The exhibition ‘Saudade’ presents around 35 mostly large-format works by the renowned portrait and fashion photographer Olaf Heine. Since 2010 he has been seeking out Brazil’s soul with a demonstrable sensitivity for form and texture and brings to life the words of the legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer: “The whole universe is made of curves. Curves in architecture and in human bodies – and also in the attitude to life. When everything is made of curves, nothing follows a straight line. The images capture not only the richness of curves in buildings and Brazilian women, but also show how life is flexible and in a state of constant flux.” From the intensity of longing to the lightness of forms, Olaf Heine shows us a fascinating, multifaceted country in all its beauty.

This is all the more impressive given the headlines of the last weeks and months. Since President Jair Bolsonaro took office earlier this year, his rule has been marked by a display of brutal power. Criminals have been executed in the streets, homosexuals have been imprisoned, and the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest has been driven forward. In contrast, Heine reveals the place of longing that the first generation of Brazilian modernists created in architecture, literature, and music in the mid-20th century as the aesthetic expression of a country changing for the better into a social, political, and urban society. A vision of utopia that many look back on with longing, especially in today’s context: Saudade!

In his book ‘Brazil‘ Olaf Heine has tried to show that place of longing, that a generation of Brazilian modernists in architecture, literature and music have designed in the middle of the 20th century as an expression of a positively changing, social, political and urban society. Which allegedly – considering recent developments in Brazil – seems like wishful thinking or a utopian dream that many a person might gaze back at with Saudade. The exhibition ‘Saudade‘ shows old and new works from Olaf Heine’s Brazil series.

Simultaneous exhibitions on view at Chaussee 36 Photography:

»Walls Come Tumbling Down!« | Oct 11 — Nov 30, 2019
Erwin Blumenfeld »Chasing Dreams« | Oct 11 — Nov 30, 2019

Special Opening Hours / 30th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall:

Thursday, November 7, 2019: closed
Friday, November 8: 1 – 6 pm
Comboticket: 7 € / 5 € (reduced)
Saturday, November 9: 12 noon – 6 pm
Ticket for »Walls Come Tumbling Down!« incl. guided tour: 3 €
The exhibitions »Saudade« and »Chasing Dreams« are closed on November 9.
Sunday, November 10: 1 – 6 pm
Comboticket: 7 € / 5 € (reduced)

Oct 11 — Nov 10, 2019
Opening Reception: Thursday, Oct 10, 7 – 10 pm

Chaussee 36 Photography

Chausseestraße 36, 10115 Berlin
[District: Mitte | Borough: Mitte]

Opening hours: Thu – Sat 1 – 6 pm. Special Opening Hours: please see above

Admission: 7 € / reduced 5 €