Holidays in SP: 7 exhibitions you can't miss in July!

The month of July has a packed cultural program to enjoy with friends and family – after all, this is the famous vacation month for many! Several exhibitions have already landed on the cultural calendar of the city of São Paulo , among them, the highlight being the charms of Japanese toys , at Japan House, and the unprecedented exhibition of the Yanomami artist Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe , at MASP. If you plan to spend your vacation in the city of São Paulo, below we have listed 7 exhibitions that you cannot miss this July in the capital of São Paulo !

1. Pop Imaginaries, by Cybèle Varela - MAC USP

One of the great avant-garde artists of the 1960s, Cybèle Varela has a new exhibition at MAC-USP until October 1st. Entitled " Pop Imaginaries ", the exhibition brings together a selection of the most emblematic paintings and objects by the Brazilian artist, who is currently the only living woman from the Narrative Figuration movement. In this new exhibition, works from the museum's own collection and from public and private collections highlight the sociopolitical role that the artist played at that time, as well as her transnational experiences in the creation of her initial production, that is, a pioneering work on feminist issues that contributed to Brazilian and international artistic discourses from Pop Art and New Figuration to Narrative Figuration.

2. Immense Time - Park Culture House

The Galeria do Parque presents, this July, the exhibition Tempo Imenso , which features the participation of Felipe Cohen (São Paulo, 1976), Laura Vinci (São Paulo, 1962), Lucas Arruda (São Paulo, 1983) and Paulo Pasta (Ariranha, 1959), with a critical text written by Taisa Palhares , who, together, elaborate a commentary around the themes of time and the permanence of the gaze , inviting visitors to an attentive and detailed appreciation. The artists, who followed their paths in different periods, establish a dialogue between their works that provides us with the opportunity to reexamine the history of contemporary Brazilian art in relation to current cultural production , allowing a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of its characteristics and meanings.

3. Elementary: Doing Together - MAM

The exhibition " Elementar: Fazer Junto " presents works, artistic and educational experiences that are part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo . In a dialogical look at the history of the museum, the exhibition, which runs until August 13 , invites the public to think about the barriers that need to be broken in order to achieve things together, whether they are social, cultural, political or geographical, among others, in an exercise to reflect on issues such as otherness and freedom .

4. On Birds, Synapses and Energy Herbs - Tomie Ohtake

"Sobre Pássaros, Sinapses e Ervas Energéticas" is a new exhibition at Tomie Ohtake that brings together two decades of artistic production by Walmor Corrêa , focused on the study of nature and its intersections with art. In his repertoire, fables and science evoke the national imagination associated with plants, animals and hybrid species that travel between reality and dreams, such as figures of birds with rodent heads and plants with curious functions and names. One of Corrêa's best-known works, the representation of Ipupiara , the man with the lower part of a manatee, was created when Walmor was researching in the Amazon in the 2000s. To bring the popular myth to life, the artist, with the collaboration of a doctor, studied biology and created an entire body adapted for the waters . The same representational scheme was used for the figure of the Mermaid – a fantastic version that recalls the anatomical studies of the Italian inventor Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) , another of his references.

5. Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe: all this is us - MASP

Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe (Sheroana, Venezuela, 1971) is a Yanomami artist who has been producing drawings, monotypes and paintings since the 1990s. His delicate, abstract and minimal artistic language uses straight lines and organic curves, dots, circles, triangles, zigzags, arches and crosses. Thus, the Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe exhibition is part of MASP's year of programming dedicated to indigenous stories . With 48 works , this exhibition is subtitled Ihi hei komi thepe kamie yamaki [All this is us], suggested by Hakihiiwe to incorporate the diversity of elements that make up his community and its surroundings. “All this is us,” for the artist, means “everything that is there in the jungle. We all live there, and it’s not just us. There are big rivers, big lakes, animals, all the insects. I’m rescuing everything that is there where I live.”

6. Dōshin: the charms of Japanese toys - Japan House

Japan House São Paulo presents the exhibition “Dōshin: the charms of Japanese toys” that explores the culture and characteristics of Japan through toys. Occupying the second floor of the institution, the exhibition features a selection of 126 items , including some that emerged half a century ago and that remain popular; toys developed from a perspective that emphasizes safety and practicality; games and characters originating in Japan that conquered the world , among others, in addition to a timeline that tells the story of toys from the post-war period in Japan.

7. “Solastalgia” - MAC USP

The concept of solastalgia – mental and/or existential stress caused by abrupt environmental changes, not only due to natural consequences, but also due to harmful extractivism models – guides and titles the unprecedented exhibition that the filmmaker, visual artist and researcher in new media, Lucas Bambozzi , is showing until October 1st at MAC - Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo . The exhibition, curated by Fernanda Pitta , features four video installations that serve as a kind of invitation for the public to reflect on the social and environmental impact of mining activities in Brazil.