Photo exhibition in São Paulo recalls Chilean, Brazilian dictatorships
In 1973, photojournalist Evandro Teixeira was sent by Jornal do Brasil to cover the military coup in Chile. Joined by reporter Paulo César de Araújo, Teixeira left for Chile on September 12, the day after the coup that culminated with the death of then President Salvador Allende. With the national borders closed by the Chilean military junta, Teixeira could not enter Santiago until September 21, when the press was finally allowed to record the event—not without heavy military surveillance.
With his camera always at the ready tucked inside his jacket, Teixeira managed to dodge Chilean censors and make the most remarkable records of the period for the Brazilian press. These are the black-and-white pictures on display since Tuesday (Mar. 21) at São Paulo’s Moreira Salles Institute.
“The exhibition looks primarily at the material Evandro [Teixeira] produced in Santiago days after the 1973 military coup. The selection dialogues with what he had produced earlier in Brazil, also in the period of the military dictatorship—iconic moments like the taking of the Copacabana Fortress on April 1, 1964, the first day of the coup,” said Sergio Burgi, photography coordinator and curator of the exhibition.
“At 5 a.m. Leno [Captain Leno, his neighbor in Rio at the time] knocked on my door saying the military coup was underway. ‘Are you coming with me or not?’ he said. At that moment, I put the camera in my jacket, filled my pockets with film, and took a 35mm lens. Off I went,” Teixeira recounted after a visit to the exhibition.
Altogether, the exhibition features 160 photographs, not to mention books, videos, facsimiles, press badges, and even his camera. Of the 160 images on display, 130 were taken by him in Chile. Among them are pictures of the arrival of students arrested at the country’s National Stadium, which was transformed into a detention camp for torture and murder by the military. All those portrayed were later killed by officials of the Chilean dictatorship, as confirmed by Teixeira.
Dubbed Evandro Teixeira, Chile, 1973, the display runs until July 30. Entrance is free of charge.
