While I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, I am fascinated by art, and the creative genius of local artisans. I had the privilege of visiting the Casa Do Pontal Museum, about an hours drive outside of RIO.
The museum is a tribute to traditional, tribal, Brazilian art. The collection of thousands of unique clay sculptures has been in the same family for multiple decades. The artistic renditions in the form of figurines capture every aspect of life in Brazil going back centuries. The most compelling? A series, over a dozen figurines, depicting life — cradle to grave.
Beautiful. Powerful. Humbling.
The room with intrigue? The “Adult Room”, displaying a collection of explicit pornographic imagery — some of them that focused on the absurd. Not a lot said in the room. We saw, we appreciated, we left.
The museum experience was unique. Sometimes, those that have passed away leave symbols of an era gone by. In a strange way, the past paves the way to a better understanding of the present. History has a way of doing that for us.
About Hemant Rustogi