Semana de Arte Moderna
Semana de Arte Moderna

Defining Brazilian Modernism at the Modern Art Week

Summary/Abstract: The Modern Art Week was a key factor in bringing acceptance of modernism in Brazil, where academism was the only valued ideology. With the change of political parties, industrialization, and increasingly frequent migration, the nation felt a disturbance. The modernists found inspiration in such an atmosphere and felt the need for change. Inspired by European modernism, artists reflected problems through new elements. They saw Modern Art Week as an event and place for radical change. The festival took place in the Municipal Theater in Sao Paulo in 1922. It lasted three days. This festival brought together the rejected cultural elite of Brazil. They gave speeches, and lessons, performed musical compositions and exhibited their artworks. A lot of artists exhibited at the Municipal Theater, and some of the more recognized ones are the poet Oswald de Andrade, the artist Emiliano di Cavalcanti, the composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and the artist Anita Malfatti. The event received criticism, but modernism as a movement was gradually accepted and began its development in Brazil.

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