When an exhibition is prevented from opening, what is left for the artist? In the case of São Paulo native Élcio Miazaki, the answer was to transform the interruption itself into material for creation. Estado de Edição , which arrives this Thursday (13) at the “Fausto Castilho” Rare Books Library (Bora), was born as an offshoot of the Habeas Corpus exhibition , suspended on the eve of its opening, in Ouro Preto (MG), and expanded to bring together stories of other artists who also faced censorship, violence, threats or attempts at silencing.
In March of this year, one day before the opening of Habeas Corpus at a gallery of the Ouro Preto Art Foundation (FAOP), Miazaki learned, through a message from a reporter, that the exhibition had been suspended by the Minas Gerais State Secretariat of Culture and Tourism (Secult). The justification given was that the age rating, set at 14 years, would be inappropriate for the content of the exhibition.
According to the artist, who works with photography and video performances and investigates the relationships between image, power, violence, and the legacies of the Brazilian military dictatorship, the suspension occurred without prior negotiation regarding the age rating or possible adaptations. "They just said it wasn't possible and that was it," he recounts. The exhibition was later transferred to the Occupied Human Rights Memorial, in the former Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS), in Belo Horizonte (MG).
This experience gave rise to the project Estado de Edição (State of Editing ), which brings together studies, documents, photographs, publications, records, and other materials related to the creative processes of Brazilian artists who have faced different forms of silencing in recent episodes.
A network of stories
The experience in Ouro Preto generated buzz on social media and brought Miazaki closer to other artists who have gone through similar situations. Among them is Wagner Schwartz, whose performance The BeastThe exhibition, presented at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM-SP) in 2017, triggered a wave of accusations and persecution after a segment of the performance was taken out of context and disseminated on social media.
In the performance, Schwartz presented a reinterpretation of Lygia Clark's "Bichos ," in which the audience was invited to interact with his naked body. A video showing a child touching the artist's body during the performance was used to accuse him of pedophilia. The episode provoked threats and led the artist to leave Brazil. Subsequently, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) concluded that there was no crime of child pornography in the performance.
Schwartz is featured in Estado de Edição with his book The Nakedness of the Imperfect Copy , in which he recounts his experience. For Miazaki, the episode remains emblematic because, almost ten years later, similar situations are happening again. "We really live in very difficult times, it seems like we're not moving forward," he says.
Among the most recent cases, she cites are the artists Andrea Eichenberger and Patrícia Paixão, who had solo exhibitions prevented from opening in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Salvador (BA), respectively. In Eichenberger's case, the same work that faced resistance in Brazil had been presented in France, where the photographer from Santa Catarina is based. "The exhibition also presents works by Tales Frey, some of them related to the same situation of impediment in an exhibition at an institution that occurred more than a decade ago," she points out.
For Miazaki, these episodes reveal that violence against artistic production can take different forms. The purpose of the "State of Editing" project is precisely to look at what happens to a work after it is questioned, interrupted, or prevented from being presented. "Despite everything, the censorship and the impediment, I think that, on the other hand, there was this acceptance. It brought other people closer who also went through the same situation," he states.
By bringing together different stories, Estado de Edição not only recovers episodes of censorship and violence against artists, but also seeks to show how these experiences continue to produce memory, reflection, and new forms of creation. “Art is indeed unsettling,” he summarizes. The exhibition is part of a broader exhibition project, entitled Corpo de Prova , conceived by Miazaki as an expanded exhibition. The project unfolds in different cities and independent spaces and will have a stage in Ribeirão Preto in October.
Unpublished work
The exhibition at Bora also features a novelty: a work that was not part of the staging of Habeas Corpus in Ouro Preto and which Miazaki decided to present for the first time in Campinas.
Arranged in three containers, the elements establish relationships with resistance strategies and symbols of repression during the military dictatorship. To confront the cavalry, protesters in São Paulo used marbles to obstruct the passage of troops; in other regions of the country, açaí seeds were used. Completing the work is a pair of cufflinks linked to the seahorse symbol, used by the former DOPS (Department of Political and Social Order) of São Paulo.
By juxtaposing seemingly mundane objects with memories of political violence, the work broadens the investigation into the vestiges of the dictatorship and their forms of persistence in the present.
According to Danielle Thiago Ferreira, technical coordinator of Bora, the exhibition, which is part of the University's 60th-anniversary program and can be visited at Unicamp Open Doors (UPA) on August 22nd, directly engages with the political and cultural history of Brazil and the institution itself. "We connect art as a form of resistance by highlighting episodes of censorship and the struggles for redemocratization, in line with the exhibition, which sheds light on the founding period of Unicamp, recalling episodes of resistance, struggles against dictatorial repression, and the active role of the university community in the country's redemocratization process," she emphasizes.
The exhibition is a partnership with the [SUB] Fair of Printed Art and Independent Publications. The collaboration with the event also allowed for the incorporation of publications produced by the participating artists. Among them is Wagner Schwartz's book, which will later be added to the Bora library. "Bringing the processes of an exhibition like this to the public opens space for dialogue, preserves memory, and reaffirms the role of art as a place for reflection," says Marcela Pacola, one of the organizers of the [SUB] Fair.
Service
Exhibition State of Edition, by Élcio Miazaki
Opening: August 13th, at 12 PM. Talk with the artist at 13 PM.
Visiting hours: until October 26th, Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 17 pm (except holidays)
Location: “Fausto Castilho” Rare Books Library (Bora) – Rua Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, 441, Cidade Universitária
Free entrance
Rating: 14 years
Cover photo:
