slightly sunburnt! :)

But... next time I'll leave Goncalo with the boys and head to the Ladies Pond straight away! After all, there is a reason why I avoid Ipanema during Jan., Feb, Sundays and public holidays!

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolition in the Occupied Territory

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolition in the Occupied Territory
http://www.icahd.org/eng/

Posted by Luiz Teixeira de Freitas on Facebook 28/06/09 - Great Documentary, specially for all of us who are in the confort of our homes on this Sunday afternoon!!!

Cattelan on Creed

Martin Creed's WORK NO. 227: THE LIGHTS GOING ON AND OFF

We all have our bad days, when you just can’t get it right, like moments of loss and surrender. And we all have our good days, when everything seems to run smoothly, just perfect for no apparent reason. I can see clearly now the rain has gone. You wake up, things are okay, and the sun is shining. And then out of the blue, there you go again, down into the dark pit of depression. It’s not just a matter of mood swings. Its something more basic and perverse: the inability to preserve joy. The need to measure it against a black background. Art is no different. It’s a ride on the roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes I feel so happy, sometimes I feel so sad. I always thought Martin Creed’s Work No. 227: The lights going on and off had something to do with this simple truth. It has the ability to compress happiness and anxiety within one single gesture. Lights go on, lights go off – sunshine and rain, and then back to beginning to repeat endlessly. I do not know what Creed was thinking about when he made it but to me it always looked like a swing, a mood swing. That’s why I never found it funny but frightening in its simplicity, it’s a sculpture for our lithium oriented, Prozac enhanced reality. Are we afraid of the dark or just blinded by the light? I see a rainbow and I want to paint it black.

Maurizio Cattelan, 2004

At least they went together and are probably having fun up there somewhere...

What a woman!

In memory of Michael Jackson... a great artist !

My favorite music of his...! When I was 12 my mom gave me the cassette with this music... I think I heard it more than 100 times on my walkman... I completely remember it was during a Summer trip to London! I used to perform in front of the mirror and produce fake tears... I was preparing for Hollywood!!! duh!

Neda Soltani

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/22/neda-soltani-death-iran

Uhhhuuu!!!

See you in September Goldsmiths!

I will be here:



Or here:

Research Quotes II

I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying.

Woody Allen

Rio de Janeiro Childhood memories: Part I - Balão Mágico!

Duas músicas inesqueciveis! Com participacoes de Djavan e Fábio Junior!

NY childhood memories Part 2: LifeSavers and Teddy Grahams!

Research Quotes I

Ay, but to die, and go we know not where,
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice,
To be imprisoned in the viewless winds
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendant world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thoughts
Imagine howling: ‘tis too horrible!
The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.

William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Getulio Bittencourt

Domingo passado dia 7, faleceu em São Paulo (SP), o jornalista e amigo Getúlio Bittencourt, 57 anos.
O Getúlio e a Ana Cristina sempre foram muito amigos da minha família. Meus pais eram muito próximos deles desde da época em qua moravamos todos em NY em 89/90.
Para mim ele sempre foi uma daquelas pessoas que eu achava um máximo porque meus pais sempre falavam dele com muita admiração. Uma pessoa que lia muito e sabia muito. Lembro sempre de uma história que a mamãe contava - que o Getúlio andava sempre com um livro debaixo do braço, nao interessava o lugar para onde eles estavam indo, ele sempre levava o livro. Um dia indo para um jantar, ela perguntou: mas Getúlio, para que o livro? Voce acha que o jantar pode ficar chato? e ele respondeu - nunca se sabe, e a luz do restaurante pode acabar, é melhor andar previnido.
Tive a sorte de jantar com ele da última vez que estive em SP em Agosto de 2008. Digo sorte, porque sendo mais "adulta" soube apreciar ainda mais a pessoa que meus pais tanto admiravam - Interessante, inteligente e interessado. Fomos a uma ópera e depois a um restaurante especializado em Azeites.
Fica uma pequena biografia e uma fotografia do nosso último encontro.
O mundo ficou com certeza mais pobre sem ele.


Nascido em Governador Valadares (MG). Trabalhou na revista Veja e nos jornais Folha de S. Paulo e na Gazeta Mercantil, onde foi editor de política. Em 1978, recebeu o Prêmio Esso. Era autodidata e apaixonado por astrologia, tendo escrito o livro “À luz do céu profundo – Astrologia e Política no Brasil” (Editora Record), em que tentou explicar o poder em Brasília pela mecânica celeste. Tinha uma memória invejável e uma escrita das mais brilhantes da imprensa brasileira contemporânea. Pai de seis filhos, vivia há cerca de vinte anos com a jornalista Ana Cristina Magalhães Bittencourt.

Optimo artigo por Luiz Antonio Magalhães:
http://observatorio.ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/artigos.asp?cod=541IMQ002

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Last Sunday the 7th of June, the journalist Getúlio Bittencourt, 57 years old died in São Paulo (SP).
Getúlio and Ana Cristina have always been close friends to my family. My parents were very close when we all lived in NY in 89/90.
For me he always was one of those people that I really looked up to, because my parents admired him so much. He was a person that read a lot and knew a lot. I remember a story my mother always told – Getúlio would always be carrying a book under his arm, it didn’t matter where he was headed, the book would always come as well. One day whilst going out for dinner she asked him: - But Getúlio, why are you bringing the book? Do you think dinner can get boring? – to which he replied – you never now, it can be that, or the restaurant’s light can go down, it’s always better to be ready.
I was lucky to have dinner with him the last time I was in São Paulo in August 2008. I say this, because in being more of an “adult” I could appreciate even more this person that my parents admired so much – Interesting, intelligent and interested. We went to na opera and afterwards to a restaurant specialized in Olive Oils.
Below is a small biography and a photograph of the dinner.
The world is without any doubt poorer without him.

Born in Governador Valadares (MG). Worked for the Veja magazine and for the Folha de S. Paulo and Gazeta Mercantil, where he was editor in politics In 1978 he won the Esso Prize. He was an autodidact and passionate for astrology. He wrote the book: “À luz do céu profundo – Astrologia e Política no Brasil” (Editora Record), where he tried explaining the power in Brasília through celestial mechanics. He had amazing memory and was a brilliant writer. Father to six sons, he had live for the past twenty years with the journalist Ana Cristina Magalhães Bittencourt.

Great article by Luiz Antonio Magalhães:
http://observatorio.ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/artigos.asp?cod=541IMQ002



Photo/Foto: Bia, Getúlio, Ana Cristina, Luly

53rd Venice Biennial – Making Worlds// Fare Mondi

Photo: Installation shot - Renata Lucas at the Giardini

About the 53rd Venice Biennial – Making Worlds// Fare Mondi:
Overall I think it was a strong Biennial. Daniel Birbaum did a good job! One could definitely see the amount of research behind the project. The Arsenale and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni at the Giardini were representing the times we are going through. Nothing was too flashy or following trends. It was art – just pure and simple art, coming from all over the world and showing all different ways of viewing the world.
Below is my selection of what to see apart from the Arsenale and the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, however in the end I probably only saw 20% of the whole Biennial – you know the pit stops for lunch at nice fish restaurants are always a must!

Don’t miss:
- The Collectors, by Elmgreen and Dragset. Curators of Denmark and Nordic Countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden) – to see it with the Performance was definitely one of the best things in the whole Biennial.
- Palestinian Pavillion at Giudecca.
- Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Loop by Roman Ondák – Amazing!
- Mexican Pavilion: Teresa Margolles.
- Portuguese Pavilion: João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva.
- USA – Bruce Nauman, Topological Gardens: I didn’t see the exhibition at the Giardini, but the one at Universitá Ca’Focari was one of the best things of the Biennial.
- Mona Hatoum, Interior Landscape at Fondazione Querini Stampalia – Beautiful. A note for the works that were hiden throughout the foundation’s collection.
- Pavilion Italo-Latino Americano: Carlos Garaicoa, Sandra Gamarra, Mariano Gastón Ugalde, Alberto Baraya, Luis Roldán, Ramsés Larzábal, Fernando Falconi, Nils Nova, Darío Escobar, Paul Ramírez Jonas, Raquel Paiewonsky, Federico Herrero
- The Fear Society. Pabellón de la Urgencia. A project from the region of Murcia
- Distortion at Fondazione Gervasuti - Oliver Clegg, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Mat Collishaw, John Isaacs, Alastair Mackie, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Jamie Shovlin, Gavin Turk

Go if you can:
- Australia, MADDESTMAXIMVS – Planet & Stars Sequence 2009. Shaun Gladwell
- Germany – Liam Gillick
- Republic of Korea, Haegue Yang
- ADACH Platform for Venice, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage

Don’t even bother:
- Brazil: Luiz Braga + Delson Uchôa – I actually don’t dislike Luiz Braga’s work , but the whole thing was just a big question mark for me.
- Italy – Oh my! Just horrible.
- United Arab Emirates – Lamya Gargash

I could not see many of the pavilions because of the huge lines! USA, France, UK etc.
The prizes were all well deserved I think, apart from the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Artist that went to Nathalie Djurberg from Sweden. I really didn’t like her work at all! With so many great artists at the Arsenale they picked this artist that had a very bad surreal installation piece in the Palazzo delle Espozioni in the Giardini. I can even say it was one of my least favorite pieces in the whole exhibition.

Golden Lion for best National Participation went to the United States of America with Bruce Nauman’s Topological Gardens. Commisioned by: Carlos Basualdo, Michael R. Taylor
Golden Lion for the Best Artist of the exhibition Fare Mondi // Making Worlds went to Tobias Rehberger from Germany at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini
Special Mention to Lygia Pape (Brazil, 1927 – 2004; Corderie in the Arsenale)
Special Mention to Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset - Curators of Denmark and Nordic Countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden)
Special Mention to Roberto Cuoghi - (Italy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini, giardino Scarpa)
Special Mention to the artist Ming Wong, exhibiting in the Singapore Pavilion

Venice June 2009 - Is it Sinking?

I was in Venice for the weekend of the 53rd Venice Bienniale.
Whilst there the island was visited by the famous sirocco - the hot strikes of wind that blow in from the North of Africa. It provoked the rise of sea levels and a rapid inundation of many parts of the city. As a reference Thomas Mann in Death in Venice described it well.
It was fun to see everyone playing around in the water and all the collectors of art trying to leave their 5 star hotels and having to take off their fancy shoes and step into the filthy sewer smelling water, that in some cases went up to their knees.
Also fun was the maze that the city became, many streets were transformed into dead end alleys and trying to escape them was an adventurous task!

Maybe, Venice is Sinking after all!? I prefer to think otherwise...


(image from www.bikehike.com)

one of those days...

...where one can only breathe and hope that it all happens to make us stronger and greater human beings.

NY childhood Memories Part 1: Sesame Street - Grover and John John Count

Ibsen's Peer Gynt

Last week I also saw Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen at the Barbican. Co-produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep Ensemble.
It's been a while since I've seen such a powerful play. It was like sinking into a mad men's head for two hours... trolls, dancing, music, philosophy, life, great acting and so much more...
Too bad it's not on there anymore, but anyway, here are the links for more on the play:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/theatre/event-detail.asp?ID=8220
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_Gynt

CHE

I saw it last week, all in one go - so 4 hours 30 minutes! I wouldn't recommend to see it in any other way! I wanted to leave after the first part and see the rest another day and Goncalo made me stay - don't regret it at all.
Really good! Beautiful photography! Benicio del Toro at his best (although he is kind of tall to be Che).

Tough choice!

Since I was little my mother - who is a very wise person and always has very philosophical discourses :) - used to ask us:

What is best?

1 - To eat when you are hungry?
2 - To drink water when you are thristy?
3 - To sleep when you are sleepy?
4 - To take off your shoes when they are hurting?
5 - To pee when you really need to pee?
6 - To take a shower when you are feeling tired and dirty?

It's a tough one - I know!

A crise segundo "Einstein"

"Não pretendemos que as coisas mudem, se sempre fazemos o mesmo. A crise é a melhor benção que pode ocorrer com as pessoas e países, porque a crise traz progressos. A criatividade nasce da angústia, como o dia nasce da noite escura. É na crise que nascem as invenções, os descobrimentos e as grandes estratégias. Quem supera a crise, supera a si mesmo sem ficar "superado".

Quem atribui à crise seus fracassos e penúrias, violenta seu próprio talento e respeita mais aos problemas do que às soluções. A verdadeira crise, é a crise da incompetência. O inconveniente das pessoas e dos países é a esperança de encontrar as saídas e soluções fáceis. Sem crise não há desafios, sem desafios, a vida é uma rotina, uma lenta agonia. Sem crise não há mérito. É na crise que se aflora o melhor de cada um. Falar de crise é promovê-la, e calar-se sobre ela é exaltar o conformismo. Em vez disso, trabalhemos duro. Acabemos de uma vez com a única crise ameaçadora, que é a tragédia de não querer lutar para superá-la."

Albert Einstein

A Call for Hats!

Why oh Why have Hats stopped being an essential item in one's wardrobe?
They used to be indicators of social status... maybe that's why it has disappeared?!
I call for a return of hats! They can be so beautiful, they are useful, they make a person look good... etc etc etc..

Also, the imagination while creating hats is endless... go check out the exhibition at the V&A "Hats - An Anthology by Stephen Jones" - it's on until the 31st of May... it's beautiful and inspiring! I want to be Stephen Jones!
Oh and don't make the mistake... it's not hat-making it's millinery which is the production of unique, elegant experimental hats!

I have lots of favourites! But the Brillo Box one is really cool!
http://www.showstudio.com/project/hatsoff
http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/hats-anthology/
http://www.stephenjonesmillinery.com/

HAPPY HIPPO!

L. is back to Ballet after 14 years... this is how she feels - A HAPPY HIPPO!!! :)

Lemon Tree - by Eran Riklis

The Lemon Tree won the award for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Synopsis from the official website:
Salma, a Palestinian widow, has to stand up against her new neighbor, the Israeli Defense Minister, when he moves into hisnew house opposite her lemon grove, on the green line border between Israel and the West Bank. The Israeli security forces are quick to declare that Salma‘s trees pose a threat to the Minister’s safety and issue orders to uproot them. Together with Ziad Daud, her young Palestinian lawyer, Salma goes all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court to try and save her trees.
Her struggle raises the interest of Mira Navon, the Defense minister’s wife, who is trapped in her new home and in an unhappy life. Despite their differences and the borders between them the two women develop an invisible bond, while forbidden ties grow stronger between Salma and Ziad. Salma’s legal and personal journey lead her deep into the complex, dark and sometimes funny chaos of the ongoing struggle in the Middle East, in which all players find themselves alone in their struggle to survive.

My rating: **** - Very good film, beautiful photography, the political side gives way to the simple ideas of the human relationships. I definitely recommend it. Although I thought the romantic story created within it between Salma and the laywer was not necessary.

Dina: Amor de Agua Fresca (Love of Fresh Water)

This music is a classic of portuguese 90's culture. It was sung by Dina in 1992 for the portuguese representation in the Eurofestival. I think everyone that was around still knows the lyrics by heart! I had arrived in Lisbon 6 months before and I must say I learned my portuguese accent with Dina's help! hahaha!
The lyrics are just the most absurd ones, but in a way it just stuck!
Enjoy it!




LYRICS:
Translation to english is beneath each verse, so that everyone can grasp the intensity of the lyrics...

Quando eu vi olhos de ameixa e a boca de amora silvestre
Tanto mel, tanto sol, nessa tua madeixa, perfil sumarento e agreste
(When I saw the plum eyes and the blackberry mouth.
So much honey, so much sun, on your hairlock, juicy and rustic profile)

Foi a certeza que eras tu, o meu doce de uva
E nós sobre a mesa, o amor de morango e cajú
(It was the certainty that it was you, my grape jam
And us on the table, the strawberry and cashew love)

Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta, ris e dás-me a volta à cabeça
Vem cá tenho sede, quero o teu amor d'água fresca
Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta, ris e dás-me a volta à cabeça
Vem cá tenho sede, quero o teu amor d'água fresca, ohoh...
(Got it, Bit it and put you in the basket, you laugh and my head goes round
Come here, I'm thirsty I want your love of fresh water... ohohoh)

Tens na pele travo a laranja e no beijo três gomos de riso
Tanto mel, tanto sol, fruta, sumo, água fresca, provei e perdi o juízo
(On your skin you have orange smell and in the kiss three slices of laughter
So much honey, so much sun, fruit, juice, fresh water, I tasted and lost my mind)

Foi na manhã acesa em ti, abacate, abrunho
E a pêra francesa, romã, framboesa, kiwi
(It was on the lit morning within you, avocado, ???
And the french pear, pomegranate , raspberry, kiwi)

Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta, ris e dás-me a volta à cabeça
Vem cá tenho sede, quero o teu amor d'água fresca
Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta, ris e dás-me a volta à cabeça
Vem... vem... vem cá, tenho sede, quero o teu amor d'água fresca

Ah... foi na manhã acesa em ti, abacate, abrunho
E a pêra francesa, romã, framboesa, kiwi

Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta, ris e dás-me a volta à cabeça
Vem cá, tenho sede, quero o teu amor d'água fresca
Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta, ris e dás-me a volta à cabeça
Vem cá, tenho sede, quero o teu amor d'água fresca

Peguei, trinquei e meti-te na cesta

My TAP plane from Lisbon to London arrived ahead of time today... so we had to fly around up there for aprox. 15 min.
I knew there were quite a lot of airplanes arriving in Heathrow at a time... but it's really amazing to see it from up there! There were so many of us just flying around, it resembled a flock of birds waiting to get fed! The sun was coming down and the sight of this all was just surreal! We do live in an era where everyone is flying around - just like the Jetsons family!


Anyway... when we finally landed, the plane turned right and as I looked through my window I could see all the other planes coming down in such an organized manner... one after the other, one could see only the lights, that went from the runaway up to the sky! Beautiful! I wish I could have photographed it!