ASSITEJ Magazine 2019

Wagner Schwartz, La Bête. Photo by Humberto Araujo.
In this article, I propose a reflection on
the complex issues that arise around
the presence of children (as spectators
and performers) in contemporary
theatre and live arts. For that, I am
going to start talking about an
event that challenged conservative
conceptions of children and childhood
in Brazil two years ago.
MELISSA FERREIRA IS A RESEARCHER AT STATE
UNIVERSITY OF CAMPINAS (UNICAMP), SÃO PAULO,
BRAZIL. POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP: GRANT
#2017/11886-0, SÃO PAULO RESEARCH FOUNDATION
(FAPESP).
In September 2017, the artist Wagner Schwartz
presented his performance titled La Bête (in
English The Beast) at the Museum of Modern
Art (MAM) of São Paulo. Inspired by the work of
the Brazilian visual artist Lygia Clark titled Bicho
(which also means “beast”), in La Bête Schwartz
lets his own naked body be manipulated as if it
were one of Clark’s geometric figures. On the
same day that La Bête was presented at MAM
a performance video recording was posted on
line and it was shown several times by major
media in the following days. The video shows the
moment when a little girl follows her mother and,
as many spectators had done before, touches the
artist’s foot and arm. The scene, out of context,
gave many people the impression that the child
was being subjected to violence. It caused a
national commotion across the country. The artist
and the child’s mother were strongly attacked
with accusations involving negligence and even
pedophilia by conservative groups and far-right
politicians.
Assitej Artistic Gathering 2019 2–7 September Kristiansand
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