Casa Brasil Opens in Rio with Decolonial and Feminist Works

The historic building that once housed Brazil's first shopping center, the Praça do Comércio (1820), and later the Casa França-Brasil (1990–2024), has been reborn as Casa Brasil. The neoclassical structure in Rio de Janeiro, originally designed by French architect Grandjean de Montigny under King João VI, now focuses on contemporary Brazilian art with a decolonial and feminist slant. The transformation was led by a cultural team including director Tania Queiroz (also director of Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage), artist Cadu, curator Marcelo Campos (director of Museu de Arte do Rio), and producer Jocelino Pessoa. Funding came from a Petrobrás public notice (R$4 million, renewable for one year). The inaugural exhibition, opened in November 2025, features 57 artists selected from 980 open-call submissions, with works by PH Costa, Novíssimo Edgar, Mãe Celina de Xangô, Yoko Nishio, Renan Soares, Hevelin Costa, Andrey Guaianá Zignnatto, and others. The show runs until March 15, 2026. A parallel installation by Arthur Chaves, "Tarde do Fauno," curated by Cadu, is also on view. The program includes four group and four solo shows per year, a public program, and a podcast coordinated by journalist Daniela Name.