Folhear Exhibition | Museu Vale Extramuros

On the Environment Day, Museu Vale opens the Folhear exhibition, with giant sculptures using foliage

The exhibition will take place at the Parque Botânico Vale, in Vitória, and at the Reserva Natural Vale, in Linhares, two Atlantic Forest preservation spaces.

Art and the environment come together in the Museu Vale’s newest initiative, in its extramural activities. The Folhear exhibition opens on Environment Day, June 5, and will simultaneously occupy the Parque Botânico Vale, in Vitória, and the Reserva Natural Vale, in Linhares (north of the state).

Visitors will be able to admire giant sculptures created by the artist couple Felipe Barbosa and Rosana Ricalde, curated by Ronaldo Barbosa, using foliage from the Atlantic Forest conservation areas. One of the works’ inspirations is topiary, a gardening technique that gives plants sculptural forms, thus creating a unique and fantastic being that connects with nature, transforming itself over time.

The exhibition will also feature the educational project developed by the museum in partnership with art educator Janaina Melo, “Fabulando Folhear: entre palmeiras e seres imaginários”, with activities linked to art and nature, for guided visits, workshops and training with teachers and educators.

The exhibition has free admission and will be open from June 5 to September 8. In Vitória, the park is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8 am to 5 pm. In Linhares, visits are also available from Tuesday to Sunday, from 8 am to 4 pm. Educational visits for schools can be scheduled by calling (27) 9 9252-7525.

“The Folhear exhibition brings the public closer to themes such as preservation and awareness of our relationship with nature in a playful way, connecting art, education and environmental awareness. This integration of the Museu Vale with the Parque Botânico Vale and Reserva Natural Vale, spaces that are references in the preservation of biodiversity, is very significant. It reflects Vale’s efforts to increasingly strengthen sustainable action and in synergy with the environmental issues of our time,” says Hugo Barreto, CEO of the Vale Cultural Institute and director of Climate, Nature and Cultural Investment at Vale.

The exhibition

The exhibition is by the artist couple Felipe Barbosa and Rosana Ricalde, creators of one of the biggest hits at Museu Vale, the Mobile Gardens exhibition, featuring inflatable materials, which attracted more than 98 thousand visitors in 2017. This time, they developed three large sculptures – the largest is approximately 4 meters high and 10 meters long.

The artists chose nature itself as their raw material, which is why the sculptures refer to parts of a large fantastic being covered in natural elements, especially leaves.

Rosana Ricalde explains that the biggest challenge was to think of a work that could use elements found in preservation areas, because the components of nature are not completely controllable.

Felipe Barbosa says that the purpose of the exhibition is to instigate mystery, fantasy and imagination. “Our idea is for the visitor to have a playful experience in harmony with the landscape. We want to open a space for imagination, so that each visitor can create a different narrative for themselves,” he says.

The exhibition’s curator, Ronaldo Barbosa, explains that the artists’ work was created to interact with the space and, above all, to create a sense of strangeness, which can be considered one of the goals of contemporary art. “At first, when you arrive at the space, the sculpture blends into the landscape, but when you look closely, you realize that it is a foreign element to the environment. The foliage is reinterpreted by the artists and transformed into “vegetable skin”, as they describe it, to create the fantastic being, inaugurating a new context for natural elements”, says Barbosa.  

Artistic experience and environmental awareness

“Folhear” is part of the Museu Vale’s extramural activities, which bring cultural programming to squares, parks, new spaces and to an increasing number of people in the state of Espírito Santo and beyond, through exchanges and knowledge sharing.

For the director of the Museu Vale, Claudia Afonso, “the connection between spaces can be thought of in different ways, symbolic or concrete, through these immense fantastic and imaginary beings, installed in the park and the reserve”. She adds: “On this journey, we are guided by the roots that teach us the importance of preservation, harmony, and the infinite possibilities of connections”.

Claudia highlights the importance of promoting art made from organic materials. According to the director, in this way, artists are challenged to explore new techniques, textures and possibilities dictated by nature, resulting in unique works of art.

“For the public, in addition to a different aesthetic experience every day, the materials can also bring several layers of reflection, reminding us of the transience of life, the beauty of the impermanence of things, and raising awareness of our relationship with our surroundings and the environment,” she says.

The Folhear exhibition is an initiative of the Museu Vale and the Vale Cultural Institute, sponsored by Vale, and organized by the Ministry of Culture, via the Culture Incentive Law.

Educational Visits and Apprentice Program   

The exhibition will feature the educational project “Fabulando Folhear: entre palmeiras e natureza imaginarios” (Fabulating Folhear: between palm trees and imaginary beings). During the activities, children, young people and adults will have the opportunity to create, invent and discover relationships that permeate art and nature, through guided tours, training with teachers and educators, and practical and experimental workshops for different groups.

Developed in partnership with art educator Janaina Melo, current director of Museums at the Belo Horizonte city Municipal Foundation, the objective of the educational project is to discuss the processes of formation, experimentation and connection between art and nature.

Since 2005, Museu Vale has also been running the Aprendiz Program (apprentice program), which provides training in areas related to the assembly of exhibitions for young people from communities in Vitória city area, in partnership with Senac.

During the assembly and installation period of the Folhear exhibition, young people will have the opportunity to participate in classes and workshops with curators, researchers, teachers and other professionals linked to the disciplines of curatorship and art, culture and the right to the city, and preparation of exhibition spaces.  

Museu Vale Extramuros   

The Museu Vale, in its extramural period, expands its activities beyond its walls and geographical limits. It brings different manifestations of art and numerous educational programs to squares, parks, schools and other cultural spaces, reaching new audiences and encompassing other municipalities in Vitória city area.

Through these exchanges and knowledge sharing, the museum’s work continues its legacy of preserving cultural memory, enabling and fostering research, education, communication and training activities, always close to the productions of the state of Espírito Santo.

The highlights are the latest exhibitions developed by the Museu Vale, which brought together more than 90 thousand visitors: “The Extraordinary Universe of Leonardo Da Vinci”, “Memories of the Future – A look at the IHGB collection” and the exhibition “Where Dreams Come From” – Andre a and José Olympio Pereira Collection.

The Museum’s activities are connected to the Vale Cultural Institute, which is present in more than 70 sponsored, authorial and collaborative projects throughout Espírito Santo, such as Festa da Penha, Vitória Film Festival, Movimento Cidade and Musin – Festival Música na Infância, among others. The Institute also has Vale Música Serra, created in 2000, which promotes musical education activities for students in the public school system in Espírito Santo. The project, which operates at Estação Conhecimento Serra, has several reference groups such as an orchestra, a youth chamber group, a symphonic band, a children’s choir, a youth choir and a jazz band.   

Parque Botânico Vale and Reserva Natural Vale   

Located in Jardim Camburi, Vitória, the Parque Botânico Vale (botanical park) is a space for leisure and living in nature, consisting of 33 hectares of Atlantic Forest, where more than 140 species of trees can be seen. In addition, the site is frequented by species of migratory birds and reptiles, such as the yellow-snouted caiman.

The Reserva Natural Vale (natural reserve), with an area of approximately 23 thousand hectares, is located in Linhares, in the north of the state, and is part of the Rota do Verde e das Águas, an ecotourism destination with a lush landscape. The space offers ecological trails, an observation tower, scientific collections and promotes environmental education activities to strengthen local knowledge about sustainability. 

SERVICE

Event: Folhear Exhibition

Admission: free

Visiting period: from June 5 to September 8, 2024
Classification: all ages

Vitória
Days and times: Tuesday to Sunday. From 8 am to 5 pm
Location: Parque Botânico Vale, on Av. dos Expedicionários. Jardim Camburi, Vitória.

Linhares
Days and times: Tuesday to Sunday. From 8 am to 4 pm
Location: Reserva Natural Vale, on Highway BR 101, Km 122. Rural Area, Linhares.

School groups:
Schedule by contact: +55 (27) 9 9252-7525

Photos: Claraboia Imagem