VA “O Começo do Fim do Mundo”

“O Começo do Fim do Mundo” was a punk festival that happened in São Paulo - Brazil in 1982 with bands like Olho Seco, Colera, Inocentes, Ratos de Porão, etc

In November 1982, during the final years of Brazil’s military dictatorship, punk reached a wider public in São Paulo with O Começo do Fim do Mundo. The festival took place at Sesc Pompéia, an old factory transformed into a brutalist cultural oasis by architect Lina Bo Bardi, and marked a key moment for the city’s punk scene, bringing together thousands of punks and onlookers.
Organized through a DIY effort with unexpected structure, the event united bands from across São Paulo and the ABC region, groups often linked to rival gangs, on the same stage. This true collective effort was spearheaded by Bivar, Meire, and Callegari, with the invaluable help of many punks. There were 21 shows. Many bands didn’t have their own instruments, Clemente’s bass (Inocentes) was shared by more than ten groups. The atmosphere held until Sunday, when police responded to neighborhood complaints and arrested dozens of youths for “looking punk.”

Despite the repression, the energy of that weekend was documented on a live album. Recorded on a home cassette deck, it captures the anger that no studio could replicate. The original pressing served as payment for the bands. Today, it has become a sought-after collector’s item.

Now, the original fragments of this cultural collision arrive in New York for this exhibition. The space brings together historical memorabilia alongside the work of three distinct photographers: Vitão, a punk who captured his friends on stage and in the pit having the best days of their lives, Penna Prearo, one of the greatest portraitists of Brazilian music and the American Paul Constantinides, who documented the raw magic of that weekend. It offers a true visual immersion into the point of eruption of the South American underground.

Curated by Mateus Mondini

Frances Dove collages