Bel Borba Aqui Press Book

Art & Design THE NEW YORK TIMES ART & DESIGN

by Larry Rohter Published: September 18, 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/arts/design/bel-borba-brings-contagious-creativityto-new-york-streets.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=design http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/09/19/arts/design/20120919BORBA.html

Bel Borba uses duct tape to create a piece of public art on Roosevelt Island.

Brazil’s Pied Piper of Street Art Bel Borba Brings Contagious Creativity to New York Streets It was an odd sight for an industrial street in the Ridgewood section of Queens, so of course the delivery-truck drivers, the workers from nearby manufacturing plants and other curious passers-by felt compelled to stop, look and ask questions. On the maroon-colored external wall of a furniture factory, the Brazilian artist Bel Borba was busy making a large mosaic of white tile, portraying a globe surrounded by objects that looked like a cross between sunflowers and mechanical fans.

“I think I’ll call this mural ‘Global Cooling,’ ” Mr. Borba said with an animated cackle as he stepped back to survey and decide on finishing touches for the work, which he and some assistants had begun barely three hours earlier.

“But that globe needs to have a running man atop it, as if he were making the world turn, like a hamster in a cage.”

That was Friday, the first day of an unusual monthlong public art residency that will take Mr. Borba all over New York City and allow him to work in whatever medium strikes his fancy. On Saturday he created a painting of a lizard and a spaceman on the asphalt on Roosevelt Island; this week he is in Red Hook, Brooklyn; Howard Beach, Queens; and other neighborhoods.

Starting on Oct. 1, a short film he made with two collaborators will be shown every night for a month on 15 jumbo signs, some with multiple screens, at Times Square.

Mr. Borba, 55, is from Salvador, in the state of Bahia and the third largest city in Brazil. Its streets, walls, plazas and beaches have been his canvas since the late 1970s. He is a well-known, even beloved, figure there, regularly greeted on the street by residents who encourage him to come and work in their neighborhoods; his output there led to a documentary about him that will open in New York next month. But he said he was delighted to receive an invitation to work in New York, so far from his comfort zone.

“Rarely in my life have I had an opportunity like this,” Mr. Borba said. “I don’t know that I’m ever going to find another city with this variety not just of ethnicities, but of neighborhoods that change from one side of the street to another. On one side it may be Caribbean, and on the other Jewish, and I like that, I feed off that.”

Since Mr. Borba works mostly with found or discarded materials — broken tiles, pieces of wood, rusted metal, plastic bottles — supplemented by power tools, duct tape and other everyday objects, the proclivity of New Yorkers to throw things away also excites him. A recent trip to scout sites and materials suitable for transformation left Mr. Borba enthusiastic, for example, about outof-commission plastic traffic barriers, which he then cut into figures that resemble both totem poles and robots.

“I could stay here for 20 years and not run out of raw material,” he said in Portuguese. “I’m really out of my jurisdiction here, working with all kinds of materials that are new to me, and without the support structure I have in Salvador. But the material available for me to recycle is so abundant and fantastic, and the equipment is much cheaper too.”

Mr. Borba’s project, called “Diário,” or “Diary,” is part of the international multimedia “Crossing the Line” festival, sponsored by the New York branch of

the French Institute Alliance Française; other participants include the guitarist Bill Frisell and the director Peter Sellars. Each of Mr. Borba’s undertakings is being filmed and edited for posting on aWeb site created for the purpose. For Mr. Borba’s audience in Brazil, a blogger is posting regularly on what he is doing.

This ebullient artist is also the subject of the new documentary, “Bel Borba Aqui: A Man and a City,” which is scheduled to open at the Film Forum on Oct. 3 for a two-week run and later in the year across the country. This 95minute film is directed by Andre Costantini, an American photographer and filmmaker, and Burt Sun, a Taiwanese artist who encountered Mr. Borba’s work while traveling in Brazil a few years ago and was immediately smitten.

“This guy is a force of nature, so it would be stupid not to make a movie about him,” said Mr. Sun, who has also enlisted as the curator of Mr. Borba’s public art project in New York. “I went to Salvador at a time when I was feeling very cynical about art and artists, but meeting Bel, feeling his energy and seeing his work and the way he inspires and is inspired by his community, that restored my faith in art.”

Born into a family of lawyers, Mr. Borba initially studied law himself. “But from the time I was a kid, I loved to draw and paint,” he said, and eventually he enrolled in the Institute of Fine Arts in Salvador. “I didn’t finish art school, either,” he added, “because of youthful rebellion and restlessness.” He worked for many years as a commercial artist until his public art became so popular and such a trademark of the city that he could make a living from it through commissions.

Mr. Borba is admittedly little known in the United States. But American specialists in public art praise him not just for his talent and ability to work in many mediums, but also for his eagerness to bring his fellow citizens into his creative process, a skill that is amply documented in the movie.

“In terms of productivity and energy, he is really a quite brilliant and facile artist, a Pied Piper who can get people to follow him,” said Ricardo Barreto, for many years the executive director of the Urban Arts Institute at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. “He has a career as a museum artist, but his public art is a conversation with his community, and that’s what

the best public artists strive for. A lot of it he goes out and just does, out on a limb by himself, both literally and figuratively.”

Mr. Borba’s method relies heavily on “instinct, intuition and spontaneity,” as he puts it. That can create difficulties in situations in which structure and order are highly valued. Mr. Sun said that in his meetings with New York cultural institutions, he was often asked to explain what specific project Mr. Borba had in mind for their locations, and was sometimes met with puzzlement when he replied, “I don’t know.”

“Bel is very unpredictable,” Mr. Sun said. “Everything depends on how he feels at that moment.”

Though focused on Mr. Borba, the film also meditates on the nature of the creative impulse, and has attracted the interest of artists of all sorts. The actress Debra Winger, who was so impressed by the film at an early screening that she signed on as an executive producer and is helping with distribution, called it “a wormhole into another world, one that we ought to know but don’t.”

“Bel is very compelling, and for him, what he does is a question of life and death,” she said. “That sounds overdramatic, but it’s a way to understand the artist’s life. But the really beautiful part is that he’s also showing people who are not necessarily artists how to connect with art in the physical world. He may have been operating under the international radar, but he’s at the core of what every society needs.”

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER FILM REVIEW: BEL BORBA AQUI

by John DeFore Published: October 4, 2012 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/bel-borba-aqui-film-review-376496

Burt Sun and André Costantini's debut film follows a prolific artist leaving no blank wall unpainted in Salvador, Brazil.

Endearing doc focuses on the pleasure of creating over the rigors of artistry.

Celebrating a gregarious Brazilian painter/sculptor whose defining characteristic is an inability to stop creating, Bel Borba Aquí is cheerfully out of step with the street art zeitgeist, where shadowy figures like Banksy occupy the top rung. The debut film from Burt Sun and André Costantini will charm many art-house patrons, though some highbrow-leaning art lovers will find the subject unworthy of such attention.

Famous in his native Salvador, Bel Borba studied art but gave up the gallery scene decades ago, instead becoming regionally famous via tile mosaics and murals on buildings throughout the city. Unexplored here is whether the fine art world rejected him first: Borba's folky style seems unlikely to wow critics.

He tells the filmmakers at one point they should talk to a writer who "talks intelligently bad things about me," but the film has no use for naysayers, or even for outsiders who might praise his work. Borba's is almost the only voice we hear in the film.

Instead of talking heads and biographical info, Sun and Costantini spend their time watching the man do his thing. We see him suspended on a crane, decorating a concrete ruin; breaking tile for colorful human-scale decorations in a seaside residential area; directing assistants on sculpture projects made of heavy steel and weathered wood. One thing we never see him do is edit himself: With the exception of a time-lapse sequence in which he makes an evolving picture for the camera's benefit, Borba never erases a brushstroke or questions an idea. Every image that enters his head gets used, and if strangers suggest he should add a fish to a mural, he'll throw that in as well.

Borba's a charismatic self-promoter, happy to take commissions from big corporations and incapable of saying no to a TV crew. We only rarely hear him make an introspective comment or hint at the kind of political sentiments that motivate so many other street artists. But it's clear from street scenes that his work brings joy to people throughout Salvador -- a city whose flavor comes across vibrantly here, from the well chosen songs on the soundtrack to the bustling outdoor market where Borba, having spotted a butcher stall's cow heads, can't help but create clay torsos to prop them on for shoppers' amusement.

Production Company: Bel Borba Aqui Productions, LLC Directors-Screenwriters: Burt Sun, André Costantini Producer: Burt Sun Executive producer: Debra Winger Director of photography: André Costantini Music: Anrdré Costantini, Michael Wall, Eliano Braz, Darren Morze, Bob Hart Editors: Vanessa Reiser Shaw, Daniel Burity, André Costantini No rating, 91 minutes.

O ESTADO DE S. PAULO NOTÍCIAS / CULTURA

by Jotabê Medeiros Published: October 14, 2012 http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/impresso,e-bel-borba-fez-a-america,945263,0.htm

E Bel Borba fez a América O sucesso em Nova York de um artista baiano quase desconhecido em seu próprio país Um anúncio de 10 segundos em um dos telões de LED de Times Square, em Nova York, custa US$ 150 mil (cerca de R$ 300 mil). Bel Borba está em 22 desses telões, durante três minutos, toda noite, até o fim deste mês.

Quem diabos é esse Bel Borba, um milionário?, perguntará o leitor. Quase: Bel Borba é muralista, e é baiano. Não tem dinheiro, mas conseguiu a façanha por uma dose superlativa de sorte e perseverança de um curador.

Visto com desconfiança pelos seus pares soteropolitanos durante mais de duas décadas, Alberto José Costa Borba, de 55 anos, está com obras expostas em uma dezena de lugares em Nova York, de Roosevelt Island à hiperexposta Times Square. Um documentário sobre sua vida, Bel Borba Aqui, de Burt Sun e André Constantini, está sendo visto no momento na mostra Film Forum, de Nova York, e em outras 19 cidades americanas. "Um filme de estonteante beleza cinematográfica, música cheia de vivacidade e grande narrativa", escreveu a Voice of America.

"Nem nos meus sonhos mais otimistas eu imaginaria algo assim", diz o artista, que já perdeu a conta de quantas obras suas existem nos muros, ladeiras e paredes de Salvador. "É um upgrade ser reconhecido aqui como artista brasileiro", acrescenta Borba, após uma colherada num prato de feijão de uma deli dominicana, na fronteira entre o Brooklyn e o Queens, a uma quadra da garagem que está usando como ateliê. Os muros dos vizinhos já conheceram a versatilidade do artista baiano, porque ele oferece obras aos amigos que vai fazendo pelo caminho - numa oficina mecânica, instalou um painel em que um indivíduo caminha sobre o mundo, uma alegoria de sua própria nova condição.

Bel Borba já fez obras com chicletes mascados que infestam o chão das estações de metrô de Nova York; já fez instalações instantâneas com as gradinhas que prendem a rolha das garrafas de champanhe; já simulou rachaduras de gás no chão de Roosevelt Island. Sua grande intervenção (em termos de peso) será hoje, nos pés da escadariazinha de Times Square, onde os turistas tiram fotos. Ali, peças feitas de "water barriers" reciclados (um tipo de cone gigante da CET local que se usa para prevenir alagamentos e marcar desvios de rodovias e obras), que foram retrabalhadas e viraram objetos artísticos novos, serão exibidas até o fim do mês - entre elas, um autorretrato do bigodudo artista que parece uma mistura de Bob Esponja com Salvador Dalí.

São cerca de 100 water barriers e mais de 3 mil parafusos, além de sacos de areia, nas obras. O mais louco é que eles não têm nenhum patrocinador, tudo foi conseguido com lábia e trabalho. Trabalho duro não o assusta: há alguns anos, quando viu que iria abaixo o Estádio da Fonte Nova, em Salvador, ele pediu para recolher pedaços da lendária arena antes que virassem pó de concreto debaixo das máquinas. Recolheu colunas, lajes, esculpiu as peças e as usou como ready-made numa exposição. Para Bel, aqueles pedaços ainda guardam a história do estádio.

Quem descobriu Bel Borba foi o chinês americano Burt Sun, produtor cultural, videomaker, ensaísta, faz-tudo elétrico. Ele se tornou curador dessas mostras e também dirigiu o filme Bel Borba Aqui. Burt Sun o conheceu há 5 anos em Salvador, quando tinha a intenção de fazer apenas um livro, para o qual tinha sido comissionado. Mas, ao mostrar o resultado de suas pesquisas

com o trabalho de Borba para a Aliança Francesa, a Times Square Alliance e a Crossing the Line, eles resolveram trazer Bel para mostrar seu processo trabalho nos Estados Unidos.

"Ele é tão carismático que não querem mais devolvê-lo", brinca Burt Sun. "Nunca conheci um artista que cortasse metal, papel, plástico, concreto ele mesmo; que dominasse escultura, pintura, desenho, artesanato, performance. Como artista e curador, e também como professor de arte, me acostumei a gente como Jeff Koons, com seu nariz empinado, gente que fala muito, tem muitas 'ideias', mas quando tem de realizá-las nunca põem a mão na massa, delegam a outras pessoas. E passam a maior parte do tempo falando, falando", ironiza o curador.

Para Burt Sun, o carisma de Bel Borba faz com que ele desfrute de uma compreensão toda especial do seu papel como artista. "Ele sempre ouve o que querem, ouve o que o povo mais pobre espera. Não lhes dá exatamente o que espera, também os provoca. Pedem que desenhe um peixe num muro, ele desenha, não é o peixe que esperavam, mas desenha. E seu trabalho tem o valor que podem pagar, se não têm nada, ninguém paga. Ele põe arte em tudo o que faz, porque tudo é arte para ele", afirma.

Bel Borba não cita influências mirabolantes em sua obra, nada de Diego Rivera, Basquiat. Ele se diz influenciado essencialmente por artistas baianos contemporâneos, como Emanuel Araujo, Juarez Paraíso, Mario Cravo, Calasans Neto, Edson da Luz. Recentemente, sua obra foi objeto de uma exposição no Museu Rodin de Salvador, com curadoria de Burt Sun. "Eu mereço um espaço para refletir sobre o mundo", ele diz, no filme sobre sua arte. Desde janeiro, tem vindo a Nova York continuamente, para trabalhar.

Era tanta demanda que já até alugou um apartamento em Chelsea, onde está há 57 dias - agora com a mulher, Meire, e a filha de um ano e meio, Bela.

Ele garante que quantificar o que produziu em Salvador é tarefa para gerações futuras. Ele não faz questão de saber. De vez em quando, algum preço lhe é cobrado. Não é raro que o chamem para tirar água de alguma escultura de peça reciclada por medo do mosquito da dengue, e ele tem que ir.

Uma vez, ele conta, um caminhão de lixo recolheu uma de suas peças e os jornais da Bahia noticiaram, foi um barulhão, o prefeito de então, Imbassahy, o chamou para pedir desculpas. Bel não se avexa. "Quando você coloca uma obra na rua, tudo pode acontecer com ela: pode ser fotografada, negociada, furtada. Não há mais direito de imagem, é complicado. Mas o que posso dizer é que zelam mais pela minha obra nas ruas do que se pode imaginar", afirma o artista, acrescentando que nunca pretende abrir mão dos espaços informais.

TERRA MAGAZINE POR BOB FERNANDES BLOG

by Elizabeth Carvalho é jornalista, editora-executiva e repórter especial da Globo News.

Published: September14, 2012 http://terramagazine.terra.com.br/blogterramagazine/blog/2012/09/14/redescobrindo-obrasil/

REDESCOBRINDO O BRASIL O Brasil vem mudando a passos rápidos sua imagem projetada no mundo. Mas ainda prevalece entre nós o sentimento provinciano e desagregador que valoriza o circuito Rio-São Paulo como único centro gerador da arte contemporânea brasileira.

Pergunte-se a um carioca ou paulista de razoável bagagem cultural quem é Bel Borba: dificilmente ele saberá responder. Se visitar vez por outra a cidade de Salvador, é possível que associe o nome aos afrescos em ladrilho que colorem as ruas da cidade. Quando muito, dirá que se trata de um artesão da Bahia.

No mundo fechado das chamadas artes plásticas, o Brasil está dividido entre o grande artesanato de nordeste e o sul produtor de Arte em maiúsculo. Estamos próximos de Nova York ou Berlim, mas dificilmente rompemos o muro que nos separa da criação nacional para além da fronteira de nossas metrópoles cosmopolitas. Somos ignorantes e insensíveis para com o conjunto do Brasil.

Bel Borba é um artista baiano. Um grande artista, como mostra Bel Borba Aqui, o belo documentário de Burt Sun e André Constantini, que vem ganhando espaço nos grandes festivais de cinema nos Estados Unidos e na Europa. Ele nos revela com sensibilidade a síntese de uma obra gigantesca, que há mais de três décadas expressa na paisagem urbana de Salvador a alma popular brasileira.

Os baianos tiveram a sorte de ver o conjunto desta obra feita de ladrilhos, ferro, areia e barro graças à persistência de Sun, um chinês americano apaixonado pelo país, numa exposição infelizmente ignorada pelos cadernos de cultura dos grandes jornais que encarnam o papel de caixa de ressonância do Brasil.

Que não percam o filme: é uma chance de tornar conhecido entre nós o trabalho de um artista inquieto, cuja essência pode ser traduzida na imensa estrutura de ferro levada ao fundo do mar e que retorna a superfície inundada de vida, uma das mais belas sequências do documentário. A capacidade de nos reinventarmos a cada dia talvez seja o nosso maior talento e a nossa grande vocação.

FOLHA DE S. PAULO ILUSTRADA

by Gabriela Longman Published: October 4, 2012 http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/1163356-muralista-baiano-cria-intervencoesnas-ruas-de-ny.shtml

Muralista Baiano Cria Intervenções Nas Ruas de NYC Poucos brasileiros longe de Salvador já ouviram falar de Bel Borba, mas alguns nova-iorquinos foram seduzidos por sua figura.

Aos 55 anos, o muralista baiano foi tema de reportagens recentes do "New York Times" graças a um projeto de "street art" que tem desenvolvido na cidade.

Conhecido pelos mosaicos e painéis que monta em bairros da capital baiana, o artista tem saído diariamente às ruas de Nova York, perambulando com sua equipe por regiões do Brooklin, do Queens e de Manhattan.

Usando garrafas pet, sacos de lixo, chicletes, adesivos, pedaços de plástico e o que surgir à frente, Borba entra em contato com associações de moradores a fim deixar sua marca no chão ou nas paredes públicas.

Obra do artista baiano Bel Borba nas ruas de Nova York Numa sexta-feira ensolarada, a Folha o encontrou debruçado no chão de Roosevelt Island. Enquanto desenhava, câmeras de vídeo e alguns passantes acompanhavam os seus movimentos.

"As ações são todas efêmeras, sem rastro, sem vandalismo. O vídeo é o produto final", explica ele. "A obra é a capacidade que você tem de materializar ideias."

Filmadas e editadas, 30 dessas intervenções serão reunidas no blog do artista (diariobaiano.wordpress.com ) e exibidas em alguns dos telões da Times Square --uma por dia ao longo do mês de outubro.

O projeto é fruto de uma associação entre o artista e o produtor e videomaker norte-americano Burt Sun. Foi ele que "descobriu" Borba pelas ruas de Salvador e, em 2009, resolveu fazer um documentário sobre o artista.

Com uma hora e meia de duração, "Bel Borba Aqui" esteou em NY no Film Forum, espécie de templo do cinema independente na cidade.

"Estava cansado de tudo e fui morar em Salvador, para arejar a cabeça.

Comecei a reparar nos murais de Bel. Quando o conheci pessoalmente, ficou claro que era o personagem perfeito para um filme, por causa da relação que

ele tem com a cidade e com seu próprio trabalho. Restituiu minha fé na arte", explica Sun.

Mais do que na arte, o documentário foca no jeito despojado de Borba e na sua "energia criadora".

Na nova empreitada nova-iorquina, Burt e seu parceiro André Constantini editam a filmagem de cada uma das ações de rua até transformá-la numa pequena narrativa.

"Queríamos algo divertido, leve e inventivo", diz o diretor, comemorando o fato de ter conseguido mais tempo de tela do que Yoko Ono no plano de exibição de vídeos artísticos da Times Square.

Borba diz que optou desde cedo por se afastar do circuito de museus e galerias, bem como do grafite-protesto. Desde os anos 1970, ele faz seus murais pelas ruas e vende as pinturas e esculturas sem intermediação.

Dedé, ex-mulher de Caetano Veloso, e o publicitário Duda Mendonça estão entre seus clientes.

Com um bigode à la Salvador Dali e uma indiferença por bienais, curadores e afins, Bel Borba diz que gosta mesmo é de produzir sem parar e transformar tudo o que vê pela frente. "É arte? É marketing? Para mim, levantar essa discussão já é uma conquista ", sugere o artista. Capital da arte e do marketing, Nova York está adorando recebê-lo.

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ENDORSEMENTS

LOS ANGELES TIMES MOVIE REVIEW: MOVIES NOW

by Gary Goldstein Published: November 15, 2012 http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/15/entertainment/la-et-mn-bel-borba-aqui-capsule20121116

'Bel Borba Aqui' provides a grab-eye view of the artist Co-directors Burt Sun and André Costantini follow Brazilian artist Bel Borba through his creative process.

•

"Bel Borba Aqui" is a sunny vacation of a film, a documentary that's as jaunty and improvisational as its colorful subject, prolific Brazilian artist Bel Borba.

Co-directors Burt Sun and André Costantini eschew the usual personal history, observer commentary and specific narrative structure for a grab-bag look at a man whose hometown of Salvador de Bahia is his canvas.

For 35 years, Bel Borba has transformed Salvador's urban landscape with his eclectic explosion of average-sized to grand scale art, including sculptures, paintings, murals and mosaics.

Whether decorating a wall, a sailboat sail or an airplane, every surface is fair game to this tireless craftsman, who works in an anything-goes array of mediums: tiles, steel, sea sand, mud, wood and even plastic soda bottles (his giant,Coca-Cola commissioned Christmas tree sculpture is a knockout).

The filmmakers follow the chatty, charismatic Bel Borba as he produces one art project after another, each more captivating than the next. Unlike many such artist profiles, Bel Borba's creative process — both physical and emotional — is made clear. We even get to see him cooking dinner with artistic panache.

What the film lacks in biographical depth, it makes up for with stirring visuals (including effective bits of split screen, time-lapse photography and animation), a vibrant score and an infectious, in-the-moment spirit.

-------------------------"Bel Borba Aqui." No MPAA rating; in English and Portuguese, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes. At the Downtown Independent, Los Angeles

THE HUFFINGTON POST HUFFPOST ARTS & CULTURE

by Kathleen Massara Published: April 28, 2012 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/28/burt-sun_n_1406926.html

HuffPost Arts Interviews 'Bel Borba' Filmmakers Burt Sun and Andre Costantini "When I think of any artistic movement in Salvador, I automatically link it to Bel Borba." An airport taxi driver delivers these words to the documentary crew in the video above as they cruise through the streets of Brazil, picking up speed as roads become highways. A few seconds later, we see Bel at work, fixing brightly-colored broken tiles to the surface of yet another project. Bel's work is everywhere in this 500-year-old city; he's known as the “people’s Picasso” and his work doesn't disappoint. We asked the filmmakers, Burt Sun

and AndrĂŠ Costantini, about art, inspirations, and how they first came under Bel's spell. Their responses are below; HP: How is public art celebrated in Brazil?

BS & AC: At least in the city of Salvador, it is very welcome. In the case of Bel Borba, his art is literally everywhere and when we interviewed people on the street they felt that work like he does "completes the city." There are some publicly sanctioned commissions, but the majority of art that exists on the street, just shows up there. This gives the city character and depth and is a reflection of the culture. Ironically, some of Bel's works that were done guerrilla style are now protected landmarks.

HP: When did you first encounter Bel's work?

BS & AC: Six years ago, [when] Burt moved to Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. He saw Bel's work in practically every neighborhood and knew he just had to meet the artist. Burt had received support to make a book about urban art in Brazil and was interested in focusing on Bel's work. What was intended to be only a book, changed the moment Burt met Bel. Bel's personality and connection to his community and his city combined with the constant drive to make art made him the perfect subject for a documentary film. Interestingly enough, one of Burt's long time collaborators, AndrĂŠ Costantini had expressed an interest in making a feature documentary film on an artist, the previous year. AndrĂŠ flew to Brazil and the second day they met started filming.

HP: Why did you decide to "compose the film like a piece of music" and do you think you achieved this goal?

BS & AC: We went through the process of interviewing tons of people from museum directors to his mother. We found it helpful in getting a clearer perspective of the character but decided that we would let the thing that

inspired the film carry it through and thus we focused specifically about the idea of Bel telling his own story, his relationship with the city, his capacity to transform things and Bel here and now. Once we committed to that idea, we thought about how to adapt a structure to the film. We thought about operas and musicals; interludes, overtures and the like. There are certain themes that repeat, yet the character develops along the way. The idea of specific moods we wanted to create helped to dictate our choices, musically and visually.

Ultimately, this is a film about an artist by two artists. We set out to use a very lyrical approach to tell the story and based upon what we have been told by audiences, we have achieved this goal.

HP: What artist or art work has influenced you recently?

BS: Andy Goldsworthy's works transform the natural world into something truly profound. This is especially evident through viewing the documentary film about him and his work "Rivers and Tides."

AC: American photographer, artist and filmmaker Gordon Parks. He was an inspirational artist who not only overcame prejudices because of his race, but was an exceptional photographer, writer, film director and musician. He did everything from follow gangs in Harlem for stories for "Life Magazine", shot fashion for "Vogue" and directed "Shaft".

TAM /NAS NUVENS PERFIL

by Nathalia Lavigne Published: February 1, 2013 http://www.tamnasnuvens.com.br/revista/site/

Onde Nova York é Mais Baiana Bel Borba, um artista pouco conhecido for a de Salvador, ganhou um documentário internacional, teve seu nome estampado nos telões da Times Square e foi assunto nos principais jornais dos Estados Unidos Fosse alguns anos atrás, a imagem de um homem correndo em volta do globo não faria lá muito sentido para Bel Borba. A menos que o mundo girasse, girasse e parasse invariavelmente no mesmo ponto, em Salvador.

Sim, Alberto José Costa Borba é baiano, soteropolitano dos mais apegados.

Conhecido na cidade pelos painéis feitos com azulejos despedaçados e por outras intervenções urbanas criadas com materiais reaproveitados, ele já deixou rastro nos principais pontos da capital baiana: da árvore de Natal construída com garrafas PET , na Pituba, ao mosaico que retrata uma revoada de pássaros, bem em frente ao Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM ), na Avenida Contorno.

Mas a história do artista ganhou outro traçado geográfico no fim do ano passado. No início de outubro, um documentário sobre ele — Bel Borba Aqui, de Burt Sun e André Costantini — foi exibido no festival de cinema Film Forum, em Nova York, e logo estreou em outras cidades dos Estados Unidos. No mesmo mês, seu nome apareceu todas as noites em diversos telões de LED da Times Square, também em Nova York — o vídeo artístico sobre ele teve mais tempo de exibição que o de Yoko Ono, por exemplo.

Ainda ali, na mesma época, Bel expôs uma série de esculturas feitas com barreiras de trânsito, produzidas durante uma residência artística em que criou uma obra por dia.

Contando assim, é inevitável se perguntar como um artista pouco conhecido no Brasil ganhou projeção internacional de tamanha proporção, logo em Nova York. Ele mesmo não disfarça sua surpresa com os acontecimentos recentes: “Faço minhas coisas espontaneamente, nunca imaginei que pudesse gerar um interesse como esse. Não é complexo de inferioridade, mas sempre fiz meu trabalho sem muita pretensão mesmo”.

O mosaico que retrata um homem correndo em volta do globo ocupa um bom pedaço do muro vizinho ao espaço usado por ele como ateliê, em uma região dominada pelo spanglish dos imigrantes latinos, no Queens. Foi ali que Bel Borba passou a maior parte do tempo no fim do ano passado, quando chegou a morar quase três meses na cidade e alugou um apartamento no Chelsea para trazer a mulher e a filha de dois anos. Aos 55 anos, Bel Borba costuma se apresentar como um baiano dos mais típicos. “Tudo o que se imagina sobre um baiano é a minha natureza. Temos um lado meio provinciano, apegado às origens”, afirma.

Mesmo com as viagens frequentes e os compromissos internacionais, que se multiplicaram nos últimos meses, ele faz questão de deixar claro que a terra natal tem sempre um lugar cativo na sua obra. “O primeiro pedaço que coloquei nesse painel foi o mapa da Bahia”, conta. Na chuvosa sexta-feira de dezembro em que a TAM Nas Nuvens o acompanhou pela cidade, ele não disfarçava o incômodo com o vento gelado e o clima já invernal. Sorte que seu próximo destino tem temperaturas bem mais amenas: no fim de fevereiro ele segue para Cartagena, na Colômbia, onde participa do festival internacional de cinema com o documentário Bel Borba Aqui e aproveita a viagem para criar obras pela cidade.

CONE XÃO CHINA –BAHIA O responsável pelas incursões internacionais que transformaram a vida de Bel Borba é o chinês Burt Sun, radicado nos Estados Unidos há duas décadas. Sun descobriu o trabalho do baiano há cinco anos, quando decidiu dar um tempo na multifacetada carreira de produtor cultural, curador, assistente de fotografia e artista e foi para a Bahia. “Estava cansado de

conviver com pessoas do mundo da arte. Um amigo italiano que trabalhou para a Fundação Pierre Verger me falou de Salvador e me animei a conhecer. Acabei comprando uma casa lá”, conta. Mas a calmaria baiana não parece combinar muito com a personalidade inquieta e intempestiva do sinoamericano — e seu período sabático acabou durando pouco. Intrigado com os mosaicos de azulejo onipresentes na capital, além de desenhos, pinturas e esculturas quase sempre construídas com materiais reaproveitados e pouco maleáveis, Sun resolveu investigar quem era o autor das obras. Em pouco tempo, apresentou o projeto de um livro sobre ele para o Urban Arts Institute da Universidade de Massachusetts de Arte e Design, em Boston, e começou a acompanhar o artista nas suas intervenções.

Um desses encontros se deu durante um passeio de saveiro pelo Rio Paraguaçu. A experiência tinha tudo para ser desagradável: com a mudança dos ventos na metade do percurso, eles ficaram presos no barco por oito horas. “Quando todo mundo já estava apavorado, ele começou a recolher o que cada um tinha na bolsa e organizou uma festa no barco. Naquele momento percebi que seria muito estúpido se fizesse só um livro sobre ele.”

O chinês resolveu produzir o documentário sem patrocínio, arcando ele mesmo com os custos.

BASTARDO NA ARTE Além de diretor do filme, Burt Sun virou também uma espécie de curador permanente das exposições de Bel Borba. Ele cuidou da seleção de obras de uma mostra individual feita recentemente no Museu Rodin, em Salvador, e do projeto que resultou na exibição na Times Square. Sua próxima missão é buscar o reconhecimento das galerias e dos museus, que resistem em aceitar a produção de Bel Borba além dos limites da arte urbana. “Eu acho que as esculturas que ele criou com pedaços do estádio Fonte Nova, em Salvador, poderiam perfeitamente pertencer ao Instituto Inhotim”, opina.

Bel Borba, por outro lado, não parece ter essa ambição de fazer parte do circuito da arte contemporânea — bem jovem, rompeu com a galeria que o representava e resolveu vender suas obras por conta própria. “Por uma questão de rebeldia juvenil, afastei-me das galerias e dos museus. Hoje eu não agiria dessa forma. Fiz a escolha mais difícil, mas só assim pude criar uma relação direta com as pessoas, com a comunidade local”, diz ele, enquanto ajeita as pontas curvilíneas do bigode cultivado há mais de 30 anos — o que lhe rendeu o simpático apelido de “Dalí de Salvador”.

Se o reconhecimento fora da Bahia ou por parte das instituições convencionais de arte demorou a chegar, a popularidade de Bel Borba entre os moradores de Salvador nunca foi discutida. Paulo Darzé, principal galerista da cidade, conta que a primeira exposição do artista, organizada por ele em 1984, continua sendo até hoje uma de suas mostras mais visitadas.

Porém, ele lamenta a falta de conhecimento e interesse dos outros estados pela produção artística local: “A Bahia possui grandes artistas atualmente. O reconhecimento que Bel Borba está tendo deveria ser estendido a outros nomes da sua geração, como Sérgio Rabinovitz e Caetano Dias”, diz o galerista. No documentário, Bel compara sua trajetória à de um filho bastardo — diz que preferiu construir uma carreira em paralelo, sem pai nem mãe. A metáfora refere-se tanto à trajetória independente das instituições quanto à falta de influências definidas e de um estilo claro, que permita classificá-lo em algum grupo. Ele pode até ter se criado sozinho, mas, depois da temporada nova-iorquina, não vai faltar gente interessada em apadrinhá-lo mundo afora.

ART IN AMERICA INTERNATIONAL REVIEW NEWS AND OPINION

by Lisa Stahl Published: September, 28, 2012 http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/news/2012-09-28/crossing-the-line-fiaf/

Bel Borba Crosses the Line

Founded in 2007 and co-produced by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), the Crossing the Line festival [through Oct. 14] this year features 18 inter national artists who extend the boundaries of various art forms—theater, dance, performance, visual art and music. FIAF's New York artistic director, Lili Chopra, produced the first edition of the annual festival, and this time coorganized the program with FIAF curator Simon Dove, and Bard College performance chair Gideon Lester.

During the opening night's reception on Sept. 14 at FIAF's 60th St. lounge, guests politely mingled over cocktails. In the next room, walls pulsed with an installation by Paris-based Celeste Boursier-Mougenot, which featured shadowy figures of musicians that seemed to sprout up out of sound.

Late in the evening, a scruffy man seemed to storm the room, lugging heavy materials and followed by a man recording him. This unannounced entertainment was Bel Borba, a participating artist who for the last 35 years has transformed locations in his native Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, with

ephemeral untitled mosaics, sculptures and installations. Recently, he has been working with videographer Burt Sun on a series of short episodes posted intermittently on FIAF's website. The project, documenting the artist's playful hijinks in New York, is complemented by Sun's 2012 documentary (produced with and Andre Costantini), Bel Borba Aqui,which screened last week at FIAF. During his time in New York for Crossing the Line, Borba has been making ins tallations-with a spontaneous spirit that belies the organization's planning—on Roosevelt Island and in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Queens, and Times Square.

He's covered industrial buildings in brick-red paint with delicate white silhouettes of what appear to be trees and the sun, painted bright green windows on drab warehouse walls, and crafted tiny colorful figurines for an antique shop in need of a window display. Much of Borba's work is figurative.

Says Dove, "He's putting a human face on derelict buildings, playing with the possibility of us looking at the city as a friendly human face rather than a postindustrial wasteland."

"My goal is to kidnap just for a few seconds people's attention," the artist said.

"I go out and transform garbage into art. I want to make people think about what kind of art we should be making now."

The festival endeavors to support emerging artists through production funding and residencies. Such assistance-including three 10-day visits to New York over a 12-month period-enabled Paris-based artist Joris Lacoste to develop his new work, 4 Prepared Dreams, a performance that explores hypnosis as a form of creative experience.

Simon described the piece as "a new way for the artist to work and a completely new notion of what constitutes performance."

FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL FILM REVIEW: BEL BORBA AQUI

by David Noh Published: October 2, 2012 http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/reviews/specialtyreleases/e3i8d0bc893526eefa8313feb368a4c82bd

Exhilarating, dazzlingly colorful portrait of an artist with the ability to literally transform the world around him.

Art of the most joyously accessible, truly creative kind is featured in Bel Borba Aqui. It’s all the work of the artist Bel Borba who, 35 years ago, forsook the traditional gallery art route and turned his entire town of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, into a living, breathing one-man show.

Written and directed by Burt Sun and AndrĂŠ Costantini, the focus is squarely on the 55-year-old artist, who is luckily a fine camera subject, with an expressively weathered face and eyes that sparkle with an irrepressible love

of life. And why shouldn’t they? I doubt if Borba has ever been bored for one second, so brimming over with inventive visions is he. This artist can transform discarded Coke bottles into fantastical animal street sculptures, simple chalk wall drawings into kaleidoscopic mosaics, pigs’ heads found in his beloved central market into half-human clay portraits, and the entire rusted-out skeleton of a gutted building into a haunting gallery of human faces. The man is obviously his own best company and, as he avers, his work means much more to him than sex or drink.

Borba cites “intuition, instinct and spontaneity” as the three most important elements in his art. To these, one might easily add “love,” especially for the way his work has transformed his humble, traditional beach town, and the beneficent effect it has had on its residents. He’s also anything but a reclusive, exclusive artiste, happily granting interviews to anyone interested enough to seek him out, as he remembers all too well “the times when I would have given a finger to be a little bit known.”

The film is an exhilarating ride through Borba’s world, filled with color, yummylooking food he naturally whips up himself, and throbbing, vibrant local music, much of it hummed by the artist himself as he blissfully goes about his days.

The doc is a lot of fun and truly inspiring, although one would have liked to learn more about his actual background as the son of lawyer parents who forsook their profession to enter art school and have his first exhibition at the age of 18. Borba is known as the Picasso of his country for his unquenchable creativity, and the comparison is apt. The filmmakers seem in love with his actual process, and we see him breezily yet intently doing his thing with an impressive variety of tools: acrylic paint, oil, metal, ceramics, digital. The results nearly always bring a smile to your face. Refulgent with a pure love of humanity, Bel Borba represents the exact opposite of the artistic spectrum from the traditional tortured persona of a Jackson Pollock.

A TARDE CULTURA/ VISUAIS 2+

By Marcos Dias Published: January 11, 2012

NA RUA E NO MUSEU Mais conhecido por suas intervenções urbanas, Bel Borba inaugura a exposição Aqui. Em 7 elementos, no Palacete Rodin

MUIITO MAGAZINE / A TARDE SPEICIAL REPORT

By Patrick Brock Published: October 26, 2012 http://atarde.uol.com.br/muito/materias/1463056-bel-borba-em-plena-nova-york

A hora e a vez de Bel Borba e Burt Sun Bel Borba em plena Nova York “Alguns minutos depois, o espetáculo se encerra, mas Borba já deixou sua marca: um artista baiano humaniza o maior templo da publicidade americana.”

Primeiro de outubro, pouco antes da meia-noite, lounge do Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel. Suas janelas amplas mostram frontalmente o universo de telas multicoloridas do Times Square, sempre a piscar com uma infinidade de propagandas.

Cerca de trinta pessoas populam o espaço do evento produzido com muito profissionalismo, com direito a fitinhas de pulso para os convidados e fotógrafo dedicado. Chega a zero hora e o vídeo “Universal Pulse”, produzido por Burt Sun, Andre Constantini e Bel Borba, substitui as propagandas de 25 dos telões. Palmas, flashes. Na rua, abaixo, alguns transeuntes parecem atônitos diante das belas imagens que substituem o narcotizante fluxo comercialista. Alguns minutos depois, o espetáculo se encerra mas Borba já deixou sua marca: um artista baiano humaniza o maior templo da publicidade americana.

Bel Borba, 55 anos, estourou em Nova York de um jeito impressionante no último mês, com direito a consagração na mídia mundial. O documentário “Bel Borba Aqui”,

dirigido pelo taiwanês Burt Sun e o americano Andre Constantini, foi o veículo para tamanha projeção. Borba se tornou no último fim de semana (14) o primeiro artista brasileiro a expôr suas esculturas no Times Square, como parte de uma iniciativa da associação comercial local para embelezar a região, conhecida como importante centro turístico de Nova York mas considerada por alguns como de gosto duvidoso. A iniciativa do Times Square Alliance, como a associação comercial é conhecida, não envolveu qualquer troca de valores.

Borba recebeu A TARDE no dia 11 em seu estúdio improvisado numa área afastada do “borough” Queens, repleta de pequenas indústrias e restaurantes dominicanos. Os prédios baixos e casas humildes para o padrão americano denunciam que o local é bem distante do fausto do Times Square. No muro vermelho do local, onde funciona uma carpintaria, Borba já deixou sua marca, na forma de mais uma de suas esculturas de cerâmica. No estacionamento do galpão repousavam as obras que depois foram expostas no Times Square – algo como um avião (ou pássaro), um animal lembrando um suíno gordinho, uma “moto” e uma caricatura do artista com seus bigode ao estilo de Salvador Dalí.

Bel começa o papo elogiando a facilidade de produzir arte e conseguir espaço em Nova York, bem como a fartura de matéria-prima e equipamentos. O material escolhido para a exposição do Times Square foram as divisórias de pista, barreiras de plástico feitas para serem enchidas com água. Bel toca logo na questão do artistaempresário, um aspecto fundamental para alguém que lida com intervenções urbanas, como ele. Um exemplo é que suas obras para o Times Square contam com seguro para proteger o artista e a associação comercial de qualquer processo causado por alguém que se machucasse nelas, já que foram expostas em local público.

Conhecido pela escala de suas obras e assumidamente centralizador, Borba alerta que, às vezes, “em vez de você ter cinco pessoas te ajudando, você tem cinco pessoas para você empurrar, puxar pela manga ou ajudar a lhe ajudar. Quase tudo que eu peço para fazer sem eu estar presente não fica do jeito que eu gosto e tenho que refazer.” Além disso, diz que o artista que atinge uma certa envergadura precisa se tornar pessoa jurídica para poder vender obras para grandes clientes, outras pessoas jurídicas que, segundo Borba, são os principais compradores de sua arte de Salvador.

Celebrando o sucesso atual e o nascimento da filha, Borba admite que mudou muito ultimamente. “Eu não sou mais um artista marginal, jovem e rebelde, eu já estou caminhando para os meus 60 anos. Chega uma hora em que você tem que ter consciência da própria idade.” Borba conta que quase perdeu os movimentos do braço direito devido à insistência de fazer todas as obras com as próprias mãos e hoje só usa ferramentas. A recuperação demorou quatro anos. “Tem coisas que eu não posso fazer mais,” admite.

O momento vivido por Borba é em grande parte fruto da parceria com Burt Sun. Os dois se conheceram em 2008 e a ideia de produzir o documentário partiu de Burt, radicado desde o fim dos anos 80 em Nova York mas que naquele momento morava em Salvador, preparando um livro sobre artistas de rua brasileiros a pedido da Universidade de Boston. Nos últimos três anos, Burt e Constantini acompanharam Borba frequentemente, e o próprio artista viajou diversas vezes para os EUA no último ano.

O momento também é de uma nova etapa na carreira de Borba, em que seu trabalho assume também uma forma multimídia com o documentário, o blog documentando suas intervenções por Nova York e o curta do Times Square. Borba, que vinte anos atrás ouviu de um galerista que o espaço não era para ele, mas apenas para “pesospesados”, conta que Burt disponibilizou tanto o prestígio dele como seu círculo de amizades para mostrar o filme nos EUA. “Vejo minha carreira começando de novo nas ruas, mas não é mais aquele rapaz de 17 anos, agora tenho 55 e capacidade de produzir arte em qualquer lugar do mundo.”

Bel avalia que o documentário de Burt é uma visão particular, não é uma biografia sua. “É o meu trânsito pela cidade, minha relação com a comunidade. E, ao mesmo tempo, a reboque disso é uma maneira de mostrar uma Salvador diferente daquela do noticiário, do desmatamento, mulheres rebolando de lantejoula, prostituição infantil. É uma Bahia amistosa, de uma visão poética e de uma linguagem particular.”

Misto de fotógrafo, curador de arte e produtor cultural, Burt, 40 anos, conta que a produção do documentário “Bel Borba Aqui” levou três anos. “No início pensamos em fazer um documentário mais tradicional, fizemos muitas entrevistas, mas depois vimos que era melhor deixar Bel ser a própria vez e tornar ele e a cidade protagonistas”, conta Burt.

A produção, com orçamento cronicamente insuficiente, contou com alguns lances de improvisação e a colaboração de um grupo mutável de pessoas, como um cineasta húngaro que operou a câmera em vários momentos. Burt, que já trabalhou com diversos outros artistas, conta que conhecer Borba foi uma grande mudança em sua carreira como produtor cultural. “Nunca conheci um artista que queria fazer tudo sozinho, com as próprias mãos”, reflete. Percebendo o potencial da obra de Borba mas uma certa reticência em deixar a cidade que tanto adora, propôs então: “Se você não quiser ir ao mundo, eu trago o mundo para você.”

A primeira edição do documentário não despertou muito entusiasmo em algumas pessoas que receberam cópias. Mas depois de estrear no festival Cinequest em San Jose, na Califórnia, em março, o filme se tornou um sucesso imediato e foi lançado recentemente em 12 salas de cinema nos Estados Unidos, um feito respeitável para uma produção independente. “A energia de Bel mexeu com as pessoas. Em San Jose, algumas pessoas vieram nos dizer que o filme mudou suas vidas e as inspirou a produzir arte também. Acho que é porque nos EUA há uma cultura de fazer as coisas por conta própria, e Bel tem muito a ver com isso,” conta Burt. A atriz Debra Winger acabou se tornando madrinha do filme nos EUA, e o produtor cultural Richard Abramowitz (o mesmo que distribuiu o filme “Exit Through The Gift Shop”, sobre o artista Banksy) aceitou trabalhar na distribuição do filme.

O próximo passo para Burt será produzir dois livros sobre a obra de Borba. O primeiro será de imagens, para documentar apropriadamente a obra do artista, enquanto que o segundo será um livro com entrevistas e textos acessíveis para explicar para um público amplo a importância da obra do artista. “Bel presenteou a cidade de muitas maneiras. É muito importante que a cidade reconheça seu trabalho e o preserve, em vez de ele ter que ficar mantendo e limpando tudo. Está na hora de a cidade realmente reconhecer ele,” sugere Burt.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE SFGATE/ ENTERTAINMENT: FILM REVIEW

by Walter Addiego / Published: October 19, 2012

'Bel Borba Aqui' review: Artist at work Documentary. Directed by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini. In Portuguese with English subtitles. (Not rated. 95 minutes.)

"Bel Borba Aqui" is an amiable, once-over-lightly documentary about the prolific artist Bel Borba, whose outdoor works, judged by this movie, seem to be everywhere in his hometown of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. The film, by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, is a celebration of the man and his work for critical perspective, you'll have to look elsewhere.

Most of the footage shows the artist at work, creating his large-scale sculptures, mosaics, paintings and murals with such materials as steel, sand, clay, recycled Coke bottles and wood from local boats. Sometimes he speaks - he loves to talk - and sometimes he just stares in contemplation at his works in progress. He jokes and laughs and clearly relishes the spotlight.

We watch him create a very large Christmas tree and a large dog out of pop bottles; use chalk to mark where he wants welders to cut large slabs of steel; and add a pig's head to clay sculptures at an outdoor market. In one impressive scene, he has one of his sculptures lowered into the sea by a crane, then taken out encrusted with barnacles and other bits of life.

For good or ill, we're spared the usual talking heads, and biographical material is not abundant, though we do see him enjoying some of the fruits of his labors - he appears to have done well for himself. The film doesn't see any contradictions between the man and his work, which is folkloric, mostly upbeat, often humorous. Both art and artist are outsized and entertaining, and that's about all that "Bel Borba Aqui" has to say.

Walter Addiego is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email:waddiego@sfchronicle.com

Movie Review THE NEW YORK TIMES MOVIES: MOVIE REVIEW

by Rachel Saltz Published: October 2, 2012 http://www.brazilnews.net/index.php/sid/209706458/scat/24437442923341f1

Bel Borba uses duct tape to create a piece of public art on Roosevelt Island.

An Artist Hero Paints a City’s Streets ‘Bel Borba Aqui,’ a Documentary in Salvador de Bahia Bel Borba, the artist hero of the documentary “Bel Borba Aqui,” makes Salvador de Bahia in Brazil his canvas. He paints on its buildings, puts sculptures on its streets, creates tile art on the walls of its poor neighborhoods. As he says more than once, he and Salvador have a special relationship.

The directors, Burt Sun and André Costantini, set out to explore that special relationship and deliver a double portrait of the artist and the town. (The movie’s subtitle is “Um Homem e Uma Cidade,” or “A Man and a City.”)

And they do.

INTERVIEW MAGAZINE ART

by Effie Bowen Published: September 16, 2012 http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/crossing-the-line#_

Crossing The Line in a Good Way Art festival "Crossing the Line" returns for a sixth edition from Sept. 14–Oct. 14. Locations in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan —Times Square, Essex Street Market, St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, The Kitchen, Invisible Dog Art Center, Abrons Art Center, and the Chocolate Factory—will be occupied by boundary-pushing artists like musician Gérald Kurdian, who performs a solo pop music concert and magic tricks between songs.

"Crossing the Line" features work by 18 international artists who "evolve forms appropriate to the intention of the work, unbounded by the narrow notions of artistic discipline," says co-curator Simon Dove, director of the Herberger Institute School of Dance at Arizona State University. Lili Chopra, Artistic Director of FIAF, and Gideon Lester, Bard College's Director of Theater Programs, are co-curators.

Art making is never repetitive for me, it is about rediscovery," says Brazilian artist Bel Borba. For DIÁRIO (através de um OLHO BAIANO), lasting for the duration of the festival, Borba creates pieces ranging in scale from small mosaic to large sculpture all over New York, using only recycled or found objects collected from public streets. DIÁRIO will culminate in a block-long site-specific installation in Times Square, allowing passersby to experience the artist at work. Burt Sun and André Costanti's documentary about Borba, Bel Borba Acqui, will preview at "Crossing the Line" before a run at Film Forum in October. The lineup features progressive artists from musical, sculptural and performance backgrounds presenting dialogues, ongoing free installations, and ticketed performances to shows that explore hypnosis as an artistic medium like FIAF Artist in Residence, Joris Lacoste's 4 Prepared Dreams. Initiated and produced by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) and presenting sponsor, Nespresso, catch part or all of "Crossing the Line's" evoking art feast.

FOLHA DE S. PAULO SÃO PAULO Published: Janeray 15, 2013 http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/saopaulo/1214859-muralista-baiano-bel-borba-apresentaperformances-no-centro-de-sp.shtml

Muralista baiano Bel Borba apresenta performances no centro de SP Participante do 8º Encontro do Instituto Hemisférico de Performance e Política, que reúne eventos até 19 de janeiro, o artista baiano Bel Borba traz a série de performances "Diário (Através de um Olho Baiano)".

As ações serão registradas pelo norte-americano Burt Sun, diretor do documentário "Bel Borba Aqui", além do artista paulistano Guil Macedo.

Conhecido pelas obras de grande escala em Salvador, o artista realizou uma série de ações em Nova York no ano passado. Os vídeos estão disponíveis no blog do artista (diariobaiano.wordpress.com ).

Na capital paulistana estão previstas ações em vistas consagradas da cidade, como o Minhocão, o parque Ibirapuera, a avenida Paulista e a praça Roosevelt. Não há um roteiro fechado do percurso a ser percorrido.

Ao final de cada dia, às 22h, na SP Escola de Teatro, serão exibidos os vídeos com as ações do trio.

BOLOUIN ARTINFO INTERNATIONAL EDITION

by Graham Fuller Published: October 2, 2012 http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/830187/brazilian-artist-bel-borbas-magnificentobsession-with-his

Brazilian Artist Bel Borba's Magnificent Obsession With His City Captured in Documentary

Brazilian artist Bel Borba, "the People's Picasso" with the look of Salvador Dali

Bel Borba, the Brazilian painter and sculptor who has recently been on the loose in New York City, is the ebullient subject of the documentary “Bel Borba Aqui” (“Bel Borba Is Here”), which opens at Film Forum in Manhattan tomorrow. Directed by Burt Sun and André Constantini, and eloquently photographed by the latter with expressive use of tracking shots and dissolves, it’s a vibrant tribute to a prolific folk artist and self-anointed community hero who, outside of his hometown of Salvador de Bahia, is scarcely an international art celeb.

In keeping with the art form that made his name in the northeastern Brazilian city, the movie is a visual and aural mosaic cemented by traditional Bahian music. Filmed over three years, it depicts the now 55-year-old Borba, whose narration describes his symbiotic relationship with Salvador and his instinctive method, embarking on project after project as he adorns the town’s walls, streets, beaches, even boat sails, and an airplane with the organic multimedia

images and structures that pour spontaneously from him – and which he is loath to interpret or explain.

An opening title reports that in 1976 Borba “abandoned the gallery system and started to transform his city into a museum.” With its old connotations of fustiness, “museum” is the wrong word here, since Borba’s work has a live quality to it. In one case, this is literally true. A great metal sculpture, left undersea for many months, is hauled out of the water for display on a promenade. Beautifully encrusted with barnacles, it shows all manner of tiny sea creatures wriggling in its orifices; the film preserves it as a literal piece of living art.

Endowed with formidable energy, working speedily – Constantin sometimes captures his frenetic pace with time-lapse photography – Borba appears all over the city, both native and colonist, leaving art wherever he goes. “A sperm to a woman is like I am to Salvador,” he modestly claims early on. No neighborhood is immune to his physical presence, no surface or object to his touch.

He paints the steel girders of an abandoned building in red, interspersing these stripes with the frowning white faces of people who might have been former residents. On a butcher’s stall in a market, he anthropomorphizes a pair of pig carcasses. On a beach, he turns a towering scaffold into a Christmas tree hung with thousands of Coke bottles containing sea water and fragments of the abolitionist poet Castro Alves’s verse. These messages symbolize “redemption, salvation, a cry for help,” Borba says, their significance more important to him than the “stupid” and “frivolous” commercial Christmas holiday.

Behind his thetoric, there’s a keenly felt and reasoned sense of mission. He talks of initially resenting the folkloric Bahia stereotype and then learning, over time, to embrace it. “I found my nourishment from my prejudice,” he says, adding that this involved a “cleansing” of his “mind, body, and soul.” His canvases and materials (especially the scrapped tiles he recycles in his mosaics) are usually found objects from Salvador’s past, so he is proactively involved in preservation: he has attempted, for example, to keep afloat the twenty surviving Saveiro boats, many decades old, that once supplied the city, and which are powered now, of course, with the sails he has elaborately decorated.

“I’m completely conscious of my closeness to each segment of each location, each place, each flavor, or every smell of the people from my community,” he says, the film frequently showing how locals welcome him. Aware that it may be slipping into hagiography, he suggests the directors interview a critic who says “intelligent bad things about me.” When he says that, “Everyday is a surprise….I just go there and penetrate,” he’s deliberately making a metaphor of sexual conquest. When it comes to the rival satisfactions of sex, drinking, and making art, however, there’s no contest, he says: for Borba, art is lifeblood.

P.D.N. PHOTO DISTRICT NEWS Published: October 3, 2012 http://pdnpulse.com/2012/10/brazilian-artist-and-two-new-yorkers-transform-new-york-city.html

Brazilian Artist and Two New Yorkers Transform New York City

Bel Borba Aqui New York (BBANY) is a multi-facetted visual art project by Bel Borba, Burt Sun and André Costantini. It was conceived after André and Burt completed a feature length documentary entitled “Bel Borba Aqui”, on Brazilian artist Bel Borba (which opens at the Film Forum in NYC on October 3rd.) BBANY overlaps the theatrical release of the film in addition to creating live street art and a new short film posted every day for 30 days.

Where “Bel Borba Aqui”, the feature film, was filmed entirely in his hometown, Salvador, Bahia, BBANY seeks to bring Bel’s transformative artistic interventions to New York City.

It seems that sometimes the lines between art and life become blurred. What started as a journey documenting art became the art itself. So it was appropriate that the 30 days of street art is presented with support of the Crossing the Line Art Festival part of the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF).

Bel Borba Aqui New York can be broken down into the following components. ”Diario Baiano” (The Diary of a man from Bahia region of Brazil) is a challenge to create art for 30 days on the streets of the 5 boroughs of NYC from September 14th to October 13th. While Bel creates installations and ephemeral art using mostly recycled materials, Burt and André document his actions using D-SLR’s taking advantage of both still and video capabilities.

Because the art is temporary, the short films ultimately become the tangible art piece. Every day after shooting, André edits the film which is uploaded and viewable at http://diariobaiano.wordpress.com/ Then on Sunday October 14 many of the sculptural artworks created from recycled water barriers will be installed in Times Square by Father Duffy Square for a public showing for a 24 hour period.

Also in Times Square, for the entire month of October, as part of the “Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery” will be the first film ever created specifically for the Times Square Art Alliance by Bel, Burt and André and is entitled “Universal Pulse.” The collaboration depicts visual transformations on the NYC landscape evoking at once a sense of present and nostalgia. It will simultaneously occupy 16 Jumbotron screens around the square and can be viewed once a day from 11:57pm to midnight.

CORREIO NOTÍCIAS

by Henrique Brinco Published: October 19, 2012 http://www.correio24horas.com.br/noticias/detalhes/detalhes-1/artigo/entrevista-bel-borbacomenta-sucesso-em-nova-york-e-faz-desabafo/ http://www.ibahia.com/detalhe/noticia/entrevista-bel-borba-fala-sobre-sucesso-emexposicao-em-nova-york/

Parecido com Salvador Dalí por causa do bigode, porém popularmente conhecido como 'O Picasso do Povo', Bel Borba ganhou destaque internacional esta semana. O artista plástico baiano levou uma exposição de intervenção urbana para bairros da cidade de Nova York, nos Estados Unidos. O projeto chama-se 'Street Art' e, para o desenvolvimento das peças, o artista utiliza material reciclável: garrafas pet, sacos de lixo, chicletes, adesivos e pedaços de plástico. Bel criou instalações inspiradas no cenário urbano da cidade em vários pontos - incluindo a avenida Times Square, onde passam mais de 400 mil pessoas por dia. Projetadas num telão em plena rua, a exposição lhe rendeu ampla visibilidade.

O sucesso foi tanto que até o jornal impresso mais importante do mundo, o The New York Times, rendeu-se ao talento do artista definindo-o como uma "figura amada pelo povo baiano". Já a maior rede de TV norte-americana, a CNN exibiu as 13 esculturas de mais de 3 metros de altura colocadas pelo artista em bairros

como o Brooklyn. Entretanto, tanto reconhecimento vem acompanhado de um ônus: o cansaço. Em entrevista ao iBahia direto de Nova York, Bel Borba afirma que vai apelar para o uso da fisioterapia para recuperar o desgaste físico adquirido após tantas exposições ao longo de 2012. Leia, abaixo:

iBahia - Como é para você ver o seu sucesso reconhecido pelos norteamericanos? Bel Borba - A Times Square é o coração nervoso de Nova York.

Não é um lugar qualquer. Já é um endereço que sinaliza em várias direções.

Nova York é uma cidade de filmes de ficção, todas as pessoas do mundo inteiro em um lugar só. iBahia - Qual foi a ideia da montagem? Bel Borba - Decidi usar como matéria prima objetos da própria cidade, como essas barreiras plásticas que se usa no transito. O componente principal foi o meu próprio repertório, os ícones meu próprio imaginário. Uma coisa inspirou a outra. iBahia - Qual é a diferença entre expor em Nova York e expor no Brasil? Bel Borba - Nas intervenções urbanas que fiz aqui senti que o nova-iorquino curte e quer retribuir a gentileza prestada, a ação e a atitude levada. Nova York é uma babilônia. É um fenômeno em todos os aspectos, é a esquina do mundo. É uma São Paulo um pouquinho maior. iBahia - A exposição vai estrear no Brasil? Bel Borba - Ainda não sei. Já estou colocando as obras em um container para levar para a Bahia. Ela vai ficar guardada, mas não significa que minha próxima exposição será por lá. Também tenho outras exposições guardadas. iBahia - Quais são os seus próximos projetos? Bel Borba - Vou descansar após o Natal. Devo ficar de molho até meados de janeiro e depois vou pensar no que vou fazer. Também vou participar do Festival de Montreux, no dia 7 de novembro. iBahia - Mas você não vai descansar? Bel Borba - Venho de uma maratona frenética e estou esgotado. Fiquei 45 dias fora nesta viagem, sem contar as exposições anteriores. Devo voltar a trabalhar na época do Carnaval.

Pretendo repor o corpo com fisioterapia e tudo mais.

THE VILLAGE VOICE MOVIES / FILM REVIEW

by Chris Packham Published: October 3, 2012 http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-10-03/film/bel-borba-aqui-film-review/

The production of the documentary Bel Borba Aqui, practically a montage of color, music, and Borba's constant laughter, coincides with his local acclaim.

The directors Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, along with the exuberant Se単or Borba, can show people how !

The demolished buildings of Salvador, Brazil, are substrates for public art to one native son. Bel Borba, a mixed-media artist with a huge personality, just rents a cherry picker and paints the exteriors with humble tools, primarily paint rollers with long extension handles. He walks the streets of Salvador looking for blank walls, covering them with tiled murals and recruiting neighborhood children as assistants. His subjects are people, fish, birds of prey, flowers; childlike evocations of the world he inhabits. Now he's famous, and the production of the documentary Bel Borba Aqui, practically a montage of color, music, and Borba's constant laughter, coincides with his local acclaim. At a scrap yard, he climbs through the dismantled iron skeletons of old bridge trusses, chalking the lines for the welders' acetylene cutting torches. The resulting 10-foot structures are invested with his visual style, right angles rendered into liberated, organic configurations. Then the sculptures are lowered from a boat into the ocean for several weeks, so that directors Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, along with the exuberant Se単or Borba, can show people how repulsive barnacles are. Hauled back out of the sea via crane and displayed on a pier, the pieces look like thrones from drowned kingdoms, heavily encrusted with sessile crustacea, interesting from a distance, and super-gross in the lingering shots the directors capture against the sunset. Apparently, barnacles can live for quite a while out of the ocean; their legs poke in and out of their calcite shells, and the sculptures are,

for a time, twitchily alive.

ART NEXUS MAGAZINE NOTICE &VIEW

by Chris Packham Published: September 6, 2012 http://www.artnexus.com/Notice_View.aspx?DocumentID=24719

Bel Borba Is Here and Brazilian Street Art As part of the sixth edition of Crossing the Line, the yearly international interdisciplinary festival of contemporary art organized by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in New York City, has been regarded by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as the best art festival in 2009 and 2010. The French Institute Alliance Française in New York City, in collaboration with Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics, presents DIÁRIO, a tribute to Brazilian Visual artist Bel Borba. For a period of one month that begins on September 14 and ends on October 14, several works by this prominent representative of Brazilian popular art will be exhibited at several emblematic spaces across The Big Apple. Borba’s installations, performances, and the exhibition of his works will invade places like the FIAF’s Beaux-Arts Building in Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, restaurants in Jackson Heights, Central Park, and the Film Forum, the legendary independent cinema in Manhattan, among other venues.

The New York premiere of the documentary entitled Bel Borba Is Here will be held on September 19. It is a portrayal of the artist that was created and directed

by Burt Sun—a multimedia artist that specializes in Brazilian urban art and the curator of the exhibition Here organized by the Museo Rodin in Bahia that was inaugurated at the beginning of 2012—and André Constantini, performance artist, musician, and filmmaker. Beside his numerous exhibitions in the most important cities of Brazil, Borba’s work has been shown in France, Italy, Switzerland, and the US. Known as "The People’s Picasso," Borba has captivated the imagination of the citizens of his native Salvador de Bahia, a 500-year-old city with a brand of street art that is expressed through small mosaics and monumental pieces created with tiles, steel, wood, recycled materials and sand. Borba’s eclectic work is intimately associated with the communities in which he creates his work. His pieces intimately reflect the rich and complex cultural history of his city.

Borba was recently named ambassador of the 2014 World Cup organized

by FIFA, alongside other luminaries like Gilberto Gil.

THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN WEEK AT THE MOVIES

By Cheryl Eddy Published: October 2, 2012 http://www.sfbg.com/pixel_vision/2012/10/19/drunks-drugs-kung-fu-and-rock-n-rolljust-another-week-movies

video , Bel Borba Aqui Trailer

Bel Borba Aqui "The People's Picasso" and "Brazil's Pied Piper of Street Art" are both apt descriptions of veteran artist Bel Borba, who has spent decades bringing color and imagination to the streets of Salvador — his seaside hometown, and a place already graced with the nickname "Brazil's Capital of Happiness." It's not a stretch to imagine that Borba's commitment to public art (a giant Christmas tree made of plastic Coke bottles, a rhinoceros sculpture crafted from old boat planks, hundreds of large-scale mosaics, even a painted airplane) has done its share to lift spirits. Bel Borba Aqui isn't the sort of doc to delve into its mustachioed subject's history or personal life (despite a few angry cell phone conversations randomly captured along the way); instead, it's much like Borba himself — freewheeling and spontaneous, and most alive when it's showing art being created. Great soundtrack, too. (1:34) @Roxie.

A TARDE DA REDAÇÃO Published: September 18, 2012 http://atarde.uol.com.br/chamegente/materias/1454294-bel-borba-faz-intervencaoartistica-em-nova-york

Bel Borba faz intervenção artística em Nova York O artista plástico baiano Bel Borba foi destaque nesta terça, 18, no site do jornal New York Times, com uma intervenção artística realizada em uma rua industrial da seção Ridgewood, no Queens. Bel criou um dos seus já famosos mosaicos de azulejo, dessa vez retratando objetos que o jornal norteamericano descreveu como "cruzamento de girassóis com grandes ventiladores mecânicos". O artista disse à reportagem do NYT que pretendia batizar a obra de "Resfriamento Global".

Bel Borba está em Nova York pelo período de um mês, no qual ele irá criar diversas intervenções nas ruas da cidade. No último sábado, 14, ele criou uma pintura de um lagarto e um astronauta no asfalto de Roosevelt Island.

Esta semana, além do mosaico no Queens, Borba também fará intervenções em Red Hook, Brooklyn; Howard Beach, e outros bairros da "Big Apple".

Além disso, um curta-metragem feito pelo artista com outros dois colaboradores será exibido, a partir do dia 1 de outubro, em Times Square, a avenida mais movimentada de Nova York.

SHOWBIZ CHICAGO ART, FILM, LATEST NEWS

by Michael J. Roberts Published: January 9, 2013 http://showbizchicago.com/2013/01/09/bel-borba-aqui-burt-sun-and-andre-costantiniscinematic-celebration-of-the-peoples-picasso-to-have-special-screenings-at-chicagosgene-siskel/

“BEL BORBA AQUI,” Burt Sun and André Costantini’s Cinematic Celebration of “The People’s Picasso.”

BEL BORBA AQUI, filmmakers Burt Sun and André Costantini’s seminal cinematic discovery of Brazil’s most beloved and prolific artist, will play in Chicago at The Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State Street, on January 19

and 21. See the Arts & Leisure feature story on the film, “Brazil’s Pied Piper of Street Art,” in The New York Times.

Known as “The People’s Picasso,” for 35 years Bel Borba has transformed the face of his hometown of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil – a historic city that is 500-years-old – with beautiful, grand scale and awe-inspiring art including sculpture, painting, murals and mosaic. Working with tiles, steel, sand, clay, and an eclectic mélange of recycled material including Coca Cola bottles and wood from Salvador’s famed Savaro boats, Borba’s ubiquitous public works reflect his feverishly ebullient personality and unbridled love of community.

With an evocative Brazilian soundtrack and lush cinematography that exposes the lavish colors of Salvador, BEL BORBA AQUI explores the intense and intimate relationship between this unique city – a fusion of European, African, and Native Indian cultures – and her beloved native son.

The work of Bel Borba, Brazil’s best-kept cultural secret and national treasure, was on view to the public in New York City in October in DIÁRIO (através de um OLHO BAIANO), a month-long series of urban artworks. Spanning diverse locations throughout New York City, from Central Park to Roosevelt Island to Jackson Heights, DIÁRIO was presented as part of the annual Crossing the Line fall festival of the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), in partnership with the Hemispheric Institute of Performance & Politics.

Each day, Borba created a new ephemeral artwork, using recycled and found materials, in a different location in the city, accompanied and illuminated by the video work of filmmaker-photographers Burt Sun and André Costantini.

For information and to view photography and video from the exhibit, visit diariobaiano.wordpress.com Also on view in Times Square this fall was the new, site-specific work Universal Pulsecreated by Bel Borba, along with acclaimed filmmakers Burt Sun and André Costantini. This presentation was a part of Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery—the largest coordinated effort in history by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content at the same time every day. The piece was the first in the program’s history to be created specifically for use on the Times Square screens.

BEL BORBA AQUI Brazil, 2012, 94 min. Written and directed by Burt Sun and André Costantini. Produced by Burt Sun. Executive Producer: Debra Winger. Co-producers: Michelle Sun and Mery Carla Monteiro Xavier.

Director of photography: André Costantini. Camera: Csaba Sulyok and Burt Sun. Film Editors: Vanessa Reiser Shaw. Daniel Burity. André Costantini.

Associate producer: Marco Gramacho and Guil Macedo. Music: André Costantini, Michael Wall, Eliano Braz, Darren Morze and Bob Hart. Sound: Richard Spooner. An Abramorama Release.

THE HUNTINGTON NEWS ARTS & CULTURE

by Madelyn Stone Published: April 12, 2012 http://huntnewsnu.com/2012/04/public-art-creates-community-in-new-film/

Public Art Creates Community In New Film Burt Sun, a New York-based photographer, media consultant and graphic designer, began his project on the Brazilian urban artist Bel Borba with few expectations.

“Ricardo Barreto from Urban Arts Institute of Mass Art [Massachusetts College of Art and Design] wanted me to do a project with them,” Sun said.

“So originally Ricardo was commissioning me to make a photography book about this particular artist and this urban art thing.”

Three years later, after a partnership with fellow artist/director André Costantini and an exploration of Borba’s hundreds of works of art, Sun will showcase the project in a completely different medium: as “Bel Borba Aqui,” a feature length documentary. The film will debut in Boston April 17 at the AMC Loews Theatre as part of the Boston International Film Festival, and will show April 23 at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s Urban Arts Institute followed by a panel discussion with Sun and Borba.

In 2009, three years after moving from Boston to Brazil, Sun got the pitch from Barreto, director of the Urban Arts Institute. Sun would chronicle the work and impact of the locally renowned Borba, the so-called “people’s Picasso” of Salvador, Brazil, whose multimedia artwork pervades the streets of the 500year-old city.

“After I met Bel, it was within 48 hours … that I decided I would be very stupid just making a book about his art,” Sun said.

He approached Barreto and others at the Urban Arts Institute with an idea for a documentary, and though he acknowledged “it took them a while to agree,” Sun said he eventually pressed forward with his idea for a cinematic exploration of Borba as an artist and individual.

Costantini, who met Sun 15 years ago working on a project for another artist and has collaborated with him on graphic design work, short films and other projects, said Borba started creating public artwork more than 30 years ago.

“He started doing street art where he was basically just doing mosaics, sometimes painting,” Costantini said. “He didn’t get permission, but no one told him he couldn’t do it. And at this point there’s literally hundreds, maybe thousands of his work all over the city, so he got known just by consistently doing it, and now the city actually protects some of that work that once was just guerilla-style.”

With the city of Salvador as his inspiration and his audience, Borba incorporates the community in his art, Sun explained.

“In Bel’s world, everything he can produce by hand,” he said. “By his own hand, or a group of friends or his colleagues or sometimes he just wants to be able to support some for the regular, blue-collar labor workers. He will gather them to create public art.”

Costantini said Borba’s work has had a transformative effect on the Salvadoran community.

“I feel like a lot of films have been depicted about Brazil in terms of some negative connotations, like poverty and drugs and all this stuff,” he said. “And it’s not to say, of course, that these things don’t exist. We’re not ignoring them, but this is really a pretty positive film because it really focuses on how one person, through his art, is able to transform the community and bring the community together.”

Citizens of different backgrounds and various ages have helped bring Borba’s visions to life, Costantini said.

“There’s several scenes, actually, where he’ll start making work because they said ‘Oh, we’d love to have some work here,’” he said. “And all the sudden, literally everybody is involved. Everyone from 2- or 3-year-old kids to 85-yearold men all working together, you know, based upon sometimes their ideas, sometimes his. But really you get this idea of how art can transform, not only just visually but in the process aspect.”

In making the film, which they both described as having a “certain amount of lyricism,” Sun and Costantini said they were unsure about their target audience. After screenings in San Jose, Calif. and Phoenix, Ariz., led to positive reviews, the directors felt more confident about the documentary’s relatability.

“We originally thought we made a very specific film about artists in Brazil – it won’t have much of a public appeal to the general audiences,” Sun said. “But so far it’s proved us wrong.”

Fused with the creativity he incites, Borba’s personality gives the film an exuberance, Sun said.

“I think how Bel connects to general audiences is he’s a very charming and likeable personality, also he’s a do-er,” he said. “Basically people get very moved by this guy constantly making things. I think everybody wants to be creative or do things and then once you see a guy relentlessly keep making something and eventually transform his own life and a city’s life – or other people’s lives, a community’s life – I think that’s quite taken a lot of just general audiences we encountered through our journey.”

LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR FILM REVIEW

By L. Kent Wolgamott Published: November 16, 2012 http://journalstar.com/entertainment/arts-and-culture/bel-borba-aqui-entertaining-lookat-eclectic-brazilian-artist/article_7ec69fc3-f69d-5626-b886-7eb70fbb5a71.html

Bel Borba Aqui' entertaining look at eclectic Brazilian Artist "Bel Borba Aqui� is an uplifting, highly enjoyable film about the artist Bel Borba, whose personality is as engaging as his work.

"Bel Borba Aqui� is an uplifting, highly enjoyable film about the artist Bel Borba, whose personality is as engaging as his work.

The Reel Story: This documentary follows joyful eclectic Brazilian artist Bel Borba as he works in the streets and at his studio, bringing his art to the people of the city he loves.

“Bel Borba Aqui” opens with artist Bel Borba painting dramatic black-andwhite faces between bright red stripes on the side of a multi-leveled parkinglike building.

Later, the documentary finds him building a rhino out of scrap wood, constructing a giant Christmas tree made of plastic Coke bottles that's set on a beach and crafting tiny drawings by cutting a white line out of a black ground.

All the while, the handlebar-mustachioed man in motion talks -- about art, the city he loves, his career, his dogs and Christmas -- and laughs and laughs.

That joy comes through in nearly every moment of the film created by photographers Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, who traveled to Salvador, Brazil’s most historically important city, to follow the artist at work.

Much of that work takes place in the streets where he paints the sides of buildings or makes an outline drawing and glues reflective glass to the wall, creating mosaic-like images that brighten up shabby neighborhoods and bring art to the people to whom Borba is closely attached.

Speaking in English and Portuguese, Borba is an irrepressible character, admitting that he never asks permission to make his public pieces, confessing that he would have given up a finger to get noticed in the media when he began his career 35 years ago and discussing his philosophy of art.

He’s a spontaneous, eclectic art maker who began work by cutting things out and still loves that more than anything, whether he’s digging in clay (shown in time lapse photography), wielding a welder or using a tiny knife on a small tile.

Because he’s on the streets more than in a studio and only glimpsed a few times in his home, “Bel Borba Aqui” also serves as something of travelogue of Salvador and its state of Bahia. It’s colorful and filled with a clash between old and new, the traditional market where Bel Borba arranges cut-up pig parts into a sculpture contrasting with gleaming skyscrapers.

“Bel Borba Aqui” isn’t a complete portrait of the artist. In fact, it’s almost deliberately misleading, giving the impression that he is only a street artist, an outsider to the art world when he has work in museums and exhibits around the world.

That’s not important to the impression that the filmmakers want to give. But someone had to negotiate with Coca-Cola to commission the Christmas tree - which goes unmentioned in the film.

In fact, the only hint of his other life comes when he counsels a collaborator who has a wood shop to keep his business going rather than coming to work full time with Borba. The artist promises to send him business from lawyers, architects, etc. -- his patrons.

That said, “Bel Borba Aqui” is an uplifting, highly enjoyable film about an artist whose personality is as engaging as his work, which grabs the eye on film and makes you want to see it in person.

DAILY NEBRASKAN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ FILM REVIEW

by Emily Kuklinks Published: November 16, 2012 http://www.dailynebraskan.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_556bd284-2fa7-11e28525-001a4bcf6878.html

First-time directors provide a day-in-the-life look in ‘Bel Borba Aqui’, the film gives audiences the ability to further make sense of who Borba is as an artist and as a human being.

The 500-year-old city of Salvador, Brazil, is getting a facelift by “the People’s Picasso,” artist Bel Borba, and, boy, does it look good. Decorated with spurof-the-moment paintings and mosaics, each street corner and building is gifted with a splash of color and love by the city’s native artist.

Captured in the documentary “Bel Borba Aqui,” directed by Burt Sun and Andre Constantini, Borba has been at work rekindling the spirit of his hometown for 35 years. Its artwork which he reveals comes straight from the heart rather than from excessive planning. From empty coke bottles to steel beams, his imagination flows effortlessly through whatever tools he is given.

Although he never truly knows what his final product will be when he starts on a new piece of art, it never disappoints.

The enthusiasm Borba has for his craft and the musical tone of his laughter has a contagious effect and paints him to be as personable as he is acknowledged to be by his community.

The documentary is shot in “day-in-the-life” style where the audience follows Borba and is able to witness his artistic technique in action. Viewers are also given the opportunity to see how the gears in his mind begin to turn as his work takes shape and Borba hones in on his philosophical outlook on art and what it means to be an artist.

However, for a man who is so in love with his city and is widely acclaimed by his fellow Salvadorians, the movie fails to allow the viewers a greater insight into Salvador’s history or allow the population to speak for itself. Even though these aspects are not integrated into Borba’s story, it doesn’t affect its great joy.

The film itself is put together like a cinematic mosaic. The first time directors, Sun and Costantini, meld various stills of the city, Bel Borba and his artwork together with Brazilian music. The cinematography is beautiful and does well to keep the viewers as entertained as Borba is with his own works.

Presenting an artist who proclaims “I don’t really understand the meaning of art,” “Bel Borba Aquí” gives audiences the ability to further make sense of who Borba is as an artist and as a human being.

SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE FILM REVIEW: BEL BORBA AQUI

by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Published: October 4, 2012 Bel Borba Aqui: A Man and a City Directed by Burt Sun, Andre Costantini Abramorama Entertainment 10/12 Documentary Not Rated

This fascinating documentary directed by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini focuses on Bel Borba, an incredibly energetic and creative street artist from Salvador‌ This fascinating documentary directed by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini focuses on Bel Borba, an incredibly energetic and creative street artist from Salvador, the third largest city in Brazil. Since the late 1970s, he has used streets, walls of buildings, plazas, and beaches as canvases for his idiosyncratic art. He incorporates found materials such as wood, bottles, metal bits , tiles, and other thrown away objects.

Borba models an enthusiasm for the beauty, meaning, and pulsating life of the city which is rare among most modern artists. He is also a great believer in having members of the neighborhoods help make his street art.

This artist picks up the energy and rhythms of a place and then works with his instinct and intuition to spontaneously create something new and different to draw out the drama, color, excitement, and diversity of urban living.

NBC / TV CHANNEL 4 ( NYC ) ON AIR Aired: October 2, 2012 http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/The-Times-Square-AlliancePublic-Art-Program--Bel-Borba/172221681

The Times Square Alliance Public Art Program: Bel Borba Artist Bel Borba and Director the Times Square Alliance Public Art Program talk to Erika Tarantal about the public art program on display through out the city.

TV GLOBO JORNAL HOJE Published: October 14, 2012 http://g1.globo.com/jornal-hoje/videos/t/edicoes/v/artista-plastico-baiano-expoe-nas-ruasde-nova-york/2196178/

Artista Plástico Baiano Expõe Nas Ruas De Nova York

SBT TV ( Brasil ) Notícias Published: October 2, 2012 http://www.sbt.com.br/jornalismo/noticias/25043/Com-objetos-simples-artista-brasileirofaz-sucesso-em-Nova-York.html

Com objetos simples, artista brasileiro faz sucesso em Nova York O artista baiano Bel Borba, que fez das comunidades de Salvador suas telas, vê Nova York como uma fonte para sua inspiração. Com simples objetos, como barreiras de trânsito, ele faz obras de arte.

As esculturas de plástico que ele fez serão expostas à céu aberto na esquina do mundo. A Times Square terá um dia do brasileiro Bel Borba que vai virar personagem principal da própria obra.

NEWSDAY ( NYC ) NEWS Published: October 14, 2012 http://newyork.newsday.com/news/new-york/diario-art-installation-by-bel-borba-in-nyc1.4112142#1

DIARIO art installation by Bel Borba in NYC An art installation by Brazilian artist Bel Borba called art project DIARIO (atraves de um OLHO BAIANO) is unveiled in Times Square. Borba is creating a blocklong installation in Times Square using orange street barriers and other recycled materials.

PARIS MATCH ( France ) CULTURE Published: October 14, 2012 http://www.parismatch.com/Culture-Match/Art/Photos/Quand-la-France-rhabille-NewYork/

Du 14 septembre au 14 octobre, la FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française), présidée par Marie-Monique Steckel, crée l’événement à New York avec son festival d’art contemporain “Crossing The Line 2012”. Du "New York Times" au "Wall Street Journal", la critique applaudit. Dessin sur le macadam d’une rue de Manhattan, par l’artiste brésilien Bel Borba (Projet Diario). Cette oeuvre éphémère est l’une des nombreuses exposées dans le cadre de “Crossing The Line”, le festival d’art contemporain de la FIAF (French Institute Alliance Française).

Tous les soirs, 3 minutes avant les douze coups de minuit, Times Square s’illumine devant ces images diffusées sur écran géant, issues du courtmétrage Universal Pulse, réalisé par Bel Borba, Burt Sun et André Costantini. C’est l’un des projets du festival “Crossing The Line” de la FIAF.

En octobre, l’artiste Bel Borba illumine Times Square tous les soirs avec ce court-métrage, diffusé dans le cadre de Crossing The Line, le festival de la FIAF: http://vimeo.com/47265201.

Décoration d’un lampadaire de Manhattan, par l’artiste Bel Borba (projet Diario). Il puise son inspiration dans des matières recyclées (boîtes en carton...) et des objets de la rue (bouches d’incendie, pylônes...) qu’il transforme en oeuvres d’art.

A New York, les “moto-crottes” chères à Jacques Chirac n’existent pas. Les ordures sont jetées dans la rues, enfermées dans de disgracieux sacpoubelles. Dans le cadre du festival Crossing The Line de la FIAF, l’artiste Bel Borba a trouvé un moyen astucieux pour les transformer en oeuvres d’art

THE HAPPENING / THE PORTAL OF LIFE STYLE OF MEXICO LISTEN/ ART BEAT/ ARTE Published: September 18, 2012 http://thehappening.com/9156/rinden-homenaje-al-picasso-brasileno-en-nueva-york

RINDEN HOMENAJE AL PICASSO BRASILEÑO EN NUEVA YORK Durante el Crossing the Line se presentarán varias obras del artista brasileño Bel Borba.

Como parte de la sexta edición de Crossing the Line, el festival interdisciplinario anual de arte contemporáneo de la FIAF, considerado el mejor festival artístico de 2009 y 2010 por The New York Times y The Wall Street Journal, el Instituto Francés de la Alianza Francesa de Nueva York, hace un homenaje al artista visual brasileño Bel Borba en Nueva York.

Durante un mes, que inició el 14 de septiembre y concluye el 14 de octubre, varias obras del representante bahiano de arte popular, serán expuestas en diferentes espacios emblemáticos de la gran manzana. Cada día, sus instalaciones, performances y muestras de su obra invadirán lugares como el Beaux-Arts Building de la FIAF en Manhattan, Roosevelt Island, los restaurantes de Jackson Heights, Central Park y el Film Forum, legendaria sala de cine independiente de Manhattan, entre otros.

El 19 de septiembre será la premier neoyorkina del documental Bel Borba Aquí, un retrato del artista realizado y dirigido por Burt Sun, artista multimedia, experto en arte urbano del Brasil y curador de la exposición Aquí, realizada en el Museo Rodin de Bahía que abrió sus puertas a principios de 2012, y André Constantini, artista de performance, músico, y cineasta. Aparte de sus múltiples exposiciones en las principales ciudades brasileras, el trabajo de Borba ha sido mostrado en Francia, Italia, Suiza y Estados Unidos.

Conocido como “El Picasso del pueblo”, Borba ha cautivado a los pobladores de su nativa Salvador de Bahía, ciudad con 500 años de antigüedad, con su arte callejero, expresado a través de pequeños mosaicos y piezas a gran escala, elaboradas a partir de coloridos azulejos, acero, madera, materiales reciclados y arena. Su trabajo ecléctico, está íntimamente conectado con las comunidades con las que trabaja, que reflejan toda la riqueza y la compleja historia cultural de su ciudad.

Aparte de sus múltiples exposiciones en las principales ciudades brasileras, el trabajo de Borba ha sido presentado en Francia, Italia, Suiza y Estados Unidos.

Recientemente fue designado embajador de la Copa Mundial Fifa Brasil 2014, junto a Gilberto Gil y otras luminarias.

LIQUIDA MAGAZINE ( Italy ) NEWS Published: October 14, 2012 http://magazine.liquida.it/2012/10/15/le-barriere-stradali-diventano-operedarte/brazilian-street-artist-bel-borba-shows-public-sculptures-in-times-square-10/

Le barriere stradali diventano opere d’arte L'installazione a New York di Bel Borba, creata con materiali riciclabili, attira l'attenzione di passanti e turisti Bel Borba è un artista brasiliano, che ha trasformato le classiche barriere stradali arancioni e altri materiali riciclabili in quello che è un intero isolato di installazioni artistiche nella città di New York.

THE SEATTLE TIMES ( USA ) MEDIA CENTER Published: October 14, 2012 http://seattletimes.com/html/photogalleries/photography2019434208/5.html

People walk past Brazilian visual artist Bel Borba's block-long art installation constructed from orange street barriers and recycled materials on October 14, 2012 in New York City. The project is in conjunction of the release of the documentary "Bel Borba Aqui" which profiles the artist as he brings art to his hometown of Salvador, Brazil. .

CHANNEL 4 ( St. Louis , USA) NEWS Published: October 14, 2012 http://www.kmov.com/news/slideshows/Photos-Strange-art-forms-in-NYC174179961.html?gallery=y&c=y&ref=%2F#/news/slideshows/Photos-Strange-art-formsin-NYC-174179961.html?gallery=y&c=y&ref=%2F&img=2&c=y

Strange art forms in NYC’s Times Square Brazilian public artist Bel Borba put finishing touches on his public art project DIARIO (atraves de um OLHO BAIANO) in Times Square October 14, 2012.

Borba is creating a block-long installation in Times Square using orange street barriers and other recycled materials. This special event, which will unfold in Times Square over the course of two days, will give spectators the rare chance to see an internationally-renowned public artist in process in the heart of New York City.

SFGATE ( San Francisco USA ) NATION IN FOCUS Published: October 14, 2012 http://www.sfgate.com/columns/slideshow/Nation-in-Focus-50725.php#photo-3593056

People walk past Brazilian visual artist Bel Borba's block-long art installation constructed from orange street barriers and recycled materials on October 14, 2012 in New York City. The installation is the finale of Borba's month-long public art residency "DIÁRIO" (através de um OLHO BAIANO) and "Universal Pulse", a short film by Bel Borba with Burt Sun and André Costantini, will be screened daily in October on more than 15 jumbo screens throughout Times Square. The project is in conjunction of the release of the documentary "Bel Borba Aqui" which profiles the artist as he brings art to his hometown of Salvador, Brazil.

SILICON VALLEY LATINO FILM REVIEW

by Eydie Mendoza Published: March 3, 2012 http://svlatino.com/bel-borba-aqui-film-review/

Meet Brazilian artist Bel Borba of Salvador da Bahia through an awe-inspiring documentary!

Meet Brazilian artist Bel Borba of Salvador da Bahia through an awe-inspiring documentary (English and Portuguese with English subtitles) about the man who loves his city as he, through his vast imagination and unlimited canvases, embellishes it.

The film, written and directed by Burt Sun and AndrĂŠ Costantini, opens with Bel and an assistant crew at a decayed building frame, and he talks about the history of other fallen structures just like it throughout the city, he paints the exposed metal beams with white paint using a small paint roller. When he is done speaking, the camera pans out and the metal beams come to life with the patterned mural made up of cultural expressions.

Brazilian artist Bel Borba here stands next to one of his Mosaic Murals in Salvador du Bahia | Photo courtesy of Cinequest

“People from Bahia are very much on love with our town,” says Bel. “I have such a close relationship with my town where I was born, where I live.”

He is considered a gift to his town.

We follow the artist through the city and neighborhoods to discover what inspires him and experience the passion for his culture, people and home town. The open market, a small ranch, his back yard and an old boat yard all attribute to images in his work.

“I am a man that is moved by passion. I just feel things.”

He works from small scale on single ceramic tiles to larger than life scale murals made of broken tiles –wood and ceramic – and his crew solders and saws out sculptures from steel and metal, as well.

“There’s my rocket!” Bel refers to a Christmas tree sculpture that he created from metal bars and plastic Coke bottles strung on rope; at night it is illuminated with green lights to be seen for quite a distance.

Director Burt Sun says, “Bel has tattooed the city with his art.”

Live like Bel as he eats, sings, works and sleeps in this creative film production that incorporates ten lapse photography and animation techniques.

Feel the artist’s exhaustion while working on his masterpieces as he falls asleep on benches and the floor. One can almost taste the marinated steak dinner he cooks for friends. Feel free to sing along or whistle, if you know the tune, while he creates.

The Bel Borba Aqui world premier will be featured Sunday, March 4 during Cinequest 22 Film Festival in San Jose at Camera 12 at 6:30PM and experience a live painting by Bel.

LET’S GO BAHIA GO CAPA Publiched: Mrach, 2012 http://www.youblisher.com/p/311728-Lets-Go-Bahia-Edicao-20/

BEL BORB A É UM ÍCO NE DAS ARTES PLÁSTIC AS BAIANAS, COM SEU APEGO POR PROJETOS DE GRANDES DIMENSÕES E SUA DISPOSIÇÃO PARA EXPOR A CÉU ABERTO Bel Borba Aqui – Um Homem e Uma Cidade é o nome do documentário focado na relação do artista com a capital baiana. O filme dirigido e escrito por Burt Sun (também produtor) e André Constantini teve estreia mundial em março, no Cinequest, seguindo para exibições no Festival Internacional de Cinema de Boston e no Festival de Cinema de Phoenix. Ao retratar o trabalho de Bel Borba, o diretor Burt Sun observa nele mais do que as qualidades de um químico, detecta as qualidades de um alquimista.

NY1 EVENTS Published: October 1, 2012

NYC.COM

Editorial Review Published: October 1, 2012

TIMES SQUARE MOMENT: A DIGITAL GALLERY FEATURING UNIVERSAL PULSE BY BRAZILIAN PUBLIC ARTIST BEL BORBA, ALONG WITH ACCLAIMED FILMMAKERS BURT SUN AND ANDRE COSTANTINI NEW FILM CREATED ESPECIALLY FOR TIMES SQUARE DIGITAL SCREENS TO PREMIERE OCTOBER 1, SHOW NIGHTLY THROUGHOUT OCTOBER

EVENT: Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery Featuring Universal Pulse by Brazilian public artist Bel Borba, along with acclaimed filmmakers Burt Sun and Andre Costantini WHO: Sponsored by Times Square Advertising Coalition and Times Square Arts DATE: Oct 1- 31, 2012 / TIME: 11:57 p.m. every night (three-minute show) LOCATION: Digital signs in Times Square; Best Viewing from Duffy Square and/or Military Plaza On October 1st 2012, Brazilian public artist Bel Borba, along with acclaimed filmmakers Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, will premiere their new, site-specific work entitled Universal Pulse as part of the Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery - the largest coordinated effort by the sign operators in Times Square to display synchronized, cutting-edge creative content at the same time every day. The piece is the first in the program's history to be created specifically for use on the Times Square screens, and it will run every night counting down the three minutes to midnight. The film is a central element in Borba始s creative journey to New York City this fall, where he intends to transform the City into his newest studio and make Times Square his base.

The Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery is presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and Times Square Arts and features dynamic contemporary video works each month, with screenings every evening just before midnight.

GLAMURAMA NOTAS Published: September 16, 2012 http://glamurama.uol.com.br/artista-plastico-bel-borba-invade-as-ruas-e-cinema-denova-york/

Artista plástico Bel Borba invade as ruas e cinema de Nova York. Entenda!

O documentário “Bel Borba Aqui – Um Homem e uma Cidade”, sobre o artista plástico baiano Bel Borba, aterrissa em Nova York no início de outubro. O filme, produzido e dirigido pelos cineastas Burt Sun e Andre Costantini, será exibido no Film Forum e em seguida lançado em várias cidades norte-americanas. A exibição coincide com “Diário”, instalação urbana do artista que acaba de chegar à cidade. Durante um mês, até dia 14 de outubro, o público terá acesso à obra de Borba em diferentes pontos: da Times Square a Roosevelt Island. Borba, conhecido por aqui como o “Picasso do Povo”, usa azulejos, aços, argila e material reciclado para criar sua street art. Em parceria com o diretor Burt Sun, ele criou uma animação para exibir em plena Times Square como parte das intervenções na cidade.

Assista!

GLAMURAMA PELO MUNDO Published: October 15, 2012 http://glamurama.uol.com.br/bel-borba-finaliza-a-instalacao-urbana-diario-na-timessquare/

Bel Borba finaliza a instalação urbana “Diário” na Times Square Lembra que a gente contou aqui sobre “Diário”, a instalação urbana do artista baiano Bel Borba que iria invadir as ruas de Nova York durante os meses de setembro e outubro? Então, nesse domingo esculturas gigantes de material reciclado ficaram expostas em plena Times Square, chamando a atenção de quem passava por lá.

Esse foi o último dia das intervenções de Bel na cidade, mas o documentário “Borba Aqui – Um Homem e uma Cidade”, produzido e dirigido pelos cineastas Burt Sun e Andre Costantini, continua sendo exibido no Film Forum e em telas espalhadas pela Times Square. Se você não teve a chance de ver, dá uma olhada nestas fotos!

LATINO DAILY NEWS Published: October 4, 2012 http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/new-documentaryshares-brazilian-artist-bel-borba-with-the-world-video/18959/

New Documentary Shares Brazilian Artist Bel Borba With the World

Tattooed onto the skin of Salvador, Brazil, are ubiquitous public artworks created by the artist Bel Borba.

Known as “The People’s Picasso,” this eclectic artist represents a rarely seen side of Brazil. For thirty-five years Borba has spread his artwork throughout the 500-year-old urban landscape. From three-year-old school kids to eightyyear old street vendors, Bel Borba is everybody’s family member, and the city most beloved son.

This film, Bel Borba Aqui, directed by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, shares Bel’s joy and madness: creating large-scale outdoor art at lightning speed and then working alone in deep introspection.

His exuberant personality shines as he draws inspiration from his surroundings, especially in impoverished neighborhoods. Working as a voice of the people, Bel breathes new life into the city he loves through his art. See his renaissance through constant acts of creation.

JORNAL DO BRASIL NOTÍCIAS

by Pedro Willmersdorf Published: September 24, 2012 http://www.jb.com.br/heloisa-tolipan/noticias/2012/09/24/arte-brasileira-em-ny-bel-borbaarrasa-nas-ruas-e-no-new-york-times/

Arte brasileira em NY: Bel Borba arrasa nas ruas e no New York Times. Artista plástico baiano faz intervenção na cidade norte-americana. Ainda vem por aí um documentário O soteropolitano Bel Borba é conhecido como "Picasso do Povo", já que, com seus mosaicos, inspirados no trabalho do artista espanhol, adorna muros, túneis e encostas de cidades. Depois de já ter exposto em muitos lugares no Brasil, Bel chegou a Nova York de mala e cuia, passou um mês por lá, e desenvolveu uma intervenção artística pela Big Apple. Conclusão: ganhou matéria no jornal The New York Times.

Chamado Diário, o projeto do baiano, que está em exibição pública desde 14 de setembro e fica exposto até 14 de outubro, faz parte do festival internacional multimídia Crossing The Line, do French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF), em parceria com o Times Square Alliance e do Hemispheric Institute for Performance & Politics. As obras, produzidas com materiais de reciclagem, poderão ser observadas em diversos lugares da cidade. “Poucas vezes na minha vida eu tive uma oportunidade como essa”, disse Bel, ao The New York Times. “Eu não sei se vou encontrar outra cidade com essa variedade, não só de etnias, mas de bairros, que mudam de uma esquina para outra. Em um lado, há caribenhos, em outro, judeus, e eu gosto disso, me alimento disso”, concluiu.

As intervenções de Bel vão ser mostradas no documentário Bel Borba Aqui: Um Homem e Uma Cidade, filmado pelos cineastas Burt Sun e André Costantini, que será lançado em Nova York no dia 3 de outubro, durante o Film Forum, pela produtora americana Abramorama. Depois disso, o filme segue em lançamento nacional por outras cidades norte-americanas. Além do longametragem de 95 minutos, um curta que Borba produziu, junto de dois colaboradores, será exibido todas as noites, durante um mês, na Times Square, a partir do dia 1º de outubro.

BRAZULIAN PRESS NOTÍCIA

by Roger Costa PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 4, 2012 http://www.brazilianpress.com/20121004/local/noticia05.htm

Bel Borba é recepcionado em New York com projeto e filme Conhecido como “o Picasso do Povo”, o artista baiano Bel Borba, vem transformando a paisagem de sua cidade natal, Salvador, 500 anos de história, primeira capital do Brasil, com arte de grande escala, belas e inspiradoras, incluindo esculturas, pinturas, murais e mosaicos. Trabalhando com ferro, aço, areia, azulejo, madeira da Savaro e material reciclado eclético, como garrafas plásticas de refrigerante, o trabalho público deste artista consagrado reflete em sua personalidade efervescente e seu incomparável amor pela comunidade.

Bel é uma figura muito popular em Salvador, conhecido por todos, desde crianças até gente mais idosa, todo mundo o acolhe como família. A orla marítima ensolarada alimenta a veia artística dele, combinando talento,

simplicidade, originalidade e lembrando que há muito mais no Brasil do que apenas futebol e favelas.

Poeticamente, Borba expressa a verdadeira essência do Brasil através de suas criações. Filho de advogado, Borba investiu em seu dom para as artes e formou-se pela Escola de Belas Artes da Universidade da Bahia, onde expôs pela primeira vez em 1975. Ele iniciou sua carreira como pintor e logo começou a experimentar outros materiais, que o levou a ideia de transformar a cara da cidade, concebendo projetos públicos espalhados por toda a cidade. Seu trabalho pode ser visto em hospitais, praias, museus, aviões, prédios e restaurantes, entre outros. Alguns de seus mosaicos foram recentemente reconhecidos e selecionados para representar a cidade de Salvador, agora parte da conservação histórica das origens da cultura baiana. Ele já expôs por todo o Brasil, Europa e também Estados Unidos. Bel está sendo recepcionado pela cidade de New York com dois eventos importantes. O primeiro é uma instalação urbana entitulada “Diário”, que acontece todos os dias até 14 de outubro em várias localidades da Grande Maçã. A cada dia Bel aporta em lugares variados e cria instantaneamente uma obra de arte, presenteando a cidade com seu talento. O evento é parte do Crossing the Line Fall Festival, promovido pela French Institute Alliance.

Para informações visite www.fiaf.org O segundo é o belo, colorido e luminoso documentário “Bel Borba Aqui” que já está em cartaz no Film Forum (209 West Houston, NYC), acompanha o artista em seu cotidiano em Salvador, explorando o relacionamento dele com a cidade, criando arte e expressando seu amor pelo material. Confira o trabalho deste artista celebrado em New York por esses dois eventos importantes.que não paro de trabalhar, mas o esforço valeu a pena. Vejo que a Bahia ganhou ampla visibilidade. Fizemos um trabalho denso e consistente”, comentou Borba que retorna a Salvador dia 20 deste mês.

BRASILTURIS JORNAL NOTÍCIA PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 15, 2012 http://www.dirigida.com.br/news/pt_br/bahia_se_destaca_nos_eua_com_a_capoeira_e _as_esculturas_brasilturis_jornal/redirect_10641180.html

Bahia se destaca nos EUA com a capoeira e as esculturas Depois de passar por Miami e Dallas, chegou a vez da Bahia se apresentar em Nova York. Em parceria com a Embratur durante workshops, o Estado ganhou notoriedade com a excelente repercussão da arte de rua, do artista plástico baiano Bel Borba, que realiza intervenções na cidade até a meia noite de hoje, dia 15.

O circuito promocional da Bahia nos Estados Unidos, desde a última semana, agradou o mercado turístico local que cobra divulgação dos destinos o ano inteiro. “Precisamos incentivar estas ações. É através da arte e da cultura que o americano se encanta pela Bahia”, afirma o presidente da Associação dos Operadores Brasileiros nos EUA (BTOA), José Gherardi, que agrega mais de 70 membros entre companhias aéreas, operadoras, hotéis e governos.

Tanto em Miami, quanto Dallas e Nova York, a capoeira foi o principal fator de aproximação entre os jovens dos dois países. “Temos muitos estudantes que fazem intercâmbio só para se aprofundar e estudar a capoeira na Bahia.

Eles aprendem a falar português, cantar e ajudam a disseminar esta modalidade por todo o mundo”, explicou Jelon Vieira, professor de 400 praticantes da luta.

De acordo com a diretora da Bahiatursa, Rosana França, em cinco anos a Bahia promoveu para o turismo, 13 eventos nos EUA, incluindo apoios a festivais, workshops e eventos de ampla divulgação internacional.

Com a ajuda de companhias aéreas que operam com voos diretos dos EUA para Salvador, como a American Airlines, o Estado se tornou um receptor destes turistas e já recebe mais de 40 mil americanos por ano, segundo a Fipe. “Trabalhamos muito o roteiro étnico-afro que vai de Salvador ao Recôncavo. Eles se encantam pela cultura e comida”, disse o gerente da

American Airlines, Marvin Alvarez. A companhia informou que os voos saem com pelo menos 80% de ocupação para Salvador.

O maior agente de viagem nos EUA para o Brasil, João de Matos, responsável também pelo Brazilian Day NY, disse que dos 70 mil turistas que envia para o Brasil, 20 mil vão para a Bahia, atrás da alegria do baiano.

Destaque em Nova York A arte de rua do artista plástico baiano Bel Borba, contaminou diversos bairros de Nova York, incluindo a maior Avenida, Times Square, onde passam mais de 400 mil pessoas por dia. Projetadas num telão em plena rua, a exposição da Times Square lhe rendeu ampla visibilidade.

Curiosos por saber quem era o artista, que não só estava nos telões da mais badalada área de Nova York, como também ávidos por saber quem era o autor das 13 esculturas de mais de 3 metros de altura colocadas em bairros como o Brooklin, que a maior rede de TV americana CNN exibiu na sua programação detalhes das suas obras.

O maior jornal impresso do mundo, The New York Times, publicou em menos de um mês, três reportagens sobre o artista.

“A recepção foi incrível e repercussão da minha arte foi acima de qualquer expectativa. Desde 7 de setembro que não paro de trabalhar, mas o esforço valeu a pena. Vejo que a Bahia ganhou ampla visibilidade. Fizemos um trabalho denso e consistente”, comentou Borba que retorna a Salvador dia 20 deste mês.

THE BRAZIL NEWS . NET MOVIES: MOVIE REVIEW Published: October 2, 2012 http://www.brazilnews.net/index.php/sid/209706458/scat/24437442923341f1

WORLD JOURNAL ( NYC ) By 劉大琪 Published: September 18, 2012 http://ny.worldjournal.com/view/full_story_ny/20184140/article-BelBorba%E7%B4%80%E9%8C%84%E7%89%87%E5%AD%AB%E5%BF%B5%E5%87%B1%E5%85%B1%E5%90%8C%E5%B0%8E%E6%BC%94?i nstance=nyart

Bel Borba 紀錄片 孫念凱共同導演 時代催生英雄，藝術造就城市，當巴西公共藝術家Bel Borba用鋼鐵、沙土、木頭和可回收再利用材料（recycled materials），用心點綴起自己有著500年歷史的家鄉—— 薩爾瓦多（Salvador），一磚一瓦、一牆一角便開始在愛和藝術的籠罩 下，散發屬於這個時代、又必將恩澤於後世的永恒之光。 由華裔孫念凱（Burt_Sun）和義大利裔Andre_Costantini共同導演的 紀錄片「Bel_Borba_Aqui」，10月3日將在曼哈坦下城的電影論壇（Fi lm_Forum）與廣大觀眾見面。該片將鏡頭投向巴西薩爾瓦多、追隨公共 藝術家Bel_Borba，講述他用雕塑、壁畫、馬賽克等幫全城華麗變身的 故事。 被譽為「人 民 的 畢 卡 索 」（The_People's_Picasso） 的Bel_Borba 是個熱愛生活、熱愛藝術、忠於社區、忠於人民的男子，任何廢品、磚 頭、瓦片、沙土一旦到了他的手中，都像獲得重生一般，在薩爾瓦多的 每個地方散發自己的藝術之光。用頭腦創作，用雙手勞動，他把整個城 市當成自己的工作室，通過不起眼的小東西把美麗和可愛留在視線所到 之處、更留在每一個人心中。大家愛他的作品，簡單、質樸、不失溫馨 ；大家愛他，熱情、勤奮、有感染力。 Bel_Borba和薩爾瓦多有著說不盡的故事，時代將他送給薩爾瓦多，薩 爾瓦多因他彰顯藝術。。 Read more:世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊 - Bel Borba紀錄片 孫念凱共同導演

WORLD JOURNAL ( NYC ) By 劉大琪 Published: October 02, 2012 http://ny.worldjournal.com/view/full_story_ny/20332464/article%E6%98%8E%E8%B5%B7%E7%99%BB%E5%A0%B4?

念凱紀錄片 紐約驚艷 孫念凱 耗時三年拍攝的 Bel Borba 紀錄片「 Bel Borba Aqui」 ，3日紐約上映。（Film Forum網站） 「起初只是想到巴西換換生活環境、品品新鮮滋味，無意中在薩爾瓦多（S alvador）的街頭看到Bel_Borba的作品。我當下就覺得我必須去找他、 見到他。」集中呈現巴西公共藝術家Bel_Borba藝術魅力的紀錄片「Bel_ Borba_Aqui」3日於曼哈坦下城電影論壇（FilmForum）登場，華裔導 演孫念凱（ BurtSun） 日前和讀者分享他和Bel_Borba偶遇、又和電影 結緣的幕後故事。 孫念凱出生在台北，從小喜歡看電影、但沒想過拍電影。以攝影師的身分 起家的他，曾經為無數機構和組織擔任藝術顧問，也和很多藝術家和電影 人交過朋友。一個偶然的契機，生活把Bel_Borba、以及後來的「Bel_B orba_Aqui」帶給一直與藝術相伴的他。他本來打算到巴西小住、放鬆心 情，卻在薩爾瓦多發現大街小巷到處都有Bel Borba的印記。 Bel_Borba用鋼鐵、沙土、木頭和可回收再利用材料裝點著薩爾瓦多，原 本普通得不能再普通的物件，竟然讓薩爾瓦多街頭閃爍了驚人的藝術魅力 。憑著對藝術的敏感，，他在那個小城找到了這位深受民眾喜愛的藝術家 。 孫念凱說，從遇見Bel_Borba、決定拍攝、到如今成片歷經三年，所積攢 的素材多達700個小時，與拍攝過程相比，將其剪成90分鐘的紀錄片的難

度相對更大一些。儘管是第一次拍電影，該片在電影節參展後的反響卻很 強烈。觀眾不僅為Bel_Borba的精湛技藝震驚，更為其把藝術帶給社區、 帶給民眾的熱情所折服。這是一個城市的故事，也是一個男人的故事，更 是一個男人和一個城市的故事。如今這個故事走進了紐約， Bel_Borba也從即日起至10月14日，親自在紐約隨處進行創作。14日晚6 時開始更會把作品帶到時報廣場進行長達一天的展示，而時報廣場的大屏 幕上也將循環播放Bel_Borba在紐約的創作畫面、讓更多人看到Bel_Bor ba和他的作品。「我很期待那天的到來，也很感謝我的紀錄片能夠踏上紐 約。紐約推崇藝術、善待藝術，這讓我每每想來都萬分感動」。

想要查閱Bel_Borba紐約創作之旅的民眾，可點擊http://diariobaiano .wordpress.com/查看。「Bel_Borba_Aqui」將於3日起在電影論壇公 映，至16日止，地點為曼哈坦西豪斯頓街（W. Houston St.）209號，意者請登錄http://www.filmforum.org/movies/more/ bel_borba_aqui

Brazil’s Pied Piper of Street Art

The ebullient artist is the subject of the new documentary…

Though focused on Mr. Borba, the film also meditates on the nature of the creative impulse, and has attracted the interest of artists of all sorts. The actress Debra Winger, who was so impressed by the film called it “ a wormhole into another world, one that we ought to know but don’t. ” – Larry Rohter, The New York Times

Bel Borba Aqui’ provides a grab-eye view of the artist

“stirring visuals , a vibrant score and an infectious, in-the-moment spirit.”

– Gary Goldstein, Los Angles Times

Burt Sun and André Costantini’s debut film follows a prolific artist leaving no blank wall unpainted in Salvador, Brazil.

“Endearing doc focuses on the pleasure of creating over the rigors of artistry. The debut film from Burt Sun and André Costantini will charm many arthouse patrons, though some highbrow-leaning art lovers will find the subject unworthy of such attention.”

-- John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter

“mostly upbeat, often humorous. Both art and artist are outsized and entertaining!”

– Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chrnicle

“Not unlike an urban Andy Goldsworthy. Borba speaks with keen perspicacity about embracing Bahian folklore.”

– Sam Adams –, Time Out New York

“Exhilarating, dazzlingly colorful portrait of an artist” “Art of the most joyously accessible, truly creative kind is featured in BEL BORA AQUI. (The artist) turned his entire town of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, into a living, breathing one-man show. The film is an exhilarating ride through Borba’s world, filled with color, yummy-looking food he naturally whips up himself, and throbbing, vibrant local music. Refulgent with a pure love of humanity, Bel Borba represents the exact opposite of the artistic spectrum form the traditional tortured persona of a Jackson Pollock.”

– David Noh, Film Journal International

“Borba já deixou sua marca: um artista baiano humaniza o maior templo da publicidade americana! ” – Patrick Brock, Muito Revista

Brazilian Artist Bel Borba’s Magnificent Obsession With His City Captured in Documentary

“Eloquently photographed by with expressive use of tracking shots and dissolves, it’s a vibrant tribute to a prolific folk artist. In keeping with the art form that made his name in the northeastern Brazilian city, the movie is a visual and aural mosaic cemented by traditional Bahian music.”

– Graham Fuller, Artinfo.com

“ freewheeling and spontaneous, and most alive when it’s showing art being created. Great soundtrack! ” – Cheryl Eddy, S.F. Bay Guardian

“Practically a montage of color, music, and Borba’s constant laughter … directors Burt Sun and Andre Costantini, along with the exuberant Señor Borba, can show people….”

– Chris Packham, The Village Voice

“ Vibrant! Ceaselessly creating, as lively at rest as in motion, the artist dominates the docu, his self-explanatory narration filling out all audio spaces not already occupied by strains of Brazilian folk music as well as compositions created for the film.”

– Ronnie Scheib, Variety

“ This fascinating documentary directed by Burt Sun and Andre Costantini focuses on Bel Borba, –this artist picks up the energy and rhythms of a place and then works with his instinct and intuition to spontaneously create something new and different to draw out the drama, color, excitement, and diversity of urban living.”

– Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spiritual & Practice

“ An Artist Hero Paints a City’s Streets! ” “ Bel Borba Aqui” gives us plenty to look at…”

– Rachel Saltz, The New York Times Movie review

E Bel Borba fez a América

“ Um filme de estonteante beleza cinematográfica, música cheia de vivacidade e grande narrativa. ” – Jotabê Medeiros, O Estado De S. Paulo

Bel Borba Aqui’ entertaining look at eclectic Brazilian artist

“ Bel Borba Aqui is an uplifting, highly enjoyable film about an artist whose personality is as engaging as his work, which grabs the eye on film and makes you want to see it in person. ” – L. KENT Wolgamott, Lincoln Journal Star

Muralista baiano cria intervenções nas ruas de NY

“ Mais do que na arte, o documentário foca no jeito despojado de Borba e na sua "energia criadora. ” – Gabriela Longman, Folha De S. Paulo

“ que olhar lindo você tem! Que maravilha aquelas esculturas de ferro que submergem no mar da Bahia e retornam depois de sua queda no mar, com a superfíce transformada pela vida! É pura poesia! ” – Elizabeth Carvalho , jornalista, editora-executiva e repórter especial da Globo News

First-time directors provide a day-in-the-life look in ‘Bel Borba Aqui’Bel Borba Aqui’ entertaining look at eclectic Brazilian artist

“The film itself is put together like a cinematic mosaic. The first time directors, Sun and Costantini, meld various stills of the city, Bel Borba and his artwork together with Brazilian music. The cinematography is beautiful and does well to keep the viewers as entertained as Borba is with his own works.”

– Emily Kuklinksi, Daily Nebraskan

Burt Sun and André Costantini’s Cinematic Celebration of “The People’s Picasso.”

– Michael J. Roberts, Showbiz Chicago

“I was totally inspired by not only its subject, but by the filmmaking itself. The music, the editing, and the lyricism that shoots it full of life was a total joy. Most importantly, it is evocative.”

– Debra Winger

“ An act that invites participation for the joy of the whole community!”

– Amanda Kehrberg

Phoenix New Times

“ What a inspiring film! ” – ARTSALOT, San Jose

“ an awe-inspiring documentary! ” – Eydie Mendoza, Silicon Valley Latino

“ a film with stunning cinematic beauty, vivacious music and excellent storytelling to portray an eccentric Brazilian master artist. Like Gaudi to Barcelona, Spain; Bel Borba to Salvador, Brazil, both made an unprecedented imprint to their beloved city.. one of the most mesmerizing and must see documentary films this year. ” – Shau-lee Chow, Voice of America

“Evocative soundtrack and breathtaking cinematography!”

– Valeria Sasser , SF Examiner

“ A captivating film & An Inspiring artist !”

– Ramon Johnson, KSJS 90.5 FM

“ Amazing work! ” – Susan Motamed, producer of Independent lens

“ This is a pleasing picture of a well-spent life. ” – Richard von Busack , Metro San Jose

“ Every art student should see this film! ” – Robert Woodruff

“ an inspiring and visually gorgeous film! ” – Jennie Amias, Producer of PBS – Now

“ The Brazilian Banksy! ” – Benjamin Sutton, The L Magazine

“ luscious cinematography! ” – V.A. Musetto, New York Post

“ The writer-directors Burt Sun and Andre Costantini put their effective mark on the relationship between art and a city. ” – Harvey Karten, New York Film Critics

MFA MUSEUM OF FINE ART/ BOSTON, USA The Global film Initiative JANERARY 2-10, 2013 http://www.mfa.org/programs/film/bel-bora-aqui-0

Times Square Moment: A Digital Gallery Times Square ART: Universal Pulse, NYC October 1- 31, 2012 http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/moment/archive/universalpulse/index.aspx

Times Square Public Art Times Square ART: DIÁRIO (através de um OLHO BAIANO) October 14-15, 2012 http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/project-archives/bel-borbadiario/index.aspx

RODIN MUSEUM PALACETE DAS ARTES - RODIN BAHIA Bel Borba (se) exp천e AQUI, em Sete Elementos JANERARY 2012 http://www.palacetedasartes.ba.gov.br/exposicoes/bel-borba-se-expoe-aqui-em-sete-elementos2.html

DIA DETROIT INSTITUE OF ARTS November 2-4, 2012 http://www.dia.org/auxiliaries/event.aspx?id=3370&iid=&aux_id=14&cid=102

OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART The Oklahoma City Museum of Art Film Program November 16-17, 2012 http://www.okcmoa.com/see/films/bel-borba-aqui/

(FIAF )French Institute Alliance Franรงaise CROSSING THE LINE FESTIVAL, NYC September 13- Oct 14, 2012 http://www.fiaf.org/crossingtheline/2012/index.shtml

(FIAF )French Institute Alliance Franรงaise CROSSING THE LINE FESTIVAL, NYC September 13- Oct 14, 2012 http://www.fiaf.org/crossingtheline/2012/index.shtml

CINEQUEST FILM FESTIVAL San Jose , CA, USA February 28- march 13, 2012 World premiere http://www.cinequest.org/event_view.php?eid=1605

AFI LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE, USA September 20 - October 10, 2012 http://www.afi.com/silver/films/2012/v9i4/belborbaaqui.aspx

( FICCI ) FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE CARTAGENA DE INDIAS Cartagena , Colombia February 21- 27, 2013 http://www.ficcifestival.com/listado.php?a=Galas http://www.lbv.co/velvet_voice/boletin_ficci/53ficci/boletin009_belborbaaqui.html