Pierre Verger's photographs on exhibit in São Paulo

The travels of French photographer, ethnologist, and anthropologist Pierre Verger (1902-1996) have provided the theme for an exhibit at the Afro Brasil Museum, in the Ibirapuera Park, São Paulo: the adventures of Pierre Verger.

Curator Alex Baradel, who is also in charge of the collection at the Pierre Verger Foundation, says his plan is to show part of Verger's itinerary from before he arrived in Brazil, with a focus on topics that are also interesting to an audience of children.

“Children can really relate to Pierre Verger's photographs, even though they're black and white and old. But he was a groundbreaker because he had always wished to know other worlds, set off and discover new cultures. And that's a topic that's always kept the younger ones captivated: a glimpse of new horizons,” he said.

As an example of what could draw children's attention, Baradel mentioned a trip to Polynesia, where the photographer lived on an island for four months with nothing, just like Robinson Crusoe. “It's the dream of a lot of children to live on an island,” he argued.

In the exhibit, Verger's pictures establish a dialogue with other documents, among them a piece by painter Paul Gaughin and a magazine from the The Adventures of Tintin series, created in 1929.

Verger left France at the age of 30, after his mother died. He spent many years traveling around the world until he reached the city of Salvador, in 1946. “When he arrived in Bahia, he fell in love with the city. He became deeply interested in the African-Brazilian culture. He lived in Salvador until his death,” the curator recounted. African-Brazilian religion then became the object of his research and his work as a photographer.

The exhibit is expected to last until December 30. It features 270 photographs—50 of them in video form—captured by the photographer during his trips, divided into nine modules which help tell the story of his travels: Paris, Trips, Polynesia, the Sahara, China, Peru, Africa, Project, and Educational. Also available is a collection of 11 illustrations by Bahia visual artist Bruno Marcello (known as Bua), which depict Verger in a variety of episodes and contexts.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira