XVI World Congress of Rural Sociology 

 Local painter Flavio Scholles lent his art to our Congress.

He was born and lived most of his life in Vale do Sinos, in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre. In his studio nestled on top of a mountain, he painted the daily work and life in agriculture. In his biography, he tells that "the beginning of the industrialization of the country and, mainly, of the Vale do Rio dos Sinos - the cultivation with machines in large areas of land in Rio Grande do Sul, in the north of Paraná and, later, in Mato Grosso - meant that the small farms were no longer profitable. The exodus of settlers to the city began, where they would soon feel marginalized. Those who remained felt ashamed of their reality, mainly due to the effects of the post-war period. They even began to deny their realities, their customs, their homes, etc. They were completely losing their identity, which had very striking cultural characteristics, raw material for making art. I felt, then, that it was time to embrace my reality, my identity, to do a job of saving part of the country's culture. I realized that no one, no other artist would make art about our reality if we didn't do it ourselves. So, at the end of 1975, I began the series about my story, the story of my family, which was, by extension, the history of most of the inhabitants of my village: the Vale do Rio dos Sinos.".
Flávio left us in 2024, but his art will remain with us forever. Discover here his work.