After two years of the pandemic, the carnival is back in the streets, the Sambadrome, and the clubs of São Paulo.
The city hall expects to attract 15 million revelers to more than 500 groups.
However, the capital offers a full cultural agenda for those who prefer to stay away from the revelry.
Museums and other São Paulo cultural institutions will remain open, offering diverse activities such as workshops, storytelling, and exhibitions.
The Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS) at Avenida Paulista opened as usual on Saturday (18) and Sunday (19), from 10 am to 8 pm, closing on Monday (20) and Tuesday (21) and reopening on Ash Wednesday (22), from 12 pm.
The program includes the exhibition Moderna pelo Avesso: fotografia e cidade, Brasil, 1890-1930, which presents photos and films produced in Brazil during the First Republic. The visit is free of charge.
Itaú Cultural, also on Paulista Avenue, opens from the 18th to the 22nd, from 11 am to 7 pm, with the exhibition A Century of Now.
The plays A Divina Farsa, by the group La Mìnima, and Jogo de Imaginar, by Cia Barracão Cultural, will also be presented.
The streaming platform Itaú Cultural Play will show films related to the carnival and award-winning films in the documentary festival It’s All True.
The Museu da Língua Portuguesa (Portuguese Language Museum) will also be open, except Monday, when it is usually closed.
It will be open from 9 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, and on Wednesday (22nd), from 12pm.
Besides the exhibition Nhe’? Porã: Memory and Transformation exhibition, the children can participate in the Sainha de Chita carnival on Saturday (18).
The Ipiranga Museum was open on the 18th and 19th, during normal hours, from 11 am to 5 pm.
On Monday and Tuesday, it will remain closed, reopening on Wednesday, starting at noon. Visitors can check the temporary exhibition Memories of Independence.
At the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB), downtown São Paulo, the recently opened exhibition Marc Chagall, Dream of Love, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, is open from 9 am to 8 pm.
On Tuesday, the museum is closed, reopening again on Wednesday, starting at noon. CCBB warns that the schedule may still change. Admission is free.
Parents took their children until Sunday (19) to enjoy the exhibition Cria-experiências de invenção, on display at Centro Cultural Fiesp, on Avenida Paulista.
The exhibition was open on Saturday and Sunday. Admission was free, and the center was open from 10 am to 8 pm.
The Museu da Imigração (Immigration Museum) is open on Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and only closed on Monday.
The museum promoted a book hunt and children’s reading activity on Sunday. On Tuesday, it will promote a workshop to make mini carnival banners.
The Soccer Museum is open Saturday, Sunday, and Ash Wednesday from 9 am to 5 pm. On Wednesday, it opens from noon.
The Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araújo, located in Ibirapuera Park, promotes the Mestre Didi – Deoscoredes Maximiliano dos Santos exhibition, which presents 42 sculptures of the Bahian and Afro-Brazilian artist, writer, and priest.
The museum is open Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday and closed Monday and Tuesday.
The Museum of Indigenous Cultures opens February 18-22, from 9 am to 6 pm, with the exhibitions Ocupação Decoloniza – SP Indigenous Land; Ygapó: Terra Firme and ‘Yvi Opata’ Colonial Invasion ‘A Terra Vai Acabar’.
Catavento is open on February 18, 19, and 21 from 9 am to 5 pm. On Wednesday (22), it opens at 1 pm.
On Monday (20th), the museum is closed.
Among the attractions, which attract children, are the butterfly garden, the virtual reality room Dinos do Brasil, and a climbing wall.
The Pinacoteca de São Paulo is closed only on Tuesday (21).
It is open from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. On Ash Wednesday, it opens at noon.
Besides the collection, the Pinacoteca is currently exhibiting works by the artist Lenora de Barros.
During Carnival, the São Paulo Library is open Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday.
The library has a special program: an experience in libras, storytelling in children’s literature, and a chess workshop.
The free streaming platform #CulturaEmCasa broadcast the Afro bloco Ilú Obá De Min on Sunday (19). On Monday (20), it will broadcast the show Unidos do Swing and the Time Machine.
The Fábricas de Cultura and the Oficinas Culturais, public institutions, also offer special programming.
Information about the operation can be accessed through the Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy site.
With information from UOL