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About

A sculpture garden

for Unicamp

The indication for implementing this Sculpture and Conviviality Garden was sparked by the recognition of the art collections already held by Unicamp and the intention to innovate and update the campus spaces.

Conceived as an organism that the Institute of Arts formalises in the open surrounding áreas that the Institute of Arts occupies on Zeferino Vaz campus, the project is presented as a space for experimentation, fruition and collecting, unfolding from the artistic research of its academic body. In this way, it is understood that the proposal fulfils the greater specificities of the university's day-to-day work, as well as engenders elements of public involvement through the interaction of different audiences.

The Garden of contemporary art installed at the Institute of Arts establishes its projected formation in a growing way, aiming to update the model more traditionally applied to the sculpture gardens of the past, proposing a type of artworks collection that, beyond the usual permanent character, intends to encourage experimentation with new contemporary artistic forms based on ephemeral or specific activation, participation and lasting in time and space, which include the wide range of artistic expressions studied and practised in the departments of the Institute of Arts. It is thus based on a conceptual vector that is born from the sculptural element without restricting itself to it, seeking to reach the performative that aligns many contemporary forms of artistic production.

In Brazil, a few sculpture gardens are operating in this way. They are usually linked to cultural institutions focused on Contemporary or Modern Art, which they exhibit and safeguard as their collection, such as the MAM SP Sculpture Garden and the Praça da Luz Sculpture Garden, both located in the city of São Paulo.

At Unicamp, this project is preceded by the sculpture collection formed as part of the "Art on Campus" project created in 1985 during Prof Aristodemo Pinotti's time as Dean of the University. The aim was to install a collection of artistic works created by the professor-artists of the recently inaugurated Plastic Arts Department on campus. This project can still be seen in different parts of the campus. "Arte no Campus" was the first set of artworks to be installed in the Zeferino Vaz campus landscape, leaving an important cultural legacy, as well as driving the development of artistic projects that can integrate the flow of people within the campus.

In 2017, with the donation to the Institute of Arts of the piece "Bird Castle" by Japanese artist Akiko Fujita, the proposal to create the Sculpture Garden was formalised. The project was submitted by Prof Sylvia Furegatti and approved by the Visual Arts Department Council in August that year. A subcommittee was then created to coordinate the project’s implementation. It comprised professors Sylvia Furegatti, Claudio Lima Ferreira and engineer Wilmar Passarela. After preparing the piece, documenting the donation and adapting the area on the land, the I.A. Congregation approved the installation of this sculpture on 23/05/2019.

"Castle of Birds" repeats the rite of foundation in which the artist-professor Akiko Fujita had already participated in the 1980s, when she was part of the faculty that founded the Department and the Visual Arts Degree Course.

With the Dean of Extension and Culture (PROEC) support for constructing of the base and assembling Fujita's work, the piece was installed in the open area of the I.A. gardens and inaugurated on 17 October 2019. A seminar specially organised to accompany this inauguration, focusing on discussing contemporary sculpture and its relationship with the city.

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