“Bloco do Prazer” exhibition arrives in Fortaleza with 250 works

Show opens on Dec 2 at MAC-CE with 250 works and over 30 Ceará artists celebrating festivity, art and ancestry.

Starting December 2, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Ceará (MAC-CE), at the Dragão do Mar Center of Art and Culture, opens the exhibition “Bloco do Prazer”, which explores festivity as a force for aesthetic creation, community articulation and symbolic expression in Brazil. Admission is free, and the show runs until May 2026.

Organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Dragão do Mar Institute, in partnership with the Rio Art Museum and sponsored by Petrobras and the Ceará Department of Culture, the exhibition presents festivity as an expanded cultural language capable of transmitting knowledge, affirming identities and shaping collective futures.

Inspired by the 1978 song “Bloco do Prazer” by Fausto Nilo and Moraes Moreira, made famous by Gal Costa, the show uses joy and celebration as lenses to explore artistic creation, ancestry and the politics of living together in Brazil.

“The arrival of Bloco do Prazer in Ceará reinforces the State’s commitment to art as a space for gathering, diversity and collective creation. Festivity is a way of existing, creating and resisting,” says Luisa Cela, Ceará’s Secretary of Culture.

The Ceará edition integrates traditional manifestations, maracatus, reisados, folk groups and popular culture masters. Featuring around 250 works, the exhibition brings together multiple periods, languages and collections. More than 30 artists from Ceará take part, strengthening regional protagonism.

Ceará artists include Zé Tarcísio, Luiz Hermano, Charles Lessa, Heloísa Juaçaba, Mestre Chico Emília, Roberto Galvão, Nicolas Gondim, Blecaute, Raimundo Cela and Estrigas, reaffirming the state as an active center of artistic production.

The exhibition also presents 14 new or recent works (2020–2025) exploring body, sound, ritual, movement and street occupation. Techniques range from painting and photography to installation, video, textile art and hybrid practices.

“Festivity means encounter and joy. Ending the year with this celebration at Dragão do Mar is especially meaningful,” states Rachel Gadelha, president of the Dragão do Mar Institute.

With contributions from 13 collections and archives — including MAC-CE, the Ceará Pinacoteca, the Ceará Culture Museum, the Rio Art Museum and the Moreira Salles Institute — the show reinforces the connection between territory, memory and contemporary artistic practices.

“With Bloco do Prazer, MAC-CE opens a new phase aimed at expanding access and bringing contemporary art closer to everyday experiences,” says Camila Rodrigues, superintendent of the Dragão do Mar Center.

SERVICE

Bloco do Prazer Exhibition

Where: Museum of Contemporary Art of Ceará (MAC-CE) / Dragão do Mar Center

Location: R. Dragão do Mar, 81 – Praia de Iracema, Fortaleza (CE)

Dates: 12/02/2025 to 05/2026

Free admission

Organized by: Ministry of Culture, Dragão do Mar Institute and Dragão do Mar Center

Partnership: Ceará Department of Culture

Sponsorship: Petrobras, via Rouanet Law

More information: idm.org.br / dragaodomar.org.br