Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
colourful street art and gra
ti murals, one of which features a laughing Batman in
flip-flops swinging from the telegraph wires.
The Parque do Ibirapuera and around
Av Pedro Álvares Cabra • Daily 5am-midnight • Free • A 10min walk from the bus stops on Av Brigadeiro Luís Antônio
he
Parque do Ibirapuera
, southeast of Jardins, is the most famous of São Paulo's parks
and the main sports centre for the city. O
cially opened in 1954, the park was created
to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city of São Paulo. Oscar
Niemeyer designed most of the buildings and Roberto Burle Marx produced impressive
designs for landscaping. Inside the park, attractions include the peaceful and unusual
Bosque de Leitura
(reading woods) - where on Sundays (10am-4pm) you can borrow
Portuguese books from a small outdoor library and sit among the trees reading them -
and several of the city's museums.
At the park's main north entrance, in Praça Armando Salles de Oliveira, look out for
the
Monumento às Bandeiras
, by Victor Brecheret. One of the city's most popular
postcard sights, the 1953 sculpture shows a
bandeirante
expedition setting off, led by
a Portuguese and a native on horseback.
Museu de Arte Contemporânea
Pavilhão da Bienal, Parque do Ibirapuera
Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • Free •
Av Pedro Álvares Cabral 1301
Tues 10am-9pm,
Wed-Sun 10am-6pm • Free •
Rua da Reitoria 160, Universidade de São Paulo
Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • Free •
T
11 5573 9932,
W
www.macvirtual.usp.br
he
Museu de Arte Contemporânea
located in the Pavilhão da Bienal in the Parque
do Ibirapuera - and also at a site just outside the park on Avenida Pedro Álvares
Cabral, and another one in the Universidade de São Paulo complex - regularly alters
its displays, drawing upon its huge stored collection. The collection includes work by
important European artists like Picasso, Modigliani, Léger and Chagall, and Brazilians
such as Tarsilla do Amaral, Di Cavalcanti and Portinari.
8
Museu de Arte Moderna
Parque do Ibirapuera (near gate #3) • Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • R$6; free Sun •
T
11 55085 1300,
W
mam.org.br
Next door to the Parque do Ibirapuera's Pavilhão da Bienal, the
Museu de Arte
Moderna
, or MAM, is a relatively small art gallery that mainly hosts temporary exhibits
of the work of Brazilian artists. There's an excellent café serving light meals and snacks,
and a good bookshop.
Museu Afro-Brasil
Parque do Ibirapuera (near gate #10) • Tues-Sun 10am-5pm • Free •
T
11 3320 8900,
W
museuafrobrasil.com.br
he
Museu Afro-Brasil
, in the northern part of the park near the lake, exhibits photos,
artworks and artefacts illustrating the history of Brazil's Black community, whose
experience has been a neglected subject in this part of the country. The museum's
exhibits, displayed in a large, airy space, mostly come from the private collection of its
Bahian curator. Pride of place goes to an installation recalling the way people were
kidnapped in Africa and brought over to Brazil in horrific conditions.
Museu Lasar Segall
Rua Berta 111 • Daily except Tues 11am-7pm • Free •
T
11 2159 0400,
W
museusegall.org.br •
M
Vila Mariana
he
bairro
due east of the Parque do Ibirapuera, Vila Mariana, contains the wonderful
Museu Lasar Segall
. As most of Lasar Segall's work is contained in this museum (which
served as his home and studio from 1932 until his death in 1957), the Latvian-born,
naturalized-Brazilian painter is relatively little known outside Brazil. Originally a part
of the German Expressionist movement at the beginning of the twentieth century,
Segall settled in Brazil in 1923 and became increasingly influenced by the exuberant
