Current and former directors of Rio’s Paço Imperial discuss four decades of cultural legacy this Saturday, April 11, at 3 PM. Free admission.
The talk “O Paço e suas gestões” (The Paço and Its Leadership) brings together, for the first time, current director Claudia Saldanha and former directors Lauro Cavalcanti and Paulo Sérgio Duarte to reflect on 40 years of one of Brazil’s most important cultural centers. The event takes place in the Sala dos Archeiros and is part of the exhibition “Constelações – 40 anos do Paço Imperial”.
Art historian and professor at the School of Fine Arts at UFRJ, Ivair Reinaldim, will moderate the session. He also co-curated the exhibition alongside Claudia Saldanha. The event seats up to 80 people and requires no prior registration.
A constellation of 130 artists
The exhibition spans 12 galleries and two internal courtyards of the Paço Imperial, featuring around 160 works by 130 artists from different generations who shaped the institution’s history. The roster includes Adriana Varejão, Beatriz Milhazes, Cildo Meireles, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, Maxwell Alexandre, and Arthur Bispo do Rosário, among many others.
The show was built following a year-long research process that mapped every exhibition ever held at the space. “We didn’t start from works necessarily shown at the Paço, but from artists who exhibited there and were important to that history,” explains curator Ivair Reinaldim.
New works and a Burle Marx garden
One of the exhibition’s highlights is a garden honoring Roberto Burle Marx (1909–1994), installed by the Sítio Burle Marx in partnership with the Paço Imperial in the main courtyard. The landscape architect had a major retrospective at the venue in 2008, curated by then-director Lauro Cavalcanti.
The show also features new commissions, including the installation “Agrupamento” by José Damasceno, assembled from materials sourced at the Praça XV street market right in front of the building, alongside new works by Marcelo Monteiro and Regina de Paula.
Historic Rio Arte video series
The exhibition is complemented by 15 videos from Rio Arte’s contemporary art series, featuring artists such as Amilcar de Castro — filmed at the Paço Imperial itself during his 1989 exhibition —, Anna Maria Maiolino, Antonio Manuel, Lygia Clark, Lygia Pape, and Tunga. “These are very important videos, made collaboratively by artists and directors. They are not mere documentary footage, but works of art conceived as artistic pieces,” says Claudia Saldanha.
Centuries of history at Rio’s historic center
Built in 1733 and inaugurated in 1743, the Paço Imperial served first as the residence of Brazil’s colonial viceroys. When King João VI arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1808, it became the Royal Palace and the seat of the Empire. Listed as a national heritage site by Iphan in 1938, the building was restored in 1983 by architect Glauco Campello and transformed into a cultural center under Iphan in 1985.
Forty years on, the Paço Imperial has become a meeting point and reference for Rio’s visual arts scene. Celebrating this history means recognizing, locally and nationally, the Paço Imperial’s importance in promoting Brazilian arts and culture.
Claudia Saldanha and Ivair Reinaldim, curators
Event Info
- Talk: “O Paço e suas gestões”
- Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 3 PM
- Venue: Centro Cultural do Patrimônio Paço Imperial – Sala dos Archeiros
- Capacity: 80 seats
- Free admission
- Address: Praça XV de Novembro, 48 – Centro – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
- Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday and holidays, noon to 6 PM
- Production: AREA27
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