At a time when the entire country of Brazil is engulfed by the World Cup, it’s hard to miss what is more than a national sport to the Brazilians—it’s a religion. The country is in party mode, and throughout its streets one sees the national colors yellow, green and blue. During this month of celebration, football is everywhere you look, including in São Paulo’s Vila Madalena district, which is holding the exhibition Mostra Futebol BR through July 13th.
Organized by the Doc Galeria, the event brings together some fifty Brazilian and international photographers with 20 simultaneous exhibitions, screening, photographic “field trips” and book launches. The public is invited to wander a dozen streets around the Vila Madalena to explore the theme, “Historical and Anthropological Football.” The exhibition covers the entire country, from the states of Amazonas, Bahia and Paraná to the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The subjects are diverse: a pick-up game on Ipanema beach in Rio, another between the natives of Xingu, a massage for football star Pelé, a flooded field, juggling footballs in the favelas… Each photographer offers a different look at the place occupied by football in the daily lives of Brazilians.
“This new project follows the same concept as that of La Mostra São Paulo, which we’ve been organizing for the past five years in the neighborhood,” says Fernando Costa Netto of the Doc Galeria. “We’re taking over the neighborhood with photojournalism, this time with Brazilian football as a central theme.” Once again, photography is on display in cafés, restaurants, shops and walls, as well as at the Doc Galeria and the Galeria Imã. “This format aims to reach the huge amount of tourists arriving in the Vila Madalena for the World Cup,” says Netto.
EXHIBITION
Mostra Futebol BR
Until July 13th, 2014
Vila Madalena
São Paulo
Brazil
