Our last stop for the day was meant to be at the Parque de Pituaçu, a stretch of green along the northern beach coast that now holds the works of sculptor Mario Cravo. It was pouring rain and despite the efforts of two students who jumped the fence, we weren't getting in to talk to Mario.
But on the way out we saw this fence and it looks a whole lot like the fence Jay did at the Mohawk bar in Austin.
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Mohawk in Brasil?
lunch
Day 3 of the tour. We tried desparately to keep lunches to a quick stop, but we're in Brasil and these ladies love a few beers and family-style sit-down. Me, too!
We were at the Lago de Abaeté, which holds a lot of history. It is the color of saffron, surrounded by sand (though it is freshwater), and was used for more than a century to wash clothes, but it is also believed to be the locus of magical energy to which Salvadorians attribute the unusual number of drownings.
silhouetted
Emily's photographs at sunset inspired me to try this one out. We were at Rodoviara de Lapa, one of the major intra-city bus stations that has remarkable examples of Salvador's first ventures into concrete and tension bridges. They sketched, I took photos. (The next few photos in line show them waving - 15 estrangeiros with cameras don't ever go unnoticed!)
o por do sol
We were out on O Forte São Marcelo at the end of day 2 on the architectural tour - all the girls were sitting along the top wall, sketching the city (I sketched a bit as well - it's been such a long time and it felt really nice!) with this incredible sunset in the background.
5 minutes later a gray wall of rain closed in and we all took cover in different tiny rooms (used to be cannon bays) along the base of the fort.
As Catatumbas de Mercado Modelo
Below Mercado Modelo, a huge marketplace that used to mark the water's edge Salvador's port that now caters more or less to tourists, these catacombs housed the sick and injured Africans who were considered unsuitable for slavery. The building was constructed knowing that the tide would rise and fill to the roof of the catacombs.
(Very somber, but the history is incredibly important.)
Piso da Solar Unhão
The Museu de Arte Contemporaneo in Salvador is an old port building redone by architect Lina Bo Bardi. The bottom floor of the building is still crisscrossed by tracks used to move carts from the pier into storage rooms - now a restaurant called Solar Unhão, the floor transitions really gracefully from what you see in this photo to cobbled stones that Lina had installed.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Cidade Baixa e Alta - Contemporanea
Looking back on the city from one of the piers you are able to see a sort of social division through architecture. Below the paved road from the commercial district up to the apartment towers of Ondina, Vitória and Barra, there are densely-packed self-constructed houses right along the water.
As alunas na Elevador
Part of the architectural tour takes us from the tip of the old city, Pelourinho, down to Comércio, a relatively contemporary part of the city that was built over the port and coastline of Salvador. This connection (the Elevador) between Cidade Alta e Cidade Baixa - upper and lower city - is parts architectural (these guys are standing in the arm of the Elevador, built in 1910), and socio-political (the Elevador was built well after more than two generations of slaves carried the foundation of Salvador up the hills on their backs).
A Graffitti de Limpo
Graffitti in Salvador exposes a great deal about Brasilian politics and culture. Passionate and talented artists are given the opportunity to cover empty walls along the highways, covered construction walkways, old buildings and other moments with their work. It is respected and left untouched with a certainty that is sometimes surprising to me - it's not entirely uncommon to see artists play off of one another, creating a unique story-line authored by 5 or 6 people.
On the other hand, some are frustrated because it is art fostered under the control of the government and many worry that it ultimately stifles the creativity and growth that the ordinance claims to offer.
A Parede de Lina Bo Bardi
Lina Bo Bardi is one of Brasil's most beloved architects and activists. She was born in Italy, but made her home in Brasil and became forever entangled in the art and politics and soul that govern the country.
This is one of her buildings in Salvador, arguably not the best photo, but a good taste of her work - the texture, the alternate fluidity and material strength, the placement (it´s on a fairly untraversed hill that connects the lower city - Cidade Baixa - from the upper city - Cidade Alta).
Nossa Guia Espiritual
This is Lula, one of our architectural guides, but also friend, fellow architect, master musician, passionate artist, capoeirista, activist, and animated expressor of ideas.
He is one of 3 founding architects at O'Norte in Olinda, the historical center of Recife, but he now lives in Austin with his wife Lúcia, who is a filmmaker. Check out this website for shows of his band, Seu Jacinto!
Dakota is a man magnet
She will kill me if she sees this, but I love the photo. Dakota is wickedly smart, incredibly beautiful, and fluent in português...it's a perilous trap (unwittingly on her part, truly) for dream-seeking Brasilian men.
a casa de nova orleans
This house, from the outside, could be on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, and it has some of the same energy I imagine. It was built by a really wealthy Catholic family and has been, in turns, inhabited by slaves, squatters, and ghosts.
For now, it is empty, but is being renovated by a non-profit that works with homeless youth. A telling story of Brasilian politics...the director of the organization asked the government for the house and was denied, but when another, even less politically desirable group sought ownership, they were told that the house was already being given to the non-profit. (Sorry, my memory's a bit fuzzy on the story, but these are the basics.)
uma fantasma?
After the market we went on to one of the most important churches in Salvador, Igreja do Bonfim, and then to walk along the port in the suburb of Ribeira.
Lots of little conversations going on along the boardwalk...this photo only shows half of the conversation, but it is Lauren´s free and intensely happy face - so beautiful.
A Experiência Sensorial
This is day one of the architectural tour...we began in a feira (something similar in set-up to a farmer's market) - smelling, tasting, watching, bargaining, talking, planning meals - everything comes back to the essences of Bahia.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
boneca bonita
Our beautiful Emily allowed us to bury her deep in the sand and give her peacock feathers (though when we were done it was a bit more like a turkey...).
Ilha de Maré
Wes gave the students a few days off before starting the design process so a few of the girls (Niraya, Emily and Fatima), Taia (sort of my Brasilian counterpart) and I headed out to Ilha de Maré. Our pousada was perched on a hill at the far end of the beach, and after beers, an amazing dinner (the girls had lobster straight from the bay!), and some swimming we walked over our hill for ice cream...and found a few puppies and some pigs napping on the other beach. (The pig story is my favorite...I will try to write it later!)
A Galera!
These are the girls and some of our lecturers!
Bottom row (sitting L->R): Roopika, Lauren, Christine, Tessa
2nd row (sitting): Taia, Adriana, Wes, Paula, Cobre Mansa
3rd row (standing): Ritinha, Fatima, Niraya, Dona Marçia, Sue, Emily, Marcelo.
Adriana and Paula are
our beach umbrella
Wes thought this particular bar on the beach would be a great scavenger hunt destination because all the umbrellas and seats are made from wood and reeds (a welcome contrast to the ubiquitous - but comfortable! - plastic chairs).
refletir
After leaving the Centro Estudos and following two guys riding bikes with sandwich boards to a great new vegetarian restaurant, we headed up to the Praia das Artistas, a beautiful, slow beach on the Northeastern edge of the city. We got fresh juice, agua de coco (coconut water) and talked a little about ghosts and spirituality - it was a good day.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
the Scavenger Hunt!
One of the ways we oriented the students to the city was with a Scavenger Hunt - 3 groups, 5 different places (each group had to go to 3 of them - an Afro-Asian cultural center, a beach, statues, markets, churches), 1 day, city buses and a lot of good energy.
This is Christine (L) and Fatima (R) who were in my group - we went to the Centro dos Estudos Afro-Orientais, but the school (Universidade Federal da Bahia) was on strike and the guard only let us in to look at the classrooms...we managed to find the creaky old door that opened to the roof and climbed out for a bit before we got caught.
music and movement with a mestre
Capoeira is such an important part of Salvadorian culture - it transcends the game and music and fuses itself with the most basic elements of social interaction. I think of it as a metaphor created simultaneously, symbiotically with the things it seeks to describe - traffic and pedestrians, time...for these reasons the Studio brings students together for an introduction to the music and movement of capoeira.
This is Sue with Mestre Cobre Mansa (or Cobrinha)!
drumming on the North Coast
After visiting the site and talking with Jorge about Candomblé (an almagamation of several African and Indigenous Brasilian spiritual traditions) we dropped Meghan off to the airport and headed to a beach far, far up the north coast.
On the way, we picked up Wes (our culture instructor) and two of his friends - Pancho and the infamous Ivan*. This photo is of Ivan and Lauren drumming on the beach at sunset - the music inspired me to move and the setting took all the heaviness off my shoulders.
*Ivan is infamous because he helped found Olodum, a world-renowned drumming group from Pelhourinho (the old section of Salvador) - but also because he would, without any outward indication, let out a yell that would put a fog horn to shame. He also made incredible mouth music - like the magnified sound from a drop of water.
Yeah, posting! ...that is if you´re still reading :)
I´m in the midst of trying to put up a bunch of fotos - this sort of picks up where my last real post left off...all of the students at the project site in front of Jorge´s house and terreiro - it is amazing how different it looks from last year.
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