The experience of the journey | Movement and choice

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE JOURNEY | MOVEMENT AND CHOICE

To follow a path is to move through landscapes of the world and of ourselves. More than connecting one place to another, the road involves detours, pauses, and changes of direction. In this section, movement emerges as a metaphor for decisive choices: to leave, to stay, to desire, to break away, and to begin again. Every journey carries the possibility of inventing new ways of being.

From 1968 onward, amid movements for freedom, democracy, and new behaviors, autonomy and emancipation acquired renewed symbolic force. In this context, the automobile came to represent, especially for young people, independence and mobility. Taking the wheel became an act of self-affirmation, a way of choosing one’s own route, occupying public space, and imagining futures less constrained by social norms.

In Alfredo Volpi’s Bandeirinhas (Little Flags), the city is organized around a shared sense of time, as though the journey had become memory. Marcos Siqueira blends city, trail, and cosmic landscape, taking the journey beyond geography.

The road also emerges as a subjective and political experience. Crossings evoke struggles for rights and identity, especially those of women. In Mulher Mutante (Mutant Woman), Regina Vater rearranges parts of the female body within a toolbox, suggesting the possibility of reinvention. Cybèle Varela portrays an anonymous crowd transforming itself as it crosses the street. In the advertisement for the Fiat 147, Sônia Braga takes the wheel of her own choices in a society still not fully open to women’s leading role.

Here, moving forward means more than simply moving. It means choosing a direction and embracing the possibility of changing one’s own destiny.

ARTWORKS

Série Sinalização: Apelo, Identidade, Proibido, Esquerda Direita, Os anônimos procuram e Comuniquem-se por favor
(Signage Series: Appeal, Identity, Prohibited, Left Right, The Anonymous Seek, Please Communicate)
Romanita Disconzi, 1969
Screenprint on paper
Lili and João Avelar Collection

A grande noite sobre Minas (The Great Night Over Minas)
Yara Tupynambá, 1993
Oil on canvas mounted on metal sheet
Santander Brasil Collection

Sem título (Untitled)
Alfredo Volpi, 1980s
Tempera on canvas
Marcos Ribeiro Simon Collection

Pedestres (Pedestrians)
Cybèle Varela, 1967/2022
Synthetic enamel on wood
Fernanda Feitosa and Heitor Martins Collection

Sem título (Untitled)
Vânia Mignone, 2021
Acrylic on MDF
Felipe and Caio Martins Collection

Sem título (Untitled)
Marcos Siqueira, 2022
Pigment on wood
Private Collection

Sem título (Untitled)
Marcos Siqueira, 2024
Pigment on wood
Instituto Paz Collection

Sem título (Untitled)
Marcos Siqueira, 2025
Pigment on wood
Samuel Lacerda Collection

Mulher Mutante (Mutant Woman)
Regina Vater, 1968
Enamel on particleboard, metal tracks, and metal and plastic casters
Lili and João Avelar Collection

Paisagem Imaginária (Imaginary Landscape)
Guignard, 1947
Oil on wood
Governo do Estado de Minas Gerais/Museu da Inconfidência

Sem título (Untitled)
Rubem Dario, c. 1972
Wool embroidered tapestry
Courtesy of Galeria Passado Composto Século XX

PHOTOS

Sônia Braga e o Fiat 147 em advertorial da revista Mais
(Sônia Braga and the Fiat 147 in an advertorial for Mais Magazine)
Published by Editora Três
1977
Photographic reproduction
Antonio Guerreiro

Ensaio fotográfico para a revista Status Motor
(Photo Shoot for Status Motor Magazine)
Published by Editora Três
1977
Photographic reproduction
MIAU Collection

THE DAYS OF THE ORELHÃO — BRAZILIAN PAY PHONE | INSTALLATION

Three stories to hear the old-fashioned way. In a time before cell phones, travel had its rituals. You had to buy phone tokens and find a public telephone — the iconic orelhão — to call home, let people know you had arrived safely, and share good stories.

Each orelhão in this installation brings a voice sharing travel memories and moments experienced inside a car. Pick up the receiver and listen to the stories of Vanusa Matos, Maria Cristina de Toledo, and Luciano Lisboa.