Opening of the virtual exhibition O Maranhão by Pierre Verger

The Vale Maranhão Cultural Center made available in digital version O Maranhão by Pierre Verger . The exhibition brings together 80 photographs taken by Pierre Verger, renowned photographer and researcher of cultural and religious relations between Brazil and Africa, who was in São Luís in 1948. The exhibition is curated by historian Paula Porta, who researched the 516 photographs produced by Verger in the Maranhão, belonging to the Pierre Verger Foundation, headquartered in Salvador and responsible for guarding its entire collection of more than 62,000 negatives, as well as documents and a library. The Frenchman Pierre Verger arrived in Maranhão two years after having established his residency in Brazil, at a time when he had already established himself as a photographer, a contributor to several newspapers and magazines. Shortly thereafter, Verger began his career as a researcher in the field of history and anthropology, which developed to the point where he left photography in the 1970s. “In Maranhão, his interest as a researcher in black culture is already noticeable. His gaze goes beyond the beauty of the historic center of São Luís. He makes important records in the oldest religious houses of African origin in the city, dwells on the work of the dockworkers in the port, creates peculiar images of a small Festa do Divino in rural areas and from the Criollo Drum (yes, he registers the word in the masculine and captures the unusual punga among men). He also produced rare photographs of the Festejo de São Raimundo dos Mulundus, one of the largest religious festivals in Maranhão, in its place of origin and a photo report on shark fishing, which yielded beautiful images of the loading of ice bars,” says curator Paula Door. Few photographers registered Maranhão and its inhabitants, Verger was one of them. The proposed cut is practically unprecedented. Although only 20 images have been published or exhibited previously, few people know about them. Thus, the exhibition is an important device for strengthening the identity of Maranhão, as well as for recognizing its importance and contribution to Brazilian culture, says director Gabriel Gutierrez. The curator highlights that most of what Verger saw in 1948 is still present and alive in São Luís and asks visitors the question: “What remains, why and how does it remain? The exhibition provokes this reflection and highlights the strength of black culture in our country, a legacy of African cultures that we still don't know as much as we should, but that Pierre Verger helped us to see, better understand and value, at a time when it was very little recognized”, says Paula Porta. Virtual visitation Adopting sanitary measures to prevent the coronavirus, the Vale Maranhão Cultural Center has carried out its programming in a virtual way. The exhibition O Maranhão by Pierre Verger was mounted on the premises of the CCVM, with an exhibition by the architects Claudia Afonso and Gabriel Gutierrez, lighting by Calu Zabel and visual communication by Fábio Prata and Flavia Nalon. It can be experienced in person when sanitary conditions are safely restored for everyone. So that the public can already enjoy contact with the images, the digital version of the exhibition has been available on the institution's website ( www.ccv-ma.org.br ) since March 16th. In addition to the exhibition, workshops, film screenings, conversation circles and courses make up the free program available to the public.