Texto de Nancy de Lustoza Barros e Hirsch na revista Umbrella para a comunidade de expatriados de língua inglesa no Rio de Janeiro. Para a revista na íntegra, clique aqui.
One
of the great things about Rio de Janeiro is that one can walk most of its
streets. And doing so, observe the ambiance, people strolling by; dogs, cats,
birds and even small monkeys going about their affairs; the trees that dress
themselves according to the seasons. The buildings, the monuments and this
special group of celebrities. These are eternal observers of our lives,
standing in their posts, come shine or rain, subject to vandals and pigeons. We
pass by them, oblivious of their presence, their origin or purpose. They are
the statues of Rio de Janeiro. Musicians, politicians, medical doctors,
journalists, princesses, muses. Lions, globes, hands.
Only
a very few are well known to the population; surely the best known is the poet,
Carlos Drummond de Andrade, who once wrote: “How difficult to speak! No words,
no codes: just mountains and mountains and mountains, oceans and oceans and
oceans”. Sitting on his stone bench on Copacabana beach and cast in bronze by sculptor
Leo Santana, he is always a good company to show at home on a picture – or post
on social media – even if his trademark
round spectacles are frequently forcibly removed from his face.
Born
in Bahia, song writer and singer, Dorival Caymmi was very successful in his
field and his fame surpassed frontiers. His are the verses that say that it is
sweet to die at sea. Father to a big family, his first generation offspring
sport three musicians; sure there are more to come. Also cast in bronze by sculptor
Otto Dumovich he also stands on the “calçadão” in Copacabana beach, all smiles,
waving to passersby, carrying his guitar on a case.
There
is also a famous statue of a lady, one Ana Nery. She was the first woman nurse
in Brazil, volunteering for work during the war with Paraguay in 1865 and her
statue cast in bronze by sculptor Luiz Ferrer decorates the front of the Red
Cross building at the square with that name near Rio’s downtown.
Cast
in bronze by Anísio Mota Fritz, he doesn’t have a name. he is known as O
Pequeno Jornaleiro, possibly after local newsboy José Bento de Carvalho, who,
aged 10, traveled up and down Rio’s downtown streets crying the headlines. Trousers
twice his size, half-hidden under a crumpled hat brim, he carries newspapers
under his arm. He now stands at Rua Sete de Setembro near Avenida Rio Branco,
well loved by passersby.
A
funny figure created by Ique is located in Jardim Botânico: Abelardo Barbosa better
known as TV personality “Chacrinha”. He hosted a sort of amateur hour show for
years , and it is fitting tha Chacrinha means “bagunça” (bedlam), which is what
his show often was. The statue captures the huge flowery top hat he used, the bicycle
horn dangling from his neck that he would toot whenever he felt like and… la pièce de résistance: a cod fish – “Do
you want ‘bacalhau’?”, he cried to the spectators and actually threw lots of
cod fish to them… A great communicator, people loved him!
A
soothing sight for suffering drivers trying to reach the Tunel Rebouças from
Jardim Botânico is Curumim. The slender figure of an indigenous boy standing on
a rock inside Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, just about to throw his harpoon, is
simply beautiful. The waters, the sky, the light – all contribute to make it a
different spectacle every time one looks at it. Thanks to the sculptor, Pedro
Correa de Araújo.
It
is said that there are almost 700 statues in Rio de Janeiro, more than any
other Brazilian city, probably because it was once the capital of the country.
Maybe next time you pass by one of our silent companions, you will take a
minute to observe it and get to know it better.
photo: globo.com
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