Wednesday, November 02, 2005
South America Trip - Day 15 - Rio de Janeiro
Mum is interested in jewellery so Elizabeth (Bruno´s mother) organised a tour for us. We went to Rio Sul mall to the H.Stern store. There we were served drinks while to tour was arranged. We were given passes which allowed us to have free taxi rides to and from their factory in Copacabana. When we arrived at the workshop we were greeted and given audio guides.
The tour began with some displays about what jewels are found where in Brazil. More interesting was seeing the craftsmen at work making the jewels. The process is long and involves many different people including people who grade the quality of the stones, designers, cutters, goldsmiths, setters and polishers. Following the tour we were taken to a room with a low ceiling, maze of boothes and Kenny G music in the background. This is where they make the hard sell. We were plied with snacks and drinks and the ladies got down to looking at the jewellery. The sales woman we had was actually quite nice. She loved NZ even before the Lord of the Rings as she had been for a month and said she would love to live there if she could not live in Brazil. To cut a long story short, mum succumbed to the sales technique.
After lunch back at the mall we went across the Rio - Niteroi bridge to the city of Niteroi across the other side of the harbour. Niteroi has 500 thousand inhabitants, about the size of Wellington. We visited the MAC a modern art museum. It is shaped like a floating flying saucer with a spiral ramp leading in. There we saw an exhibition by Nelson Leirner. Leirner is a Brazilian artist with a love of kitch using many toys and stickers in his art. Some is fun others more political but most is very accessible. Here are a couple of pictures and you can see more on google image search. I would like to have bought his book but it was large and heavy. Maybe I can get it on Amazon when I get home.
We continued round the bays of Niteroi and saw some interesting, colourful fishing boats in the harbour. There is a joke in Rio that Niteroi has the most beautiful view in the world because they can look across the harbour at Rio.
The tour began with some displays about what jewels are found where in Brazil. More interesting was seeing the craftsmen at work making the jewels. The process is long and involves many different people including people who grade the quality of the stones, designers, cutters, goldsmiths, setters and polishers. Following the tour we were taken to a room with a low ceiling, maze of boothes and Kenny G music in the background. This is where they make the hard sell. We were plied with snacks and drinks and the ladies got down to looking at the jewellery. The sales woman we had was actually quite nice. She loved NZ even before the Lord of the Rings as she had been for a month and said she would love to live there if she could not live in Brazil. To cut a long story short, mum succumbed to the sales technique.
After lunch back at the mall we went across the Rio - Niteroi bridge to the city of Niteroi across the other side of the harbour. Niteroi has 500 thousand inhabitants, about the size of Wellington. We visited the MAC a modern art museum. It is shaped like a floating flying saucer with a spiral ramp leading in. There we saw an exhibition by Nelson Leirner. Leirner is a Brazilian artist with a love of kitch using many toys and stickers in his art. Some is fun others more political but most is very accessible. Here are a couple of pictures and you can see more on google image search. I would like to have bought his book but it was large and heavy. Maybe I can get it on Amazon when I get home.
We continued round the bays of Niteroi and saw some interesting, colourful fishing boats in the harbour. There is a joke in Rio that Niteroi has the most beautiful view in the world because they can look across the harbour at Rio.
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