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08.11.2009
FIRE DESTROYS HELIO OITICICA’S WORKS AND DOCUMENTS
SAO PAULO. Ivo Mesquita
More than two thousand of Hélio Oiticica’s (1937-1980) works – paintings, objects, drawings, projects, notebooks, drafts, documents, a series of Bólides and vintage Parangolés, among other things – were either destroyed or damaged by fire on October 16, 2009, in the house of César Oiticica, the artist’s brother and responsible for his estate, in Rio de Janeiro. It took about three hours for the fire, which also destroyed the negative archives of José Oiticica Filho (1906-1964), the artist’s father and an important Brazilian scientist, researcher, and experimental photographer, to be controlled. The works were stored in the family house, which had alarms, climate control system, and smoke detectors installed prior to their arrival, following a dispute over the institutional program, money related issues and the adequacy of storage facilities at the Centro Municipal de Arte Helio Oiticica, a cultural center integrating the Rio de Janeiro City Culture Department institutional ne twork.
The tragic accident was devastating for the Brazilian artistic milieu with worldwide repercussions, a major loss not only for national heritage but also for modern and contemporary art history. At the same time, the sad episode has taken place at a tense moment, when museums, research institutions and exhibition organizers have been disputing with artists’ families and successors over issues such as copyright, image property, and fees for exhibiting works, among other delicate ethical issues. As an immediate reaction, the debate on who is responsible for artists’ estates brought public opinion clamoring for official intervention and for an effective control of the government’s cultural departments and services over national heritage and legacies. The debate is a hot one and it is far from agreeing on terms for proposing a consistent policy for the protection and conservation of art works, since it involves not only a political will from the public sector but also from artists , their families and heirs, collectors, museums and the art market, in strong articulation with the private sector. It could take some time before anything is decided upon, for the debate incorporates notions of, and relations between, public and private. However, this could prove to be a good opportunity to improve and refine Brazilian legislation regarding tax deductions, cultural investments, and the building of public collections.
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