The monument to the independence by Ettore Ximenes and the artistic exchange Between Brazil and Italy

• Grant number: 14/14185-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 18, 2014
• End date: April 01, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Fundamentals of Architecture and Urbanism
• Principal Investigator: Paulo César Garcez Marins
• Grantee: Michelli Cristine Scapol Monteiro
• Supervisor: Barbara Cinelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FAU). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/08905-2 - São Paulo in dispute for the past: the Monumento à Independência by Ettore Ximenes as a place of memory, BP.DR

Abstract

The theme of my academic research is the process of the establishment of the Ipiranga hill, and most especially the Monumento à Independência (Monument to the Independence), as a "place of memory" of the political emancipation of Brazil. The monument was chosen by a public poll taken during the celebrations of the First Centenary of the Brazilian Independence, therefore in a moment of recreation of the national identities facing the new Brazilian political conjuncture introduced by the happening of the Republic. This research exchange project to be implemented in Italy intends to contribute to a fundamental point of my PhD research, which is understanding what would have motivated the choice of Ettore Ximenes's work. In order to do so it is of the utmost importance to understand this Italian artist's path, who were his masters, the works he had made in Italy and the possible connections between them and the monument in question. Furthermore, it is intended to analyze the monument's exposure in Italian magazines and newspapers. It is believed that the study of these issues will help understand the importance of electing Ximenes as the winner of the contest and how this choice helped to create a "place of memory" of Independence, which reveals a wider project of affirmation of the city of São Paulo as the symbolical center of the country. (AU)