Values and meanings attributed to sculptures in public space: the case of the monument to Olavo Bilac

Abstract

This research has the objective of studying the transformation of the values and meanings attributed to the sculptures projected on public places in city of Sao Paulo, through the analysis of the removal and relocation of a relevant sculptural set. The focus of the research is the study of the ensemble sculpture Monumento a Olavo Bilac, considered one of the first ones to be displaced from it is original place in this city. The aim is to evidence the trajectory of this sculpture collection requested on a tribute to the poet Olavo Bilac after his death and inaugurated on 1992, on the Centennial of the Independence of Brazil, on Avenida Paulista. On 1936, only fourteen years after its creation, the sculpture collection was displaced, starting a process that would result in its fragmentation in eight smaller sculptures that would have particular destinies along the time, beginning a process of emptying of their original symbolization. In this context, we intend to study since the creation of the sculptural set until the urban situation of its fragments nowadays. The intention is to question what values and meanings each part of the monument has currently, and to put in doubt the valorization and preservation of those and of building on a city like São Paulo, that is always changing.