A fedora hat and a plaid bow tie. Whether strolling through the streets of São Paulo, visiting bars or radio studios, Adoniran Barbosa was always seen wearing these two items, which became his trademark.
Forty years after the composer’s death, completed at the end of November, these same accessories can be seen by the public in an exhibition at Boteco 28. The restaurant is located on the 28th floor of Farol Santander, in downtown São Paulo.
In addition to the hat and tie, there are serials with autographs by the sambista, photographs and, in a frame, a title of citizen of São Paulo. That’s because Adoniran was from São Paulo — he was born in Valinhos, about 90 km from the capital. He moved with his family to São Paulo at a young age and worked in different capacities, such as a fabric salesman. Such a tribute was received by Adoniran’s daughter, Maria Helena, four years ago — the moment is recorded in a photo.
Documentary posters about João Rubinato, his baptismal name, also decorate the walls. There are also small wire bicycles and a pot of polenta, built by the samba icon.
“In addition to being an artist, composer and singer, Adoniran had gone to high school, so he was also a craftsman. He made little bicycles and only gave them to those he thought had made a difference in his life”, says Cássio Pardini, one of the partners at Boteco 28.
The objects arrived at the site in January, on the city’s anniversary, by the hands of Pardini, who now takes care of Adoniran’s collection. The collection has about a thousand items, kept by the musician’s wife, Matilde de Lutiis, over the years.
The story of how these original objects came to Pardini is a long one. The collection has passed from hand to hand in recent decades. First, it was left as an inheritance to her daughter, Maria Helena, who later passed it on to Matilde and, again, returned to her. Both tried to set up a museum in honor of Adoniran, but it did not work out.
The collection then stayed in friends’ houses, later it was cataloged by the University of São Paulo and kept in boxes for years. He went to the Museu da Imagem e do Som, but he also left after some imbroglios. Finally, it ended up at Galeria do Rock.
“The gallery is a good place for Adoniran, because he was a rebel”, says Pardini. The film producer discovered the collection when he was producing a short film about the bohemian. “We got a group together, paid in installments and bought the collection. We were super happy.” The collection, however, is not open to the public, and access is granted only to researchers, with authorization.
In 2018, the group set up a large exhibition at Farol Santander. With its completion, the items returned to the gallery. “Things had started to escalate more, but then the pandemic came and things were forgotten again”, says Pardini.
He is currently producing a film about the sambista, starring Paulo Miklos. But he intends to pass the collection on and has been trying to transfer the objects to the São Paulo City Hall or to some institute. “To continue. I finish my cycle with the production of this film”, he says.
At the same time, his company and that of his partners managed to sign a proposal for a Paulistânia food restaurant to occupy the space at Farol Santander. References to the composer are also on the menu, in a recipe inspired by one of his last songs, “Torresmo à Milanesa”, composed alongside Carlinhos Vergueiro, in 1979, at the counter of a bar.
“What did you bring in the lunch box, Dito?/ I brought a fried egg, I brought a fried egg/ And you, beauty, what did you bring?/ Rice and beans and breaded crackling”, says an excerpt from the song.
The restaurant’s chef, Deivid Marques, prepared a dish using these same ingredients, and named it Marmita do Adoniran. It costs R$72 and includes two fried eggs, beans, rice, farofa and breaded pork rinds. “Wanted play with this song that talks about a super simple dish. He was going to stay for a month, but the people liked it and today he is part of the bar”, he says.
But it is not necessary to consume the dish to know the collection, it is possible just to visit the place. The small exhibition will remain there permanently, keeping alive the memory of one of the most representative samba composers in São Paulo.
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