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Atos de Revolta

The bicentennial of Brazilian Independence provides an opportunity to rethink this historical process. “Atos de Revolta” (Acts of Revolt) focuses on a series of uprisings, riots and insurrections that preceded that moment or that took place in the subsequent decades, during the First and Second Reigns and the regency period.

With the objective of approaching the diverse imaginaries of the country then outlined, the exhibition makes reference to the Guaranitic War (1753-56), the Inconfidência Mineira (1789), the Pernambuco Revolution (1817), the Independence of Bahia (1822), Cabanagem (1835-40), the Farroupilha Revolution (1835-45), the Vassouras Revolt (1839) and Balaiada (1838-41), among others.

Brazilian artists, from different generations and geographies, were invited to think about these narratives. By addressing the conflicts of the colonial system, the exhibition reveals the contradictions of Brazilian historiography, which produced the erasure of key characters, especially black, indigenous and female populations.

The visual identity of the exhibition brings symbols, coats of arms, historical scenes and official documents, in overlapping compositions, as multi-layers of narratives and temporalities, making references to fanzines, the aesthetics of protest posters and lambe-lambes of walls and facades. There is not a single signature for the exhibition title, it is given in different versions, also used in layers and randomly, from the typographic, the monogram, the stamp, etc. 

The publication adds another layer to the approach proposed by the curatorship. Gathered by a deep research in the country’s main archives (Biblioteca Nacional, Arquivo Nacional and Arquivo Histórico do Itamaraty), some two hundred historical files accompany unpublished literary texts by contemporary authors.

Interposed to the documents, the texts reconfigure the supposedly official Brazilian narrative, allowing us to see historical figures and moments often erased in the hegemonic national imaginary. Like the exhibition itself, the design of the publication makes reference to fanzines and the aesthetics of protest posters and street lambe-lambes, in compositions superimposed with historical scenes, coats of arms and flags.

Category: Visual Identity 
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Client: MAM Rio
Creative direciton: Erika Palomino
Organisation: Juliana Travassos
Graphic coordination: Amanda Lianza
Curators: Beatriz Lemos, Keyna Eleison, Pablo Lafuente and Thiago de Paula Souza
Year: 2022