são paulo

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são paulo

ART AND ABOUT IN VILA MADALENAVila Madalena in São Paulo has been drawing visitors like bees to an abundant

hive. It’s an old, charming neighbourhood that’s embraced the transition into white-hot cool. Ishay Govender-Ypma reports on the buzz

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section

April 2015 Sawubona 00

I’M STARING SQUARELY AT BATMAN. He’s skinny with angular features, pointy ears and a black-gloved finger that indicates downwards. He meets my eyes. I stride downhill, following his directions, grateful. Beco do Batman. Batman Alley. Or Rua Gonçalo Afonso, if you want to type it into Google maps. This isn’t Gotham City, though some have likened the two. I’m in the hip, but not exclusive (depending on who you ask), progressive, but old-school, half-hippie, half-hipster district of Vila Madalena.

A GALLERY FOR THE PEOPLEIt’s here, sprawled across the neighbouring avenues, that visitors – both Paulistano and foreign – come to enjoy one of São Paulo’s most colourful and energetic displays of ever-changing street art. Local artists involved in urban intervention programmes and visiting graffiti artists cover

every centimetre of space in a lurid, dizzyingly bright display of symbols, faces, creatures, plants and animals. Beco do Batman in Vila Madalena is a free, open-air public art gallery and a major drawcard to this area.

It’s certainly what I seek out on my first visit. It’s a mad hatter’s empire of otherworldliness that you trace along the boundary walls of roads that curve and swoop. If there’s a garage door, an old car that hasn’t been moved in years, street poles or a rubbish bin alongside the walls, it inevitably becomes one with the art, incorporated in flashes of spray paint: all part of a single canvas. The Batman Alley gallery tells an inexhaustible story of a legion of spray cans and brushes, in staccato. The colours of one painting blend into the adjacent one, or remnants of an older work seep into a fresh, new one.

Paulistanos are fiercely proud of their street art lavishing urban substrates in an otherwise grey cidade da garoa (“city of drizzle”). It makes sense, too, in a city where outdoor advertising’s been banned since 2006 (that’s right, a megalopolis with no billboards). The only ones which exist comprise street art, which is often a commentary on current affairs

Paulo Cesar Silva, better known as graffiti artist Speto, says: “The streets here are the most democratic place for expression. No matter what your colour or social status, graffiti on the street is for everyone. I started painting in 1985 at the end of the military dictatorship in Brazil and the feeling of freedom affected everyone. I expressed it on the street. I was just

14 years old.” Now 42, Speto’s one of the most respected artists in the land, with works in his distinctive style (he calls it “naïve”) commissioned by international galleries and displayed in streets around the country.

SHORT BEERS, LONG BEATSA few days after my Batman Alley ramble, I return to Vila Madalena over a warm weekend to soak up another side of the area. A flashy car drives past with the top down, playing club tracks at a volume to rival the bars from which patrons spill onto the sidewalks, frosty drinks touching their lips. We hear Rihanna’s voice ebb down the hill: “Ella, Ella, Ella!”

The glasses filled with beer (called chopp, around Brazil) are short and a cinch drain. The accompanying platter of coxhinas – golden-crusted, palm-sized, teardrop-shaped croquettes filled with shredded

Above: Colourful retro, mid-century modern furniture and collector’s items at Retrô 63.

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54 Sawubona April 2015

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chicken and cheese – is surprisingly large. We’re not certain we can eat all of it. The late-afternoon revelry’s only just started and there are many bars, many beers (or caipirinhas, if you prefer), dancing and dinner still on the cards in this vibrant enclave. After all, that’s what you’re expected to do here on Rua Aspicuelta and the neighbouring streets on a lazy Saturday. You sip and savour, bow to the young and reckless who totter by in teeny shorts and 23cm stilettos. Once the cachaça hits the sweet spot, you flail your limbs around in a boogie. The locals would probably call it a samba and I discover that it requires deft co-ordination and balance.

Vila Madalena was once considered bohemian because of the hippies and students who swarmed in, due to the housing shortage at the University of São Paulo during the Seventies (the last time the word “boogie” may have actually been appropriate) and Eighties, creating a commune of artists, free thinkers and camaraderie. The face of the barrio has since modernised. It’s held in a web of gentrification, clearly visible from the apartment blocks under renovation. With sleek glass and neatly engineered lines, designer boutiques and galleries glint in the sunlight, like tinsel in a magpie’s nest.

The bar and party scene are somewhat more democratised. While it’s known that intellectuals and young professionals – the yoga mat-carrying, artisanal

cheese-eating, street art-loving crowd – have long populated the Vila, it’s the beer and the beat that unite classes and ranks.

“It really is the most unique and fun place in São Paulo,” says Luis Simardi, founder of Around São Paulo Tours. If you can recall coverage of the non-stop partying in the area during last year’s Fifa World Cup, you’ll get an idea of the extent of the festivities during the February

Carnival. “Charming” quickly escalated into “chaos”, one report stated. The numbers of revellers allowed into Vila Madalena have to be curtailed. “My friends who live here leave during the carnival,” confesses Simardi.

GENTRIFICATION BLUESNot everyone residing in this hilly, lively neighbourhood is wealthy. The subway line has made the area accessible and more visitors are fluttering in to relieve their wallets of their wages. But peel back the layers, or walk past the trendy watering holes with “free wifi” and eco-conscious boutiques, and you’ll find signs of dilapidation and fatigue. The old Vila Madalena.

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56 Sawubona April 2015

While intellectuals and young professionals have long populated the Vila, it’s the beer and the beat that unite classes and ranks.

são paulo

Above: Batman Alley, with Batman signalling the way.

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58 Sawubona April 2015

“The area was once called Sítio do Rio Verde [‘Green River Ranch’]. It’s said to have belonged to a Portuguese settler named Gonzalo. He had three daughters, one of whom was called Madalena. That explains the origin of the name,” says former lawyer Manuela Colombo, currently the Creative Economy Advisor at the São Paulo City Hall. She lived in Vila Madalena for years and only recently moved out.

“Did you know that the region first began to grow because of the construction of Cemitério São Paulo, the cemetery, in the 1920s?” she asks.

Adriana Levi, who owns Refazenda, a women’s boutique in Rua Aspicuelta, says: “There’s too much inequality in Brazil for everyone to benefit from all of this.” She points

to the street. Colombo’s wary of the

impact of the influx and rampant modifications. “There are many problems, too. Take modern construction companies which are proposing buildings to replace original houses. It’s a big risk if it’s not done with the community’s input and planning. You’ve got to involve the residents. I’m currently working on a project that’s being championed by the community, local shops and institutions to create a community park in Belmiro St,” she says.

There’s a spin-off in response to the gentrification efforts, such as the Vila Madalena residents taking ownership of neighbourhood projects.

“It was here that I was inspired to get involved with movements in favour of better public places, like parks and squares,” Colombo tells me of her work with her previous organisation, Conexão Cultural (www.conexaocultural.org), which runs numerous cultural campaigns around the city, as well as her current projects.

Later, after a hefty feijoada, the much-loved local bean stew cooked with pork and served with crackling, collard greens, fresh orange and spring onions, we take a stroll. Opposite a church in full service, with doors open and the organ reverberating, youngsters are queuing outside the latest club.

Church beats, club beats... Vila Madalena seems to embrace them all.

GETTING THERE• South Africans

don’t require a visa to visit Brazil, but do need a yellow fever immunisation certificate

• SAA flies to São Paulo seven days a week

WHERE TO STAY Mid-range: HBB Hostel: 47 Rua Fidalga.

+55 11 3032 2741 www.hbbhostel.com.br

Luxury: Book an apartment or villa:

www.oasiscollections.com/saopaulo

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINKEmpório Sagarana: A brewery and bar with a great beer selection 271 Rua Aspicuelta.

+55 11 3031 0816São Cristovao: A traditional bar and restaurant with football memorabilia. 533 Rua Aspicuelta. +55 11 3097 9904Bar Astor: For both food and drinks, outstanding service and a great ambience. 163 Delfina St. +55 11 3815 1364 www.barastor.com.br

Feijoada da Lana: For an excellent variety of feijoada. 421 Rua Aspicuelta. +55 11 3814 9191A Queijaria: A pretty cheese shop. 35 Rua Aspicuelta. +55 11 3812 6448 www.aqueijaria.com.brAmüse Food Store: For takeaways. 223 Rua Girassol. +55 11 2548 6505 www.amusefoodstore.com.br

WHERE TO SHOPSou Sou: For gorgeous silver, copper and

gemstone jewellery. 355 Rua Aspicuelta.

+55 11 3812 4076Refazenda: A women’s boutique. 188 Rua Aspicuelta. +55 11 3816 5414Retrô 63: For colourful, mid-century mod furniture and knick-knacks. 63 Rua Harmonia.

+55 11 2537 6232

MADALENA’S SCENEGaleria Choque Cultural: A contemporary art project. Rua Medeiros de Albuquerque.

+55 11 3061 4051

www.choquecultural.com.brA7MA: A street art gallery. 95 B Rua Harmonia. +55 11 2361 7876.

www.a7ma.art.br Beco do Batman: Around Rua Gonçalo Afonso, it changes frequently. Ask locals for directionsStreet Art Tour: With Around São Paulo Tours.

www.aroundsp.comBicycle Tour of Vila Madalena: With Hey! São Paulo. www.heysaopaulo.com.br

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

Above: The steep streets of Vila Madalena – a mix of homes and the coolest shops and boutiques.

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