Itaú Cultural's Ocupação Project Honors Vladimir Herzog with Multifaceted Exhibition

The 46th edition of the Ocupação project at Itaú Cultural in São Paulo is dedicated to Vladimir Herzog, the journalist murdered under torture in 1975. The exhibition, open until October 20, moves beyond his political martyrdom to explore his multifaceted life. It presents over 70 boxes of his meticulously organized slides, revealing an obsessive photographer with a sharp eye for composition and unusual angles. The show includes personal photographs, such as one of his son André in a rose garden, and documents his deep interest in cinema, featuring his only short film, 'Marimbás,' and research for a documentary on Canudos. Curated by Luis Ludmer of the Instituto Vladimir Herzog and Claudiney Ferreira of Itaú Cultural, the exhibition is the result of a two-year research project involving eight researchers. It displays facsimiles of his articles, important legal documents like the 1978 court decision that reversed the official suicide verdict, and poignant personal items, including his family's 1946 entry record to Brazil and a letter from his father during World War II. The curators aimed for a non-funereal, open museography, with plans to use the collected material as the basis for a permanent future website. The exhibition positions Herzog not just as a symbol of resistance against oppression but as a complex intellectual figure.