São Paulo – Those walking by number 443 of Trajano Reis street, in Curitiba, are going to see a beautiful house, in yellow. It is apparently just an ancient and very preserved construction that operates commercially. One more step into the house revels that there, apart from serving the delicacies of Italian cuisine, there is art. The site exhibits art that an Egyptian left in Paraná. His name is Alberto Massuda, born in Cairo, in 1925, and naturalized Brazilian in 1958. Massuda’s family opened the space, which mixes art and restauraunteuring, to keep his work alive. He passed away in 2000.
The establishment, three storeys tall, was inaugurated about one year ago. In the two floors in which food is served, the halls are decorated with pictures by Massuda. And exhibitions are promoted on the story dedicated to the gallery. Since July there has been an exhibition by a group of artists of which the Egyptian was a member in the 1960s, in Paraná. Called Grupo Um (Group One), it was established by five painters in protest against the little space the state then granted to more modernist art. "They also planned to do exploratory work closer to the population," said Adriano Massuda, the Egyptian’s grandson.
Grupo Um lasted five years and the painters, despite remaining friends, decided to go their own ways as they had different styles. But while they were together as a group, Álvaro Borges, Érico Silva, Renné Bittencourt, Waldemar Rosa and Massuda had exhibitions in public places, like squares. At the exhibition in the house, named Alberto Massuda Gastronomic Cultural Centre, there are six works by each, as well as a picture in which all five are portrayed together, and three that were painted by all of them.
The exhibition was organized by the sons of the artists, all already deceased. Adriano Massuda, who is a doctor, a professor at the Federal University of Paraná and a researcher at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), is coordinating the exhibition. Adriano’s father, Cadri Massuda, the son of the Egyptian artist, opened the gastronomic and cultural centre. In the gallery area there are varied exhibitions, always focussed on the art of Paraná. The former, which goes up to October 3rd, marked the first year of operation of the house.
Massuda dedicated his whole life to professional art. When he moved from Egypt, originally to Italy, he was already a renowned artist. "In Italy he was respected for the recognition he had in Egypt," said Adriano. Massuda studied Fine Arts in Egypt and Cinema Scenography in Italy. His work, with over 400 items, is spread around several parts of the world, like the Cairo Art Museum, the Alexandria Modern Art Museum, the Paraná Art Museum and the Joinville Art Museum, and also private collections in regions like Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.
The Massuda restaurant, in Curitiba, prepares Italian cuisine, as the Egyptian artist’s wife was Italian. They both had three kids, one of them – Cadri – was born in Egypt, the other in Italy and the third in Brazil. The site where the space operates was built in 1905 and is listed. On the first story is the gallery, turned to the exhibition, on the ground level is the restaurant and also a space for the release of literature and in the underground level is another part of the restaurant, with an area for live music and a deck for the showing of movies and enactment of plays.
Service:
Exhibition – Grupo Um
Alberto Massuda Gastronomic Cultural Centre
Up to October 3rd
Address: Rua Trajano Reis, 443 – Curitiba
Telephone: (+ 55 41) 3076 7202
E-mail: contato@albertomassuda.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
