São Paulo – Decorations of the people of five deserts around the world will be shown in São Paulo from March 13 to June 10, at the Sesi Art Gallery. They are part of exhibition “Jewels of the Desert”, which brings together objects by Thereza Collor, a historian and former Tourism secretary of the state of Alagoas.
The exhibition includes 2,000 items like earrings, necklaces, garments, bracelets, ankle bracelets, head and neck pieces, belts and handbags that were collected by Thereza over many years. The items come from the Arabian, Central Asian, Sahara, Himalayan and Thar deserts. The territories cover countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and Syria, as well as the non-Arab Mali, Iran and Afghanistan.
The vast collection is the result of interest for the region that arose in Thereza at an early age. When she was about to celebrate her 15 birthday, Thereza, who had never left her state, decided to accompany a colleague of her mother’s, who was going to travel in the region. “I was curious about the world, and instead of travelling to Disney, I made this choice,” she said to ANBA. In her first trip outside Brazil, she visited Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Cyprus.
Throughout her life, she has returned to the Middle East, Africa and Asia several times. To Egypt alone, she has already been seven times. The country of the pyramids is one of her favourite in the Arab world, apart from Morocco. “Morocco is fascinating, and Egypt is magnificent,” she says, with great appreciation. “People must go to Egypt. The people in the country are very friendly.”
Apart from the countries of North Africa, Yemen also called Thereza’s attention. “I was enchanted, the people are very receptive. They are used to sitting on the floor, sharing food from their plates, it is lovely,” she pointed out. Regarding Oman, she says it is a singular country. “In the Arabian Peninsula, there is much foreign labour, from the Philipines and other countries. In Oman, taxi drivers are Omani. It is a singular country, very unique,” she says.
In each of the five exhibition nuclei, with items from each desert visited by the collector, there are objects that show historic, geographic, social, political and religious aspects of the people of that region. There are also over 300 photographs taken during her trip. To her, being able to learn about the people of that country was the most important part of her trips.
“It is important to learn about the people, to learn a little about these cultures, because it opens our mind. You learn to respect difference and not to view your culture as the better one,” she finished off. Thereza is the widow of Pedro Collor, the brother of former Brazilian president Fernando Collor.
Service
Desert Jewel Exhibition
From March 13th to June 10th, 2012
Site: Sesi Art Gallery – Fiesp Cultural Centre – Ruth Cardoso
Address: Av. Paulista, 1313 – São Paulo
Telephone.: (+55 11) 3146-7405/06
Time: Mondays from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm, from Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, and Sunday, from 10:00 am to 07:00 pm
Admittance is free
*Translated by Mark Ament