São Paulo – Born in the city of São Paulo, of Lebanese descendent, Alvaro Razuk has a calm, attentive gaze and good conversational skills. Not the mild type, just good and interesting. One word lost in the middle of a phrase, one book on his work desk, one picture on the wall, all of these provide cues for a singular story. About work or life. One example is his harmonious partnership with the Museum of Image and Sound (MIS) in São Paulo, which Razuk has recently reformed, making room for new technologies, and where he also promotes exhibitions by several artists. “I really like a museum. It is one of the places in which I feel good,” he says.
The holder of a degree in architecture, Razuk started organising and planning exhibitions almost by chance, in 1996. What was meant to be a sort of “stroll around another area” soon became a profession. “People ended up specialising me in it,” he claims. Now, it is Razuk who provides uniformity to the exhibitions held at the MIS space, for instance. All of the exhibitions featured there undergo his previous analysis, however the conversations are noise-free. “The relation between architect and artists works very well, we speak the same language,” explains Razuk.
The fact is corroborated by the items hanging from the architect’s walls, which hold work by internationally renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado and by professionals such as Cristiano Mascaro and Claudia Jaguaribe, among others. Razuk has worked with all of them. For Salgado, he did two important exhibitions: Êxodos, in 2000, at Sesc Pompéia, in São Paulo, and Gênesis, in 2005 at the MAO (Museum of Arts and Crafts) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and also at Ibirapuera, in São Paulo. Both enjoyed public and critical acclaim, ensured by some key points that received attention at the time of the project’s execution.
According to Razuk’s rules, first one must “grasp the artist’s concept.” Next up, it is necessary take into consideration the exhibition space and the nature of the work. “Then, I propose a layout for the exhibition,” he explains and finishes off: “The layout must underscore the work and understand the premises it is being exhibited in.”
Lebanese landscapes and The Little Prince
For 2009, Razuk is working on a project that revisits his Arab origins, "L’Autre Liban" (The Other Lebanon), by bringing to Brazil the work of the French Pascal Beaudenou. Even though he has not travelled to the Arab countries – there once was an attempt, on a sailing vessel, as the architect travelled across Europe, but it ended up being aborted due to the war in the Gulf region – the architect is curious about the country.
The Other Lebanon includes a book of panoramic photographs of 40 Lebanese landscapes by Beaudenou, who lived in Beirut for many years. "It is somewhat different from what we are used to seeing of the country," he says. The volume was released in 2005, in French language, but the edition did not reach Brazil. Besides the book, the project also comprises an exhibition of the images captured through the artist’s lenses and educational lectures, to be ministered by Beaudenou. It is going to be a travelling exhibition, to be featured in the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, but the places have not yet been defined. The project was approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture and is now in its fund-raising phase. The value is 761,000 reals (US$ 238.612).
As he waits for The Other Lebanon, Razuk is working on organising other exhibitions, such as Mémoire D’Aéropostale, at Centro Cultural Correios, in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition is part of the celebration of the Year of France in Brazil, opens up on March 18, and uses images to tell the story of the charming Compagnie Générale Aéropostale, created in France after World War I by the visionary Pierre-Georges Latécoère. The businessmen understood the need for closer communication between the countries and established the air transport company in order to carry mail, thus connecting Europe and America.
The team of pilots of Aéropostale included many unemployed professionals who had served in the war, as well as an illustrious person: Antonio de Saint Exupéry, author of the classic "The Little Prince." “He used to work on a route that included Brazil, and was known as Zé Perry,” tells Razuk, who now has the triumphant gaze of storytellers.
Contact
Alvaro Razuk Arquitetura
E-mail: alvarorazuk@uol.com.br
Telephone: (+ 55 11) 3661-8111
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
