Cultural Dessert

I arrived in Sao Paulo just in time to attend the opening of an exhibition on Hélio Oticica at Centro Cultural. Hélio Oticica’s installation ‘Tropicália’, recreated in this exhibition (complete with live parrots!), gave its name to the famous Brazilian art movement of the late 1960s. Entering the packed crowd of paulistas observing and engaging with the works of art was an exciting, intriguing and slightly intimidating experience. It was hard, at times, to distinguish between performers and audience, particularly as many of the pieces by, or about, Hélio Oticica were intended to be worn. Like much conceptual art it was easy to dismiss some pieces as pretentious or provocative, particularly without being able to read the (Portuguese) explanatory text, but it was an entertaining and intriguing afternoon.