MON without Walls

“MON without Walls – Artists conquer MON’s gardens”

 This unprecedented exhibition is the Oscar Niemeyer Museum’s newest achievement.

Increasingly democratic and inclusive, with “MON sem Paredes – Artists Conquistam os Jardins do MON” (“MON without Walls – Artists conquer MON’s gardens”) the Museum breaks the physical limit of its walls and embraces the population, making it accessible to everyone. The initiative is an invitation for the external public to perceive the art, be inspired, and feel encouraged to enter.

In the MON's internal space, Visitors can check out drawings and models made by the artist-architect from Paraná, Gustavo Utrabo, during the process of designing the works “Semeador” (“Sower”) and “Ao Redor de uma Árvore” (“Around a Tree”), which are exhibited in the Museum’s external area, called Parcão (“Big Park”). 

The project has now gained, in a new renewed edition, an interactive sculpture park, with works by artists such as Artur Lescher and Rômmulo Conceição. Curated by Marc Pottier, the location will house several other permanent and temporary installations, in a calendar of frequent invitations made by MON.

We understand that art in public spaces allows for a variety of interactive activities that a museum exhibition does not always provide. By creating connections between the exteriors and the Museum’s exhibition rooms, “MON without Walls” allows many other forms of expression of artistic creativity to be showcased.

Juliana Vellozo Almeida Vosnika 

Director-president of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum

Artists conquer MON gardens

More than ever, art in public spaces stands out as one of the best ways of bringing art to the public. Inviting artists to create works, installations, and sculptures using the spaces of gardens, parks, and squares also allows for a variety of interactive activities that a museum exhibition does not always provide. MON has always wanted to work to expand its audience and offer many proposals that can make people from Curitiba and Paraná take ownership of “their” Museum. For this reason, the important MON sem Paredes project was created.

In 2022, in the first version of the project, MON presented, in the Museum's gardens, works by artists Gustavo Utrabo (the work remains on the site today) and Mariana Palma. 

For this second version of MON without Paredes, the Museum invited “O Pequeno Colecionador” (“The Little Collector”), a group formed by Artur Lescher, Mariane Klettenhofer, and Paula Azevedo who proposes to think about art and the experience of playing in its various forms, histories, and cultures.

Artists Alexandre Vogler (born, lives, and works in Rio de Janeiro) and Narcélio Grud (born in Teresina and lives and works in Fortaleza) were also invited.  

Alexandre Vogler presents a set of four interactive sculptures-furniture: “ Strength Stretcher I”, “Lemon Stretcher”, “Rosemary Stretcher” and “Guard Stretcher”, installed in the public space and activated by elements of its surroundings.

The artist and designer Narcelio Grud moves between different paths in his research, where objects gain movement and ways of existing, whether through direct interaction with the public or even through natural driving forces. For MON sem Paredes, Narcelio brought sculptures from the series “Always on Foot” and “ Jungle Gym”.

By creating connections between the Museum's outdoor spaces and exhibition rooms, this new project allows us to showcase many other forms of expression of artistic creativity, as well as present projects for all audiences, including all generations of families. Working outdoors also allows for “unlimited dimensions of works”, routes, and games where everyone is welcome without time constraints. 

Marc Pottier, Curator

Alexandre Vogler
Maca Alecrim, 2019
Pink cedar and rosemary
Artist's collection

Like massage tables, this one is designed so that the person lies face down, with their arms hanging down and their face accommodated by the cavity of the board integrated into a rosemary bush. This herb is recognized as one of the most powerful triggers of relaxation states among the countless benefits attributed to it.

- Free access.
- Maximum number of people: 1 person at a time.
- Do not sit on the edge of the piece.

Alexandre Vogler
Maca Cidreira, 2019-2021
Angelim and bush citron
Artist's collection

Composed of four boards assembled at a 30° angle in length and width, it is located under a large bush of lemon balm, a medicinal herb with a very pleasant smell. It was designed for the person to lie down, being “embraced” by the angled structure and covered (like a wave) by the bush.

- Free access.
- Maximum number of people: 1 person at a time.

Alexandre Vogler
Maca de Força (para Iara), 2021
Angelim and strength herbs
Artist's collection

This Stretcher, designed in the shape of a ladybug (insect associated with luck and bliss), brings around it a set of seven types of force commonly used in ecumenical practices of Afro-Brazilian religions – cologne, rue, dumbcane, Saint George's sword, myrrh, guinea, and pitanga. In this context, the “patient” lies down and relaxes in its concave form.

- Free access.
- Maximum number of people: 2 people at a time.

Alexandre Vogler
Maca de Guarda/Maleme, 2023
Maçaranduba
Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection

The “Guard Stretcher” requires the user/patient to lie down on its surface, at 40°, turning his body towards the sky. This Stretcher partially reproduces the playful practice of creating angel images. The person lies down on the snow, opening the arms and legs – which justifies the addition of his title. This sculpture also includes in its nomenclature the expression Maleme, a word from the Afro-Brazilian vocabulary that designates supplication, mercy, or help, addressed to the orishas, especially the orisha Xangô. The position in which the user is, with open plexus and legs open, with the body facing the heavens, directs the ecumenical and divine guidance of this Stretcher.

- Free access.
- Maximum number of people: 1 person at a time.

ARTUR LESCHER
Kaleidoscopic, 2022
Stainless steel and carbon steel
1 / 5 + 2 PA
Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection
Work developed by the project "The Little Collector"

A “kaleidoscopic” spinner, where the spectator experiences spinning on their axis, moving the surroundings in a meditative and fun experience. We can speak of the work as a container for the body, a meta-house for observing the world. Rotating around our axis evokes dance and spiritual rituals of access to other dimensions and mental states. Something familiar to us, something from our childhood.

- Children under 8 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
- Maximum number of people: 2 adults or 3 children at a time. 
- Maximum load: 200 kg.
- Avoid using it on rainy days.
- On hot days, the structure absorbs heat. Use carefully.

ARTUR LESCHER
Gyroscopic, 2022
Stainless steel and carbon steel
1 / 5 + 2 PA
Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection
Work developed by the project "The Little Collector"

A merry-go-round where the viewer experiences spinning on their axis, moving the surroundings, in a meditative and fun experience. We can speak of the work as a container for the body, a meta-house for observing the world. Rotating around our axis evokes dance and spiritual rituals of access to other dimensions and mental states. Something familiar to us, something from our childhood.

- Children under 8 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
- Maximum number of people: 2 adults or 3 children at a time. 
- Maximum load: 200 kg.
- Avoid using it on rainy days.
- On hot days, the structure absorbs heat. Use carefully.

NARCÉLIO GRUD
Sempre em Pé 01 e 02, 2023
Sound sculpture in fiberglass with PU painting 
Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection

The works in the “Sempre em Pé” series (“Always on Foot”) are mixes of different concepts, using the Wobblyman/ Always on Foot toy as the main aesthetic base. It aims to promote interactions through movements and sound experiences, giving new meaning to the object and expanding its usability to create an environment where discovery and play go hand in hand.

- Children under 8 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
- Avoid using it on rainy days.
- Be careful when handling the works, avoiding hitting people around you.

NARCÉLIO GRUD
Trepa-Trepa, 2023
Fiberglass sculpture with PU painting and stainless steel arches
Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection

This sculpture has a formal circular composition where the radius, diameter, and center expand from a globe to intertwined rings, forming a kind of cosmos of planetary orbital routes. In its interactivity concept, it proposes to be a climbing sculpture/furniture, similar to leisure equipment found in children's play areas in public squares and parks. 

- Children under 8 must be supervised by an adult.
- Use by people over 14 is not permitted.
- Avoid using it on rainy days.
- On hot days, the structure absorbs heat. Use carefully.

ROMMULO CONCEIÇÃO

Estruturas Dissipativas/Trepa-Trepa, 2023
Metal, glass, concrete and polychrome automotive paint

Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection
Work developed by the project "The Little Collector"

Work composed of two jungle gyms symmetrically arranged from an axis perpendicular to a platform that separates them and accessed via jungle gyms or stairs. A 3.5-meter-high glass sheet cuts the platform and creates a false plane of symmetry. The work also includes 3 rotating benches, a table, and a wall with a 4-meter-high fence. All the work is made of iron and concrete and assembled in a way that gives access to its use by the public, who can use it based on their references.

- Children under 8 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
- Maximum number of people: 2 adults or 3 children in the air.
- Maximum load: 200 kg.
- Avoid using it on rainy days.
- On hot days, the structure absorbs heat. Use carefully.

GUSTAVO UTRABO
Semeador e Ao Redor de uma Árvore, 2023
Oscar Niemeyer Museum Collection

The works "Semeador" (“Sower”) and "Ao Redor de uma Árvore" ("Around a Tree") are by architect Gustavo Utrabo from Paraná. The "Sower" is a statement about life from the passage of time. An elevated path from the ground connects the Museum to the garden. Built by modularly repeating the floor designed by Niemeyer for MON, it begins to blur the boundaries between the constructed and the natural, mixing a combination of typical Paraná seeds with the cement floor. The path takes the visitor to the work "Around a Tree", a creation that materializes as a gesture of care, in which a metal frame surrounds the stem and brings us closer to the canopy in a gesture of respect. The touch of the ground is made through four thin pillars and, as stated by Ailton Krenak, stepping gently on the earth is what we are looking for. 

- Free access.
- Maximum number of people: 20.
- Avoid using it on rainy days.
- Climbing the tree is not permitted.

This huge wrought iron tree sculpture, shaped like a teapot, designed by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, is part of the new edition of MON sem Paredes (MON without Walls).

The work invites the public to interact, allowing a closer look at its interior, but, more than that, it awakens the visitor's curiosity to discover, inside the Museum, the artist's largest solo exhibition in Brazil: “Extravagâncias” (“Extravagances”), with monumental works. It's an immersion in its colorful and creative magical world, which occupies the Eye and various spaces below it, floors of the tower, and the main internal ramp of MON.

The planting of the ten millionth native tree seedling is an important milestone in the trajectory of the Paraná Mais Verde Program. 

The Paraná Mais Verde environmental education program, promoted by the Sustainable Development Secretariat (SEDEST) and Instituto Água e Terra (Water and Land Institute) (IAT), was launched in 2019 and regulated by Law 20.738, of October 4, 2021, with the aim of raising environmental awareness and combining environmental, economic and social development.

The lines of action envisaged by the program are: Revitalizing Nurseries; Socio-environmental Nurseries, Encouraging Endangered Species; Commemorative Dates; Urban Parks and Pollinating Paraná.

Each seedling planted is a step towards a greener and more sustainable Paraná, and this great milestone is a symbol of the state's collective strength, with the collaboration of government bodies, NGOs, communities and citizens.