Interview – Coca Rodriguez Coelho, Sao Paulo

long-time participant artist in PONTE CULTURA ART PROJECTS

Interview between Marianne Stüve ,art curator, (MStü) and Coca Rodriguez Coelho, brazilian artist from Sao Paulo (Coca) :

MStü: how did you come to art, Coca – what was the beginning?

Coca: Even as a child, I was encouraged to make art. My parents painted watercolours and we lived just a block away from the Biennale and we went to each one, several times. I attended FAAP University in Sao Paulo and left with a degree in art. I was lucky there to learn from excellent masters.

MStü: how did you get in touch with the International Art Association PONTE CULTURA?

Coca: I met you, Marianne, through Liz Miller, who in turn visited an exhibition of mine at the Centro Cultural in Sao Paulo. She contacted me and visited me together with you in my studio at home.  You had lived with your family in Sao Paulo for some years and when you returned to Germany, to Nuremberg, you were interested in establishing an artist exchange. I saw the radiance of your gaze and suggested to join in. That was the beginning of Ponte Cultura.  It wasn’t easy at the beginning, but you knew exactly what you wanted: To show the Brazil where you had lived and learned intensively, and how this country could bring the strength of America to a newly emerging Germany (1989). Nuremberg – benefited from this initiative, and so did the Brazilian artists who ventured to Europe.

I sent many large-format watercolour works by post, which always reached their destination despite the risks,

And first exchange project Sambaqui 1992 – 1993

At the same time invited other artists to join in. The correspondence and artistic exchange even turned into a breathtaking art project by fax that I sent through my husband’s office, which we called Action – Reaction.

MStü:Are there any important personal events for you as an artist through the Ponte Cultura contact?
Coca:  Ponte Cultura was always active. In Marianne’s hands, exhibitions followed one after the other, whether in Germany,

…… France, Portugal or Brazil. Because the bridge – was also crossed from the European side to Brazil from the very beginning. Be it to Sao Paulo, where two first important exhibitions took place in 1994 (in the SESC Pompeia and in the MAC Ibirapuera).    The exhibition spaces were always very important for us Brazilians because they were curated.  For me, the exhibition in Portugal was a special highlight, but also the numerous exhibitions in Germany.

In Nuremberg, the last decade is particularly noteworthy, when Ponte Cultura was able to show its thematic exhibitions Water, Amor-Paixao, Territories in the huge halls of AEG, former industrial area.

MStü: what were the current project PONTE CULTURA in which you participated?

Coca: the actual project which is stilll running in Nuremberg in the ortart gallery is called hospitality. My contribution refers to a phrase that the Brazilian Yanomani shaman Davi Kopenava said that we all are only guests on earth and we have to treat our host, the planet earth, with reverence and respect.