Then, in 2013, Silvestre arranged for my work to be presented in a Brazilian touring exhibition called Brasilia. Half a Century of the Capital of Brazil, and which ambitioned to stop in Paris. I therefore intervened with Gérard Fournier, the Paris Espace Niemeyer’s administrator, in order to facilitate contacts between the latter and the Brazilian exhibition curator. I did so out of friendship and gratitude for Silvestre and out of friendship and gratitude for Gerard. And for no one else. I did it because I knew the common and sincere love for Brasilia which genuinely filled these two men’s soul. A selection of my work inspired by Brasilia was thus presented in this exhibition in its Parisian edition, at Silvestre’s request.

In conclusion, and when remembering all that I owe Elaine Ruas, I must also thank her for bringing me to meet this man, for whom generosity and dynamism are no vain words. Of this woman and this man, one can also conclude that great minds sometimes meet, both sharing common qualities and views.

So, thank you Silvestre Gorgulho, for everything.
For art, and for poetry, and for your open heart and your extended hand to Brazil’s Native Indians, some gestures and a philosophy that touch one's soul, and help raising the right questions.
Indians from your country. From the Brazilian Amazon Region, from the Sertão and from the Cerrado, whom the White Man has considered so little. But who understood Mother Nature’s tongue so well. A common destiny with their North America cousins, to whom Joni Mitchell -a muse and a star in my own pantheon-, has so often paid tribute in her work, exposing genocide, contempt and arbitrariness identically.

The great common causes are not born by chance, but from great minds who meet -and who support them.