Pensão Artística Exhibition Explores Changes in Rio’s Port Zone

By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Opened on June 11th, the Pensão Artística (Artistic Pension) exhibition explores the ongoing renovation of Rio de Janeiro’s Zona Portuária (Port Zone) through the eyes of four artists. Part of the city’s Circuito Cultural Rio (Rio Cultural Circuit), the city’s cultural programming for the lead-up to and duration of the Olympic and Paralympic games, the exhibition will remain on display through July 9th in the Galeria Pretos Novos de Arte Contemporânea in Port Zone neighborhood of Gamboa.

The exhibition features works by artists Dani Soter, Daniela Dacorso, Fabio Carvalho and Heberth Sobral. The four artists created their pieces during a five-day stay in a Port Zone hotel.

The short-term residence afforded each artist a first-hand experience with the area, those who work in and commute through the region and the people who call the Port Zone home.

“We had the opportunity to experience the urban changes in the region, focusing our view on the effects on the local population and the thousands of individuals who pass through it every day,” curator Marco Antonio Teobaldo told Agência Brasil.

Artist Dani Soter provided the inspiration for the exhibition. “She participated in a similar project in Lisbon, called Pensão Ibérica,” said Teobaldo. “We decided to bring the idea to Rio, adapting it to the Carioca reality.”

Works in the exhibition include visual artist Heberth Sobral’s three-dimensional pieces which use Playmobil toys to depict his view of the transformation of the area and artist Fábio Carvalho work “Ocupação Olympia,” which features papers with drawings of Olympics athletes referring to the Portuguese titles that remain on some buildings in the Gamboa district following the Portuguese occupation of the area.

“Our idea was to make contemporary art a bridge between the past and present of the region,” said Teobaldo.

The exhibition is housed in the Instituto de Pesquisa e Memorial Pretos Novos, the archaeological site of the Cemitério dos Pretos Novos (Cemetery of New Blacks), a historic part of the city where over 50,000 Africans, who died as part of the slave trade, were buried.

The exhibition will remain open through July 9th and admission is free.

What: Pensão Artística Exhibition
When: June 11th through July 9th, Tuesdays through Fridays from 1PM to 7PM and Saturday 10AM to 1PM.
Where: Galeria Pretos Novos de Arte Contemporânea, Rua Pedro Ernesto, 32/34 – Gamboa
Entrance: FREE