Ana Mae Barbosa points out the consequence of the internal diaspora of visual artists from Northeastern Brazil toward the major centers (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) starting in the 1960s. In her opinion, those artists were better prepared for a creative dialogue with contemporary trends involving multicultural aspects. She names Ariano Suassuna and Jomard Muniz de Britto, who were both playwrights and writers, as spokesmen of Northeast-regional thinking. They are representative because of their focus through tensions: on tradition and Postmodernity, as well as on popular versus intellectual art. Barbosa highlights the contributions of the Escolinha de Arte de Recife, as well as the printmaking workshop Oficina Guaianases, operating in Olinda. The writer elaborates on a commentary against a minimalist aesthetic and the conservatism of the avant-garde, both of which clearly exclude figurative trends and other non-abstract artworks. Her text emphasizes the opportunity to redefine critical operations of art and curatorial practice from the perspective of contemporary hybridism. She briefly mentions many artists in the region involved with modern and contemporary art, including Francisco Brennand, Vicente do Rego Monteiro, Thereza Carmem Duarte, Antonio Bandeira, Sérvulo Esmeraldo, Paulo Bruscky, Montez Magno, Gilvan Samico, Rubem Valentim, Roberto Lúcio de Oliveira, João Câmara, Gil Vicente, and Virginia Colares, illustrating the essay with one example of each artist. In the writer’s opinion, the contribution of female Northeastern artists has been significant—however little recognition they have garnered. (Although it should be noted that her text focuses specifically on Pernambuco.)
