INOVANÇAS – CREATIONS BRAZILIAN STYLE

In April 2017, the Museum of Tomorrow inaugurated a temporary exhibition called “Inovanças – Creations Brazilian Style”. Presented by Finep, over a period of ten months 460,000 people gained insight into the different steps that lead to innovation: ancestry, being inspired by nature, mistakes and deviations in the creative process, unpredictability, improvisation and collaboration. The exhibit, now in an online format on Google Arts and Culture, inspired the public by revealing a Brazil passionate about all things new – innovations –, creating dialog among individuals, groups, companies and institutions. It is a country that pulses, invents and plants seeds of hope for the future. Innovations engage us, connect us and intersect us constantly. Come along and innovate with us!

An exhibit about innovation at the Museum of Tomorrow was a mere question of time. After all, if one of the Museum’s objectives is to discuss how today’s choices will shape the next 50 years, what could be better than exhibiting initiatives already engaged with the possibilities and challenges of the future? In order to conceive the exhibition, a difficult question had to be answered. It was necessary to define what makes something innovative, going beyond simple marketing logic. Reexamine the idea of the quick-fix and taking the cliché out of unpredictability and improvisation in the creative process. Understand how the different social realities found in Brazil reveal opportunities for new inventions. Inovanças – Creations Brazilian Style is an example of how we can advance, in a constant process of questioning, exchanging ideas, adjusting routes and combining efforts. Never forgetting that, behind each innovation are people. People with ideas, talents and challenges. People like you.

In the Tupi-Guarani tongue, “pyahu-açu” means “great news”. A concept that connects to the strengths of innovation with Brazilian flavour springing up all over the country. But, what exactly is innovation? Some might say it means conceiving something new. Others may postulate that it entails enhancing an item or process. Or that only those who create a product with economic value are truly innovating. There are several possible meanings, reflecting then many different faces of Brazil. An urgent need or a sense of opportunity, when combined with creativity, drive us to develop ideas and activities that transform both society and the environment. Everyone is capable of innovating. Creations thrive in both university laboratories and also remote grottoes. We are surrounded bu movements, transformations, breaking dawns. Major breakthroughs that may proclaim collaborative and plural tomorrows.

Nature has always provided human ingenuity with valuable models for tackling varying problems. Studying nature’s beings and their activities has inspired innovators in every society. Gazing at the acrobatics of flying bird, for example, led the pioneers of aviation towards experiments and cumulative advances that gave rise to modern aircraft. It is with good reason that Santos-Dumont’s 14-bis was called the “bird of prey” by the French. Nowadays, in an unending search for enhancements, researchers have combined concepts from different fields of expertise to promote innovative approaches, taking inspiration from the developments over millennia in the immense laboratory of natural processes. Whenever we design or build anything, we can always ask: how would nature do it?

To perpetuate, living beings must adapt to changes to the environment. Organisms are systems able to repeat their form by reproducing. This replication is managed by a “manual” in biochemical language, the genome, which regulates the development of each organism and their interactions with other beings and the environment. However, mutations, or chance alterations to the original “text”, can occur. If this “mistakes” in no way impedes reproduction, a new variety of the organism comes into being, with different characteristics and capacities. Life is thus subject to an unending series of adaptations: Evolution. Here, “making a mistake” takes on a new, positive and productive meaning. These natural “wanderings” result in diversity, “infinite forms of great beauty”. Innovative ideas, springing from laboratories or backyards, usually materialize after a series of attempts and failures, guidelines and deviations, intentions and chances. All essential so that, in the end, innovation is instilled.

The story of Brazil can be recounted in several ways. One of them is through innovation. A combination of African, European and Indigenous cultures resulted in a unique people: Brazilians. This mixture, manifested in the economy, the politics, and the customs, led Brazil to develop while deeply rooted in multiplicity. Our identity is diversity. One the one hand, a culture of pluralities; on the other, a society marred by inequality. As paradoxical as it may seem, what unites us is also what makes us unique, and this difference is our source of unity. This combination of disparities instigates Brazilians – regardless of the region, social class, ethnicity, gender or education – to invent, find solutions, to bob and weave, dribble and pass. To innovate. And the innovative nature of being Brazilian can only be understood if we look to Brazilians themselves and the stories of their lives. See our tribute to inventors from our country that continue serving as inspiration!

The unexpected is intimately linked to innovations, and the great creators know how to use the surprises they encounter. The story of penicillin became famous when, in 1928, Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, instead of simply disposing of bacteria cultures contaminated by fungus, noted that there were empty spaces in some of them, indicating the presence of some sort of antibacterial agent. Inadvertently, an important medical discovery was made. The unexpected, the unforeseen (“inexspectata”, in Latin), is closely tied to natural factors – like changes in rain patterns in Brazil, which call for creativity in the quest for adaptations – and also social, cultural and economic factors. Science and innovation in Brazil today must respond to the breakthroughs along the way and turn the unexpected into an opportunity.

We can always improvise. Living on stilted houses on irregular or flooded land, using the street as a sports ground, reusing materials for new endeavours. Innovation can sprout from improvisations, from situation that surprise us and lead us to fill gaps - from the Latin “impromptu”. In science or in art, improvisation - real time invention, without specific prior preparation, based on notable creativity and instantaneous inspiration, and very often backed by a profound technical ability - can be a response to the unforeseen. Effective solutions arise that can then be expanded and enhanced through traditional methods.

Major personalities have stood out for seeking these zones of non-conformity, these winding paths of invention. Multifaceted artist Hermeto Pascoal can even turn microphonics into pleasing notes; Dercy Gonçalves dominated the stages with unprecedented tirades; in soccer, Mané Garrincha was the exponent of a unique and gripping performance. Beauty, surprise and effectiveness may arise from improvisation. Meet some of the great Brazilian improvisers, honored in the Inovanças exhibit.

In today’s world, wherein technology connects everyone, “do it yourself” has become a model for creative processes. But “collaboration” (“awani jö” in Iorubá, or “we’re together”) remains a platform for more agile, ample and fairer solutions. From the collaboration between architects and Carnival professionals to the construction of complex satellites, products and processes developed collectively have shown themselves to be efficient and dynamic. Shared creativity can significantly change the life of a group, leverage the operation of a company and support the development of a country. Valuing the collective construction of expertise bolsters society, culture and the economy, allowing for innovations that can benefit all.

The production of the “Inovanças Manual” was undertaken at the same time that the exhibit was being developed, finalized in the months prior to the inauguration of the exposition. The result is 480 pages with detailed content on “Inovanças - Creations Brazilian Style”, along with games and activities that invite readers, of any age, to get involved. In the book, the reader is invited to interact. The publication was a finalist at the 60th edition of the Jabuti Award, in 2018, in the category Creative Economy of the Assays Branch.