Museums and art institutions across Rio Grande do Sul have closed following the devastating floods across the southern Brazilian state.
At least 85 people have died and more than 130 people are missing after the Guiba river burst its banks. As the water level reached 5.3m, 150,000 people have been displaced from towns and cities, including state capital Porto Alegre.
Museu de Porto Alegre Joaquim Felizardo in the historic centre of the city has closed for the foreseeable future, as did Fundação Iberê Camargo, the private arts foundation located on the beachfront. The latter is giving away membership to the institution, as well as a catalogues and items from the shop, on proof of donation to SOS Rui Grande do Sul, the centralised fundraiser set up to help relief activities.
Vila Flores, an arts and community space in the Flores neighbourhood, which also provides studios to dozens of artists, was substantially hit, with videos showing the water to have reached waist-height in its courtyard.
Nathan Carvalho, a local photographer who has been documenting the floods and their aftermath, is selling prints via the patrons group of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea do Rio Grande do Sul, with all the money going to SOS Rui Grande do Sul. The museum was closed under orders of the Secretary of State of Culture (Sedac) ‘in order to preserve the safety of employees, collaborators and the visiting public, as well as safeguard its artistic property and its exhibition spaces’. Water is reported to have entered a basement but not affected exhibition space. Farol Santander, an arts institution operated by the financial group, was also affected by flooding, but no art is believed to have been damaged.
The Porto Alegre-based Mercosur Biennial, considered in the top tier of Brazil’s art events, is due to open in September. One of the major venues, the Museu do Trabalho, has been affected by water damage, estimated at 30cm and rising quickly. Writing on social media the Bienal curator, Raphael Fonseca, said: ‘Words fail to convey the tragedy striking not only the city of Porto Alegre, but the entire state of Rio Grande do Sul. Before I was working on the current edition of the Mercosul biennial, I was in Porto Alegre dozens of times and I am passionate about the city. Seeing her underwater and with so many homeless people is a nightmare that will take time for the people in the area to recover from.’ Fonseca went on to pay tribute to the work of his local team and called for donations to a range of local grassroots and social activist organisations who are working on the ground.
