CORNELL UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICEJune 6, 2016

Olympics create image of successful Brazil, not reality

Newswise — Pedro Erber, associate professor of Luso-Brazilian Studies, specializes in Brazilian and Japanese literature, intellectual history and art. Erber’s most recent exhibition “The Emergence of Contemporary: Avant-Garde Art in Japan, 1950-197,” explores the way artists responded to the transformations of Tokyo in preparation for the 1964 Olympics. Its opening in Rio de Janeiro will coincide with the Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Bio: http://www.romancestudies.cornell.edu/people/faculty-directory/pedro-erber/

Erber says:“Olympics include a project of modernization being imposed from above. We saw it in Japan in 1964 and we are seeing it in Brazil now, with different degrees of success. It’s about creating an image of Brazil rather than taking into account the pressing needs of the residents of Rio – especially the poor.

“The corruption scandals that are endangering the government have affected the Olympics as well. There is suspicion that some of the construction companies benefitting from dishonest oil company contracts are the same companies that received the lion’s share of Olympic construction contracts. The recent collapse of a cycling road built by a company with close ties to Rio’s mayor has raised serious concerns about whether the same poor quality permeates all of the Olympic construction.

“Despite reasons for public opposition to the Olympics, the political situation in Brazil is now so critical that protests against the Olympics are secondary to more pressing issues: Will the rule of law and democracy survive in Brazil?”

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