Brasília, Brasil
Brasília, the federal capital of Brazil, is a combination of design efforts from Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa. The "utopian" architectural city is full of curves and unique forms bound together by different type of visual expressions. The photo series, Brasília, by Brazilian photographer Bruno Candiotto, captures the sublime nature of the city’s architecture, portraying the capital as a place that inspires in a different way.
"In Brasília I found a silence within me." - Bruno Candiotto
Perhaps, Brasília was the most utopian city I've ever visited. The federal capital of Brazil has sparked something absolutely unusual in me; I felt "connected", optimistic, and patriotic. It filled me with hope and desire "to live this country" and for the country – exactly as it was 'designed' to do right from the beginning.
Obviously, the reality of the city nowadays is far from the main plan and its utopian objectives but what surprised me was the way it has "connected" me to the Brazilian history and its different kind of artistic manifestations.
Brasília is known for its unique urban planning by Lúcio Costa and modernist architecture that comes along with it by Oscar Niemeyer. It is also known by landscape plans by Roberto Burle Marx and artworks by Athos Bulcão, but i found much more. African-Brazilian and indigenous influences and "anonymous" artistic expressions from all over the country. In Brasilia, the Brazilian Art seems to meet and overcome barriers, after all it was built by people from different regions of the country and most of them are still living there.
As the Brazilian poet and friend Joaquim Bezerra da Nóbrega (The Lampião of Ceilândia) said, whom I had pleasure of meeting there: "I was born in Paraíba State and I came to build Brasilia, but one day i got tired of working in the construction zone and i fell in love with words". Joaquim is one of the countless examples of artists that are living in the Federal Capital since the beginning of the city. He now writes "cordéis", a typical Brazilian kind of a poem.
The Brazilian diversity led me to reflect on the result of the Brazilian plurality as well as the elements that unite it. In my opinion, due to the amazing experience i had, Brasilia seemed a city "without identity", but it also seemed a city that connects different Brazilians artistic identities like no other. Consequently in Brasília i found a "silence" within me; a blank like those that are so important in the life of creatives and artists.
