Number six - Casa França Brasil

Since every experience counts - here is another one from today! From the cultural heart of downtown Rio de Janeiro, there is yet another Centro Cultural that everyone who loves culture, architecture and the arts should absolutely visit: Casa França Brasil.

The building from 1820 was designed by Grandjean de Montigny and was the first example of neo-classical architecture in Rio de Janeiro. The building had many different uses among them customs offices, deposit of archives and a court house before it was restored and transformed into a Cultural Center in 1990. It is especially dedicated to contemporary art.

The building is wonderful, and with the exhibit showing a work by Rodrigo Braga called Tombo, where trunks of palm trees from Rio de Janeiro are spread around the floor, the contrast of the building and the artwork is startling.

After so many impressions I sat for a while and just relished the silence and the beauty of the building. Then on my way out I caught sight of Igreja de Candelaria, at two totally new angles.

And I remembered that it was Sunday and that I was blessed.