DAY 21 (3 OF 5) – CENTRO CULTURAL DO BANCO DO BRASIL, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

We wandered through busy narrow streets off Avenue Rio Branco, stopped by Rubro Café for a sip of Brazilian espresso, and arrived at Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Candelaria at noon when a mass was about to start.  We then headed east to Centro Cultural do Banco do Brazil (CCBB), an cultural centre housed in a restored bank building dated 1906.  The CCBB is currently hosting a retrospective exhibition of Yayoi Kusama called Obsessao Infinita.  We decided to spend some time to learn more about the work and life of this Japanese artist (nicknamed the Polka-Dot Princess), who was, during the 1960s and 1970s, one of the forerunners of New York’s visual art scene, and anti-war and feminist movements.  We saw many of her paintings, video art, photomontages, and some installation works that allowed visitors to enter an art space to interact with the lighting and take photos.  Through the use of mirrors, fluorescent lighting, and the ever-present polka-dots, the art spaces, although physically small in size, felt infinite in dimensions as we entered into the world of Yayoi Kusama.

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Read other posts on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Day 20.1 – Ipanema
Day 20.2 – Urca
Day 20.3 – Pao de Acucar
Day 21.1 – Ipanema Beach
Day 21.2 – Real Gabinete Portugues de Leitura (Portuguese Reading Room)
Day 21.3 – Centro Cultural do Banco do Brasil
Day 21.4 – Lapa and Santa Teresa
Day 21.5 – Botafogo and Leblon
Day 22.1 – Museu de Arte do Rio
Day 22.2 – Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer)

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South America 2013 – Our Destinations
Buenos Aires (Argentina), Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Pantanal (Brazil), Brasilia (Brazil), Belo Horizonte & Inhotim (Brazil), Ouro Preto (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Paraty (Brazil), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Samaipata & Santa Cruz (Bolivia), Sucre (Bolivia), Potosi (Bolivia), Southwest Circuit (Bolivia), Tilcara, Purmamarca, Salta (Argentina), Cafayate (Argentina), San Pedro de Atacama (Chile), Antofagasta & Paranal Observatory (Chile), Chiloe (Chile), Puerto Varas (Chile), Torres del Paine (Chile), Ushuaia (Argentina), El Chalten (Argentina), El Calafate (Argentina), Isla Magdalena (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Valparaiso (Chile), Afterthought