The Social Service of Commerce of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Sesc RJ) reopens tomorrow (28), at 5 pm, the Espaço Cultural Arte Sesc, located at Mansão Figner, in Flamengo, south of the state capital.
The property was acquired by the Federation of Commerce of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Fecomércio RJ) in 2002, starting artistic activities in 2003. Lately, it was closed for seven years and, after structural reform and restoration of its original architecture, carried out in the Last year, the mansion returned this Friday to open its cultural center to the public. The restoration work on the property will continue throughout this year.
Built in 1912, the mansion is listed by the Instituto Rio Patrimônio da Humanidade (IRPH) and was the home of Czech businessman Frederico Figner (1866-1947). Founder of Casa Edison, which sold sound and light equipment such as phonographs, gramophones and kinetoscopes, Figner was the creator of the first music label in Brazil, Odeon.
In addition to the exhibitions, the place will have educational activities aimed at adults and children and will be open from Monday to Saturday, from 12 pm to 7 pm, with free admission. For the president of Fecomércio RJ, Antonio Florencio de Queiroz Junior, “the reopening of the Arte Sesc unit means providing the public with access to a historical heritage of the city and also another option of leisure and culture for people who circulate daily in the region” .
inaugural show
The inaugural exhibition of the new Espaço Cultural Arte Sesc is entitled News from Brazil: Carybé, Cícero Dias and Glauco Rodrigues and also features a 30-meter mural by the Rio de Janeiro artist Miguel Afa, in which he portrays the daily life of his son’s upbringing by a black father.
Curated by Marcelo Campos and Pollyana Quintella, the exhibition is made up of 48 prints signed by the artists, belonging to the Sesc RJ collection, which reveals a Brazil with a strong popular tradition, at parties, in interethnic relations, in board vendors, in and balconies of colonial townhouses, indicated Marcelo Campos. It will be open to visitors until April 30.
Sesc RJ’s Culture manager, Cristina de Pádula, told Brazil Agency that the project “is to make the Sesc RJ collection public, which has around 500 works. The idea is that curatorships are created to gradually show, making this Sesc collection available and visible to the population”. The works will be catalogued, sanitized and placed in appropriate rooms at Flamengo’s headquarters, in order to allow the continuity of research around the collection, to compose exhibitions that will always be available to the public for about three months.
Other activities
Cristina de Pádula informed that, as of March, the space will have varied programs, with theater, shows musicals, storytelling, cinema. “The idea is more and more for this cultural center to have a very broad and diversified cultural program”. An educational program linked to the exhibitions is also being implemented, with mediated visits and visits by school groups.
To celebrate the opening of the space tomorrow (28), Sesc welcomes, at 6 pm, the Trio Julio, a choro group formed by Magno Julio (tambourine), Maycon Julio (mandolin) and Marlon Julio (7-string guitar), which presents a repertoire with classics of Brazilian music.
The program is free, but public access is conditioned to the presentation of the vaccination passport and the capacity of the place, limited due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus. This Friday, exceptionally, Arte Sesc will close at 9 pm. Normal opening hours will be from 12:00 to 19:00, Monday to Saturday. The cultural center is located at Rua Marquês de Abrantes, 99.
