From the shadows to new horizons
One last stop awaited me in Rio.
I wanted to say goodbye to Lota and Elizabeth in a special and unforgettable way. So, almost without thinking about it, I had left one last chapter in the inkwell, and now it was time to write it.
Two characteristics of Lota impressed anyone: her intellectual elegance and her belief in social justice. She had become a role model, both for her tenacity and her need to take art everywhere. Her vocation had been to expand and spread art. She wanted to help local artists make a living from their passion and in turn, to network with other artists and foster creativity. Lota devoted her talent and critical capacity to try to immortalize and preserve the works of others, for all of us to come.
In 1941 he traveled with his friend Portinari to the United States in search of inspiration to develop a project that was looming in both of their minds: a museum of modern art. At that time, New York had seemed the natural destination in which to form the vision with which that institution would be built. There they met with all the members of the city's modern art museum and planned to transfer the MOMA idea to their beloved Rio de Janeiro.
Lota returned from her trip determined: she would not rest until she saw a modern art museum in Rio.
But the greatness of the idea was not enough to convince the Brazilian authorities. The years passed and it was not until 1948 that the doors of the MAM (Museum of Modern Art) were opened.
This 8-year journey was a stage in which avant-gardists and intellectuals had to fight to obtain their space in the city. The struggle lasted for a long time, but the result materialized.
As I cross the threshold of MAM, I think of the struggle that Lota and all the artists went through. Today, art in Rio has its home par excellence, and artists from all over the world can visit it to meet, be inspired and stimulate their creativity. In each piece I can see the strength with which those artists fought, convinced that art transcends money, building permits and the politics of the day.
There are heroes of whom little is heard. They are those who work in the shadows, who do not seek to illuminate themselves. They are not driven by fame, but by something else. Today I toast to them. To the warriors, the promoters of art, the defenders of letters. Because thanks to them the world is and will be a little better.
