Evidence of a Farce: Time and the Economist (Evidências de uma farsa: Time and the Economist)

In this work, Carla Zaccagnini juxtaposes two magazine covers that connect a half-century of Brazilian development. In both the 1956 Time and 2009 Economist, the country is represented as being on the rise. In the former, this is visualized through a heroic figure emerging from the Amazons and the urban landscapes of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, while in the Economist, it is a skyrocketing Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer, the iconic statue that overlooks Rio from the peak of Corcovado) that represents the boom. Both covers refer to periods of economic prosperity, Time’s to the 1956–61 presidency of Juscelino Kubitschek, who ran for office under the slogan “fifty years of progress in five” and oversaw the construction of the new capital of Brasilia; the Economist’s to growth during the 2003–11 presidency of Luis Ignacio “Lula” da Silva. Zaccagnini invites the viewer to trace the connections between these two distinct yet parallel periods by learning about the political and economic crises that occurred during the time they bracket.