05/19/2002 – Correio da Bahia – Newspaper

Colors of Brazil(Click to see the original news)

When it begins to draw its first sketches on paper or on the house wall, the child not only is communicating with the outside world, but also expressing its creative side. The feeling and the interest in the arts will surfacing as the stimulus that it receives throughout his life. The more accessible is the language for the age group; better the contents will be absorbed. Following this line of thought, the writer and educator São Paulo Nereide Schilaro Santa Rosa organized the series History of Brazilian art for children, published by Pinakotheke in four volumes, now on sale across the country. The publication, illustrated by recognized works of art from public and private collections, consists of titles. Cities and Forests – Travelers artists between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Lights and Shadows – século XIX. Dreams and Reality – the first half of the twentieth century. Colors and Shapes – the second half of the twentieth century. The four booklets demarcate two purposes: to show the cultural, human and natural wealth of the country and present the artistic movements and their social stimuli, technical and poetic. As Jacob Klintowitz wrote, in the presentation, it is “a beautiful combination: love of country, historical knowledge and identification with the art of poetry.” The author tries, with this project, demystify the idea that art history is a matter for great people. “Using a friendly language, direct and easy to understand, summarizing the contents, from what is essential and making links with the day-to-day of the child or the adolescent, it is understandable and enjoyable theme for that target audience, “teaches the writer of children’s literature, with 11 published books, including the Famous Children Series, Art and roots and Masters of Arts in Brazil.
Picturesque pictures
Redeem important values for their critical and cognitive development is one of the primary goals of Nereide Schilaro when writing for young readers. Each volume of the series brings a defining moment of the arts in Brazil. In the first, for example, art educator speaks of “traveling artists” who came from Europe here, in order to explore new landscapes, new cultures, picturesque images. “It’s the alien painter’s gaze registering our environment,” says the author.
In Lights and Shadows, the approach turns to the Fine Arts Imperial Academy and the greatest artists of the nineteenth century. “This volume is more pedagogical, showing how painters learned to work in his art,” she says.In the third book. Dreams and reality, the focus is the birth of a genuinely Brazilian art movement: Modernism. “It shows the concern of modernist artists with the reality of Brazil,” said Nereide. Among these, the publication highlights the work of the likes of Di Cavalcanti, José Pancetti, Candido Portinari and Tarsila do Amaral. “The Tarsila painting is the one that most appeals to kids by the lively and colorful way of painting,” she says. In the last volume, colors and shapes, the highlight is the importance and greatness of abstractionism, emerged in the 50s, with the first Brazilian abstract painter Antonio Bandeira.
Nereide Schilaro, teacher and retired educator with experience of nearly 20 years of classroom, says that her books are now being adopted in some locals schools, and other cities have already shown interest in the project. “From the reading, the child recreates knowledge. The key is not limiting its creativity,” she concludes.