Omar Salomao
Department of Romance Languages and Literature (Portuguese)
omarsalomao@g.harvard.edu
Omar is an artist, curator, poet, designer, scenographer, and PhD Candidate in the Department of Romance Languages and Literature (Portuguese). His research interest develops in the space between writing and artistic practice. A starting point is the work of a contemporary Brazilian artist, Tunga, and his use of literary creation as a trigger for artistic production, a kind of archeology of fiction. From this, to think about ways and possibilities of a fictional thought for artistic invention: the creation of spaces, worlds, times.
He holds a Masters in Literature, Culture and Contemporaneity from PUC-Rio and published three books, usually mixing poetry, and different medias: Pequenos Reparos [Small Fixes, 2017], Impreciso [Imprecise, 2011] and À Deriva [Adrift, 2005], and also organized Bodies, Letters, and some Animals, with Fernando De La Rocque, and Marcelo Backes. As an artist, he participated in exhibitions such as the 3rd Bahia Biennale (2014) and the 18th International Contemporary Art Festival Videobrasil (2013), as well as individual exhibits, like Você vê os pássaros? Sempre quis que você visse os pássaros daqui [Do you see the birds? I always wanted you to see the birds here, – Galeria Silvia Cintra + Box 4, Rio de Janeiro, 2017], Nebula: a sombra das nuvens manchando a cidade [Nebula: shadow of clouds staining the city – Espaço Oi Futuro Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, 2015], Influxo [Influx, Galeria Superfície, São Paulo, 2015], Turbulências são apenas nuvens no caminho [Turbulences are just clouds in the way, Rio de Janeiro, 2011], among others.
Omar curated different exhibitions exploring the relations between written word and visuality: Palavra [Word, Galeria Oriente, 2017[; with Juliana Cintra, A vida não é só a praticidade das coisas [Life is not just the practicality of things, Silvia Cintra + Box 4, 2019]; with Heloisa Buarque and Bruna Beber, Blooks [Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro, 2007]; and with Anna Dantes the Biblioteca de Grifos de Waly Salomão [Waly Salomão’s Puzzle Library, Biblioteca Parque Estadual, Rio de Janeiro, 2014].
As a scenic designer, he created the visual concept for the latest concert of the Brazilian iconic singer Gal Costa, A Pele do Futuro [The Skin of the Future], directed by Marcus Preto (2018). In 2015, he did the visual concept for the concert MúsicaPoema [MusicPoem] of Adriana Calcanhotto e Cid Campos, directed by Adriana Calcanhotto. In 2014, he did the scenic design for the plays Não Vamos Pagar [We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!], text by Dario Fo, directed by Ines Vianna. Omar also has a close relationship with music, has written lyrics for MPB songs, his latest ones, Palavras no Corpo [Words in the Body], was recorded by Gal Costa, and Vibra [Vibrate], released by Mahmundi.