Tourists swarm Rio de Janeiro’s iconic hilltop Christ statue and Manaus’ magnificent opera house. By contrast Recife’s big “can’t miss” attraction is often, well, missed by visitors to the state capital of Pernambuco.
For those who catch a cab for the 15 kilometer ride to the Várzea district on the outskirts of town, the Oficina Brennand provides a new meaning for the term living museum. Like sex and death, Francisco Brennand’s sometimes monstrous ceramic sculptures, always pregnant with life, both attract and repel – but never fail to fascinate. Legend has it that the German-born psychologist Josef David Yaari, accompanied by Brennand’s friend, the writer Ariano Suassuna, was so overwhelmed by the works at the entrance that he turned pale and refused to cross the threshold into the grounds to see the other 2,000 pieces inside.
On my last visit, I had the good fortune to be accompanied by the artist himself. Born into privilege, on the cusp of his eighth decade, with a full but trim white beard, and prone to professorial monologues, Brennand is a man whose manner has been described as noble. I found him rather personable, forthcoming and down-to-earth from the start, which happened to be near the Egg Temple. “The egg is primordial,” he explained. “I address the enigma of reproduction, and not only human reproduction. Stars are born, live and die.”
Many have tried to adequately describe what I was about to see, but few have succeeded. “This world more than anything recalls the inventions of Borges and Octavio Paz in a Northeastern tone,” noted writer Fernando de Barros Borba. He waxed poetic about the “symphonic spaces” that envelop visitors to the early 20th century brickworks turned atelier-cum-museum. “The Taj Mahal in a garden,” he offered. Others have called it a pagan temple or a mythic city. Chilean biologist Cecilia Toro called Brennand’s work “the matrix of life.” In her view, Brennand’s art not only expresses Jung’s collective unconscious but also the biological memory of our species, of life itself and, indeed, of the universe. Barros Borba finally gave up: “Words cannot describe Brennand’s art. Literature is useless. He writes in ceramics.”
Like the Hearst Castle, a late publishing mogul’s former mansion that is now one of California’s favorite tourist traps, the Oficina never ceases to expand. It has been Brennand’s one-man showcase since the 1970s, when his father allowed him to occupy the abandoned factory astride the Capibaribe river in the middle of what’s left hereabouts of the once Amazon-sized Atlantic Rainforest. In 2003 Brennand inaugurated the Accademia, a mini-museum that houses about 300 of his paintings and drawings. It is named after a museum in Venice that houses works from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Other recent additions include areas dedicated to Thomas Edison (“who was admired by [Brazilian emperor] Dom Pedro,” Brennand offers) and poets like Manuel Bandeira. The next extension will be the Temple of Sacrifice, a commentary of human warfare. “For 34 years, this has been a work-in-progress,” he says.
Visit Recife
Often packaged to outsiders as just another sun and sand destination, Recife, together with its more picturesque neighbor Olinda, has long guarded a parallel life as the economic and cultural hub of the Brazilian northeast. Though output is still modest on a global scale, Recife strives to be recognized as “the Silicon Valley of Brazil” thanks to the measurable progress of its information technology companies. In the 1990s, Recife earned the nickname “the Seattle of Brazil” as “manguebeat” bands like Chico Science & Nação Zumbi devised a successful fusion of traditional rhythms and rock at about the same time that Nirvana’s grunge sound emerged from the US Pacific Northwest. In the 1970s Recife was the epicenter of the Armorial Movement; spearheaded by Suassuna and embraced by fellow erudite creators like Brennand and Gilvan Samico, Armorial attached importance to the popular traditions of the Northeast without abandoning theoretical and technical sophistication.
Examples of Brennand’s work can be viewed around town, notably at the Marco Zero square in the old downtown known as Recife Antigo. The tower found there, designed to recall a lighthouse, according to the artist, provided the spark for bit of political lore. Commissioned as part of the celebration of the 500 anniversary of the Portuguese landing in Brazil in 2000, the project was vetoed by some unknown prude in the mayor’s office because of its phallic evocations. A gossip columnist at a local newspaper suggested that the mayor and his wife were behind the moral censorship. Armed with a .38, the mayor rushed the newsroom to confront his accuser. No one was hurt and, after the requisite hubbub, the monument was finally erected.
Getting To Recife and the Oficina Brennand
Most commercial flights from Europe and the US go to São Paulo, where connections can be made to Recife. There are some charters directly to cities of the Northeast. The online travel agency Brazil Online provides full service booking.
The Oficina Brennand is located in the Várzea district on the outskirts of town, about 15 kilometers from downtown Recife. Most cab drivers know it. Address: Propriedade Santos Cosme e Damião s/n, Várzea, Recife. Telephone: 3271-2466. The Oficina Brennand is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Website:
Where to Stay in Recife and Olinda
BrazilMax Online Hotel and B&B reservations
Pousada dos Quatro Cantos – A 19th century mansion turned into a bed & breakfast. Rua Prudente de Moraes, 441. Olinda, Pernambuco. Telephone: +(55-81) 3429-1845.
Pousada do Amparo – Part of the classy Roteiros de Charme network of inns. Rua do Amparo, 191, Olinda, Pernambuco. Telephone: +(55-81) 3439.1749/3494.7429.
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