Mass Protests in Brazil: “It’s Not about Saying No”
Protests in Brazil: “Streets full of hundreds of thousands of people” (Photo: CC BY-SA Midia NINJA)
28 June 2013
Artist Mia Gideon has been travelling in Brazil for three weeks with the KulturTour. She is gathering, making puzzles and demonstrating.
Ms Gideon, how are you experiencing the country’s current situation?
Gideon: I was in three cities so far with the KulturTour: Florianopolis, Tres de Maio and Blumenau. Last Thursday there was a demonstration here in Blumenau and 15,000 to 20,000 people were on the streets. That is an incredible number of people for such a sleepy and – for Brazil – relatively small town. Blumenau has about 300,000 inhabitants. I was aware that it could be dangerous, but went anyway. In the end, the protests here were entirely peaceful.
And how about in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the other big cities?
Most of what I learned about the protests there, I learned from the media. But after the end of the first stage of the KulturTour I have an exhibition in São Paulo. Now, I have some trepidation about it. I thought about cancelling the exhibition, but I am so fascinated. I don’t know exactly why I am so fascinated. I think I will only understand it when I am close to it.
Mia Gideon: “For me, it’s always about both the details and the big picture.” (Photo: Holger Beier)
How many young people are out there on the streets speaking their minds. And the ineffectiveness of the police, who were completely overwhelmed by the situation. It is bad to see attempts made to strike down the peaceful protests. The images of the crowds – these streets full of hundreds of thousands of people. The people’s energy is incredible. This is not about saying no, but about saying yes; these protests are suddenly so positive.
What do the people you have been dealing with the past few days say about the protests?
The Brazilians say that it is an unusual situation. The price hikes in public transport were just the droplet that made the barrel overflow. But, I also speak a lot with my friends in Europe. It’s a big topic there, too.
Have you been able to input your impressions in your work?
Yes. I am not planning, however, but reacting. I take what’s there. I walk through the city, gather what I find and begin building. These many small moments in a day, what is happening around me, influence me in that. I made boards for the demonstration that look like explosions with a hole in the centre that we held in front of our eyes. From far away it looks like your head is exploding and from close up you see the eye, which draws the viewer into the picture. I also used these boards in the installation Ein Portal für den Augenblick (A Portal for the Moment). I use the word Augenblick (“moment,” “instant,” literally “wink of an eye”) quite consciously – as the moment, but also in the sense of perception. For me it’s always about two perceptions: both the outward view and the inward view; both the individual and the collective, both the details and the big picture. This installation is therefore also a puzzle made up of many little details: a head that in the end is smashed up. There’s a reason why puzzle in Portuguese is called quebra-cabeça (“head breaker”).
Installation: A Portal for the Moment (Photo: Ben Neumann)
Sabine Willig held the interview.
Usually Mia Gideon, as she says, works “more traditionally, in the studio; I need solitude.” She has been travelling through southern Brazil for the past three weeks with the KulturTour. Every week the Goethe-Institut’s cultural institute on wheels visits a different city. This experience is new for her, “very strenuous, but also very exciting.”
