What is a Museum Object Without the Stories That Surround it?
"He who tells a tale increases it a little": an exhibition about how stories transform objects.
Fragment (1957-05-21) by Fernando LébeisMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Fragment
"Fragment launched from a flying saucer, in Leopoldina, Minas Gerais, on the morning of May 21, 1957. A gift from an amateur reporter.”
[Caption attached to the object by researcher Fernando Lébeis, also an "amateur" because he is passionate about his subject of study, folklore. Donated by his family.]
Whoever tells a tale increases it a little, so they say, in order to explain the half truths and the additions inserted or merely to experiment one’s own interpretation.
Out there, an object holds its uses and meanings but, when it enters into a museum, in an exhibition, it gains different outlines or varied justifications for its existence.
Sidereal SpaceMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Sidereal Space section of the exhibition Objects and Their Narratives
Many narratives are created and recreated in an attempt to explain phenomena surrounded by mysteries. Or to enrich the facts. Or solely due to the human need to narrate.
Something of the sort happened, for example, to the space race (1957-1975), when USA and USSR disputed the precedency in space voyages. Followed by newsparpers, radio and tvs, it was a constante theme of theories, debates... and versions. People’s imaginaries all over the world produced the most diverse creations.
Apollo Spacecraft (1970's) by Maria Josefa da ConceiçãoMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Apollo Spacecraft
The piece is part of the series of spaceships created by the artist, who stood out for her innovation and her own interpretation of the facts she represented.
Carioca Rocket on the Moon (1966) by Waldomiro de DeusMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Carioca Rocket on the Moon
The following three paintings belong to a set of works of art clearly inspired by the dispute over space occupation during the cold war.
Out-of-This-World Device (1966) by Waldomiro de DeusMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Out-of-This-World Device / Confusion in Space
Amid news reports, studies, debates and many "narratives", Waldomiro de Deus portrays the facts with full freedom.
Meeting on the Moon (1966) by Waldomiro de DeusMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Meeting on the Moon
Werewolf (1973) by J. BorgesMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
In space, the Moon sung in prose and verse, which stirs the water of the tides and of our bodies, also transforms man into werewolf in nights of full moon.
The Werewolf (1986) by Mário TelesMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
In Brasil, where it earned many narratives, there are those who have seen it. J. Borge’s xilo and Mario Teles’ sculpture are well marked by the free designing of this universal legend.
Carranca (First half of 20 century) by GuaranyMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Carranca
One of Master Guarany’s gargoyle navigated along Old Chico.
Carranca (First half of the 20th century) by GuaranyMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Carranca
Another, of the same artist, in another phase of his works, was created as a decorative object.
Francisco Biquiba La Fuente Guarany
conjurou os seres malévolos das águas.
Com o poder de suas mãos meio espanholas,
meio índias, meio africanas,
totalmente brasileiras.
Das mãos de Guarany surdiram monstros
que colocados na proa dos barcos
protegiam os viajantes contra os terrores do rio.
Eram monstros benignos, conjunção de forças milenares
enlaçadas na mente de Guarany.
As águas purificaram-se, as viagens
tornaram-se festivas e violeiras.
E ninguém temia a morte, e o louvor da vida
era uma canção implícita no cedro das carrancas.
Excerpt from the poem "Centenário" by Carlos Drummond de Andrade
Published in Corrente (Pirapora, MG)
Carranca (1970's) by Ana das CarrancasMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Carranca
And there is the one reinterpreted in form and raw material by Ana Leopoldina dos Santos Lima, known as Ana das Carrancas.
The Mother of Water of the São Francisco River (2006) by Dumont FamilyMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
The Mother of Water of the São Francisco River
What to say about each shape of mermaids? Columbus Voyage discovered them to be very ugly and similar to men while the Dumont Family embroidered them as delicate as could be.
The piece is a collective creation of D. Antônia and her children Angela, Marilu, Sávia, Marta and Demóstenes, the author of the embroidery.
Mermaid (1970) by Unknown authorshipMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Mermaid
The plaster version for religious use was meant to be sensual.
Galdino's Mermaid (1970's or 1980's) by Mestre GaldinoMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Mermaid
Not to mention the baffling creation of Master Galdino.
Gourd Head (2005) by José Luís de SousaMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Gourd Head
The legend that appeared in Piauí mobilized the artists, who found different forms to express dramaticity. Read here the Legend of the Cabeça de Cuia by Pedro Costa.
Sete Marias
Precisa tragar
São sete virgens
Pro encanto acabar
(...)
Tem medo, oh! Maria
Que estás a lavar
O cabeça de Cuia
Te pode tragar
Folk song attributed to Chico Bento. In: Luís da Câmara Cascudo. Geografia dos mitos brasileiros. 2. ed. São Paulo: Global, 2002.
Popular song about Cabeça de Cuia [Gourd Head], who must take seven virgins called Mary to his domains on the bottom of the river to end a curse.
Gourd Head and the Seven Virgin Marias (2010) by Jeovah SantosMuseu de Folclore Edison Carneiro
Gourd Head and the Seven Virgin Marias
Based on the long-term exhibition The Objects and Their Narratives
Content coordination
Elizabeth Pougy
Lucila Silva Telles
Metadata organization and content editing
Juliana Santana
Marta Kummer Loreto
Natália Natalino | Barra Livre
Script and development
Lucila Silva Telles
Maria Elisabeth Costa
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