Day 3: Tomie Ohtake and SESC

Instituto Tomie Ohtake

We started the day with a visit to Instituto Tomie Ohtake. The group was welcomed by Ricardo Ohtake, general manager and son of the famous Brazilian/Japanese painter Tomie Ohtake. Instituto Tomie Ohtake is a small institution that, unlike other institutions, doesn’t receive support from the government, nor from the banks. The institution houses a permanent collection of works by Latin-American artists, including works by Botero. The exhibition ´Homenagem Ao Quadrado´ (´Homage to the Square´) by Josef Albers is now to be seen at the institution. Albers began the series Homage to the Square in 1952, on which he worked right up to his death, in 1976. The series is based on a mathematically determined format of several squares, which appear to be overlapping or nested within one another. Next year Instituto Tomie Ohtake will exhibit work of the famous Italian architect Renzo Piano.

Due to the lack of well educated teachers in Brazil, Instituto Tomie Ohtake has its own educational department where it gives courses on art to teachers from public schools. It also organizes art courses and workshops for children.
 

Cultural Center Sesc Pompéia  SESC

After receiving a lot of publications* from the staff of Instituto Tomie Ohtake we went to Cultural Center Sesc Pompéia, which is situated in a beautiful old factory. Here we received a warm welcome from a very good friend of the Prince Claus Fund, Solange Farkas. Solange Farkas is the director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil which promotes the creation of multi-media works, performances, seminars and video exhibitions at museums and galleries. Videobrasil was a network partner from the Prince Claus Fund. SESC is a very interesting institution with many cultural activities, including theatre, dance, music, visual art, cinema and video, digital culture, literature and popular festivals. But it also offers activities of social tourism, health programs and environmental education, special programs for children and senior citizens as well as sport facilities (swimming pools and fitness centers) and it has its own TV channel. In the state of Sao Paulo, SESC has a network of 31 branches.

2004 Prince Claus Laureate Ivaldo Bertazzo **(a fantastic choreographer from Sao Paulo who I´m going to meet tomorrow) received his Prince Claus Award in the theatre of SESC Pompéia.

*Since we receive an average of 5 books per institution I´m afraid that many of us will have to pay a lot of money for the extra kilos!!
** Ivaldo Bertazzo (1939, Brazil) is a choreographer and therapist. He is the initiator of a training scheme for dancers that stimulates young people to examine their identity and to integrate the body with the mind. He is the founder of the School for Re-Education of Movement. In 1976 he introduced the concept of the ‘city dancer’ so as to increase the participation of amateurs. His current work – which involves large groups of between 20 and 60 young people from the favelas – emphasises the influence of dance and movement, and draws on the varied cultural traditions of both Brazil and India. Bertazzo not only trains young people, he also educates them and provides them with social support.