Born in Salvador, Bahia, in 1922, Rubem Valentim would have turned 100 years old in November 2022, and the exhibition "Ilê Funfun: A Tribute to Rubem Valentim's Centenary" at the Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte was a celebration of his legacy.
He began his journey in the 1940s as a self-taught painter and participated in the modern art movements in Bahia, alongside Mario Cravo Júnior, Carlos Bastos, Sante Scaldaferri, and others. Since the early 1950s, he began research related to the liturgical aspects of African-based religions, especially focusing on symbols and tools of the orixás, which became mandatory visual elements in his production.
The title chosen by curator Daniel Rangel refers to this religiosity. Ilê means house and terreiro, the sacred temple of worship for the orixás, and Funfun, the color white, a reference to those who dress in white, especially from the family of Oxalufã, the old Oxalá, and Oxaguiã, the young Oxalá. "In truth, we are all children of Oxalá, entrusted by Olódùmarè to create all living beings on the planet, including plants, animals, men, and women," explained Rangel.
The retrospective was presented in three sections: the "Temple of Oxalá," a set of 20 sculptures and 10 reliefs by Rubem Valentim, considered the pinnacle of his work, donated to MAM-BA in 1997 and restored by Almeida & Dale in 2022; "Studio," where the artist's creative process was unveiled, featuring unfinished paintings that were in production at the time of his death in 1991, and the tools he used; and "Chronology," which traced his history through clippings, research, documents, personal archives, photographs, and posters.
"Ilê Funfun" brought together the essence of Valentim's journey: a potent artistic-sacred collection and references from his personal universe, combining the collections of the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia, the Rubem Valentim Institute, headquartered in São Paulo, and the Museum of Art in Brasília; places that were his homes, spaces that were his ilês.
After being exhibited at Almeida & Dale, the show traveled to the National Museum of the Republic in Brasília, and then returned to MAM-BA for the reopening of Rubem Valentim's special room at the museum.
