Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Last day in Brasilia

December 31 - visit to the Kandinsky exhibit at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Bank of Brazil Cultural Center) in Brasilia, in the company of my best friend Alexandre Rocha and my mother. Photos without flash were allowed.

Alexandre Rocha and me



Photo by Alexandre Rocha










With my mother in the garden of the Cultural Center, with the space where you can see one of Kandinsky's paintings in a 3-D experience behind us. 




The installation (you go in with augmented reality glasses for a 3-D experience).


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The exhibition Kandinsky: tudo começa num ponto (Kandinsky: everything starts at a point), at CCBB, presents texts, sounds and images that promise a real plunge into the roots of the thought of Wassily Kandinsky, a pioneer of abstractionism. 

The exhibition will remain at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil - CCBB until January 12th, 2015 and brings together hundreds of works and objects from the artist, his contemporaneous and influences. From the bucolism of figurative works to the multi-colored geometrical figures - registered trademarks of Kandinsky and considered the first paintings totally abstract in art history. 

The exhibition is based on the collection of the State Museum of St. Petersburg and other work from Russian institutions, in addition to collections coming from Germany, Austria, England and France. As a result, a sequence of works that allows the public to a deep immersion in the artist’s creative universe and initial references. 

The exhibition is divided into five blocks, connecting the artist with the Russian popular culture and folklore; Kandinsky and the shamanism spiritual world of the North of  Russia; as well as the passage of the artist in Germany, snapping up a dialogue between music, painting and the paths opened by abstraction. 

According to the general director of the exhibition, Mr. Rodolfo Athayde, and the coordinator Ania Rodriguez, the show features “a Kandinsky poetic and lyrical, at the time of his creative peak, at the very moment of his discoveries." The result of it is a strong and challenging exhibition. 



Sunday, December 28, 2014

Where we are

Brasilia is fashioned after an airplane. This map shows the location of the building (which you can see on the right corner) where our apartment is. It's located at the very end of the "north wing" (Asa Norte).


Our building.


View from the apartment balcony (looking right).


View from the apartment balcony (looking left).




Typical Brazilian snacks at a local bar: codfish balls (Portuguese in origin, made of salt cod) and grilled "coalho" cheese (a firm byt lightweight cheese produced in Northeastern Brazil, with an almost "squeaky" texture when bitten into).


With friends at Marietta's, a traditional local eatery (not so great photo taken by the waiter).



Saturday, December 27, 2014

Monumental Axis (central avenue)



The Monumental Axis is the central avenue in Brasilia where the most important government buildings, monuments and memorials are located. 

The avenue begins on the 
National Congress building, and its first section is known as "Ministries Esplanade" ("Esplanada dos Ministérios"), as it is surrounded by ministries buildings. 






Photos with clouds -  Dec. 26  2014
With clear sky - Dec. 28 2014



Monumental Axis with the Congress and Cathedral monuments (by Oscar Niemeyer) visible in the distance 



The National Congress of Brazil (legislative body of Brazil's federal government). The inverted dome covers the House of Representatives, and the dome is where the Federal Senate is located.




Ministries Esplanade on Sunday Dec. 28 (view from the front of the National Congress, with the TV Tower (the third tallest structure of Brazil) visible in the distance.


Itamaraty Palace (headquarters of the Ministry of External Relations).














The Cathedral of Brasília



View of the central area of Brasilia opposite to the Ministries Esplanade, seen from the Cathedral.



Arts and crafts fair next to the TV tower




Friday, December 26, 2014

Visit to the Paranoá lake


Bridge that takes us from where my parents live (Asa Norte = North Wing) to where my in-laws live (Lago = Lake).





Residential area (Lago)


 Lago Paranoá (Paranoá Lake - Brasilia's artificial lake)









My mother and I at Pontão (area with nice restaurants by the lake).

Pontão