Exhibitions
Andréa Hygino questions school discipline through play
Play as a space of freedom, discovery, and learning is transformed into an experience of impossibility in Projeto parquinho , the installation that Brazilian artist Andréa Hygino presents at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (MAM Rio). Conceived specifically for the museum's foyer, the piece is part of Espaço Petrobras, a program dedicated to showcasing commissioned works by young artists in direct dialogue with the institution's architecture and spaces.
Curated by Phelipe Rezende, the installation brings together five hybrid structures that combine elements typical of playgrounds with school furniture, especially classroom chairs. The result is a series of objects that evoke childhood games, but whose very configuration precludes any playful activity. What should invite movement and exploration becomes a device that limits action and confronts the visitor with the frustration of being unable to use what is in front of them.
From this contradiction, Hygino draws a parallel between the playground and the school, two fundamental spaces in the socialization process during childhood. The former is usually designed to stimulate specific forms of play, anticipating body movements and defining the possibilities for interaction. The school, on the other hand, constitutes a learning environment in which codes, norms, and behaviors are transmitted, while conduct and progress are evaluated. Both spaces, seemingly intended for development and discovery, can also function as structures of discipline and control.
In Projeto parquinho , this normative dimension is challenged by the impossibility of following the rules of the game. By preventing objects from fulfilling their function, the artist introduces a tension between rigidity and movement, desire and frustration, freedom and obedience. The installation invites reflection on educational models and on forms of learning that are sometimes reproduced automatically, without space for critique, experimentation, or questioning of established norms.
Andréa Hygino's artistic practice revolves around the school environment and the processes of learning, training, discipline, and repetition. For the artist, student disobedience constitutes a necessary space from which to activate critique and creation. Her works incorporate childhood memories, such as those of the school her mother created and ran in their own home, which intertwine with her experiences as an artist and teacher, and with a keen awareness of the conditions of public education in Brazil.
A visual artist, art educator, and professor, Hygino holds a degree in Visual Arts from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), a master's degree in Visual Languages from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Visual Arts at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Her career combines artistic research with ongoing reflection on education and its structures.
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