Notes on visual education in Mário de Andrade: reflections for the 21st century

Abstract

In the year in which the centenary of the Modern Art Week of 1922 is celebrated, it is proposed to revisit aspects of the work of Mário de Andrade, one of the leading intellectuals who were part of Brazilian Modernism, with the aim of bringing elements of this author's thought, to answer the question: how to educate the gaze to read codes, symbols and visual references that constitute the hegemonic way in which knowledge reaches society at its most diverse levels, or in other words, how to process visual literacy in a critical sense? For this analysis, it was sought to compare documents and records of practices carried out by Mário de Andrade - such as the draft for the creation of SPHAN, as well as his role as Director of Culture and Children's Parks, in addition to studies by researchers who focused on themes related to the texts and biography of the author. The discussion is directed towards building an argument that explores the development bias of the subject's autonomy, creativity and independence, through a visual literacy situated in the technological-informational context, which characterizes Brazilian and global society in the 21^st century, as well as the contradictions of the current capitalist phase that generate implications for the appropriation of knowledge by the various social actors. At the end of the analysis, considerations are presented regarding the lack of formal educational processes with regard to the development in students of a proficiency in reading and critical decoding of past and present images, resuming the approach of the problem according to the view of Mário de Andrade.