CLARA REIS
Journalist, associate director of Santa art and curator of the current exhibition at Z42.
THE CITY TALK
WHAT IS RIO’S PHILOSOPHY ?
There is a line from a Brazilian song which says “cidade maravilha purgatório da beleza e do caos” (wonder city purgatory of beauty and chaos). And I think it describes it well. When you look at the Nature here you feel you are living in the most beautiful city in the world but then we have so many social problems... It could be the best city in the world but it’s not because of those problems. I think it is very confusing to live here because we are always thinking it is going to change but it never does. So I guess it is a like a love-hate relationship. But the only ones who are allowed to speak like that about Rio are the Cariocas! If someone else speaks s*** about our city, we get mad! But I love it because at the same time we have the city life, the touristic life which contributes to this cosmopolitan life with restaurants and culture, and of course we have the beach life and all the beautiful nature. That mix is what makes it so special.
THE PLACE WHERE YOU FEEL THE BEST AT, IN RIO ?
I think on the beach. When I was a teenager, I would hang in Ipanema at the posto 9, but now I mainly go between posto 10 and Leblon. But my boyfriend, who is a professional fisherman, has a boat so now we go sailing to the Cagarras islands!
WHAT IS THE TOURISTIC THING THAT YOU LOVE TO DO?
Going to the beach and the museums. I love CCBB’s exhibitions. And the MAM. And now we have these new museums; the MAR and the Museu do Amanhã which also have interesting exhibitions.
WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY IN CLARA’S LIFE?
I wake up at 7am, I have breakfast and then go to the gym next to my place where I usually do a running class. I have to go to a class to find the motivation because when I do exercise by myself I just stop after 5min. In the winter, when it is less hot, I sometimes go running around the Lagoa or on the beach. Then I go back home, I have lunch and get ready to go to “the office” at Z42. We always have a coffee together with the artists to catch up on their latest work, then I meet with Serge (my business partner) and we receive people to show them the exhibition and talk about the house. Every week we have an open-door event to receive more people. If we don’t have any opening to attend, I go home and have diner and go to bed early. Once a week I meet my friends for some wine, girly talk… usually we go to one another’s house. And when my boyfriend is in town, we go out to diner.
SINCE YOUR BOYFRIEND IS A FISHERMAN, TELL US THE BEST PLACES TO EAT FISH IN RIO!
The best place is a private club in Copacabana called Clube dos Marimbás but only members are allowed… I’ll invite you once! But there are two restaurants that I like. The first one, more fancy is called Satyricon, it is in Ipanema and quite expensive. The other one is downtown and is called Rio minho and was actually the first restaurant of Rio! It is a Portuguese restaurant with a big salon with fancy tables but at the back they have a simple balcony more affordable and very good!
WHAT IS YOUR GO-TO GIFT FROM RIO TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO LIVE ABROAD?
Personally, when I was living abroad in the UK, something I really missed was mate. But it was 10 years ago so we didn’t have all the things that globalization made available today. So I used to ask my mom to send me matte, feijão (beans), Nescau and coffee because in England coffee wasn’t so good at that time. Today, I think I would offer my friends some tapioca, some açaï also but you can’t really transport as it is kind of like an ice-cream, but I think I could find other products made with açaï like candy… Not to forget "brigadeiro" ! I am addicted! I am chocaholic! I love to cook deserts like brigadeiros, chocolate cakes and mousses, brownies, cookies, ice cream... A good chocolate brand from Rio is Amma, and it is organic!
Obviously I could also bring them some amazonian native craft. There is a shop in Santa Teresa called Tucum which sells really nice pieces. Or at the Feira Hippie (hippy fair) in Ipanema, you can find some, every sunday on the Praça General Osorio.
And finally I think I would offer some piece of clothes from the Ocean Collection from Osklen. The collection was inspired by the lifestyle of my boyfriend, Francisco Loffredi.
FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS IN RIO?
I like Braseiro da Gavea where you have the typical meat and fries and broccoli rice. Another traditional restaurant but for fish is called Caranguejo in Copacabana. For Italian food I like Gero. And restaurants more to hang-out, I like Complex Esquina 111, I like Astor, I like Zaza Bistrô…
FAVOURITE PLACE TO GET A REALLY GOOD BRAZILIAN COFFEE?
There is a place in Ipanema called Terzetto that I like, and I love La Bicyclette in Jardim Botanico. Also Casa da Tata in Gavea is very nice!
WHERE DO YOU SHOP ? IS THERE A COOL FASHION ITEM YOU CAN BUY ONLY IN RIO ?
For clothes, I like Osklen, Verkko and Wymann.
For accessories, I don't use much but when I have a nice party or wedding I like to wear Yara Figueiredo jewelery. She's a very good friend of mine and a very talent jewelery designer.
WHAT IS THE LAST BOOK YOU LIKED READING?
I read one about the art market, the big fair by Luciano Trigo. Also I just started to read a book from a collection about dialogues between artists and journalists called Debates (editor's note: here in its original french text). And currently I am reading an autobiography about "Rita Lee" who is a famous MPB and rock singer from Brazil.
BEST RELAXING TIP?
I like going to the beach and travelling and I like getting massages but until today I haven’t found my ultimate best massage in Rio, so I am still testing (laughs)! But I like the ones from Nirvana in Gavea, they give strong massages! When I was living in the U.S.A I was working at the front desk of the SPA at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Colorado for which I had to test all the massages in order to sell them properly to the clients coming in (laughs). I guess those ones were very good. But actually the best massage I ever had, I don’t know if it was because of the person who did it to me or because of the whole day I experienced that day after I went to Machu Pichu, but I was walking in Cusco and there you have people shouting “massage 10 dollars!”. So as it was so cheap, I stopped and tried one by an old nice Inca lady and it was amazing. She did a very strong one finishing it with warm stones, it is called “Inca massage”. I was so exhausted, it felt like the best massage. Also something that helps me a lot to relax is acupuncture ! I started doing it because as I don’t take the pill I can get crazy some days of the month (laughs) and also because I get back pain from jogging.
IF YOU WEREN’T LIVING IN YOUR BELOVED RIO, WHICH CITY WOULD YOU BE CHOOSING TO LIVE IN?
I would want to be on a beach in Bahia! But I think I will keep that card for my retirement days. But I would actually say New York, despite the fact that it has apparently not much to do with me, I love New York. Every time I go there I love it, but I get uncomfortable quite quickly because it is so crazy. But if it was just for a year I could do it, because it has a very big art scene and things really happen unlike here in Rio unfortunately. Everything there is a “more”: more money, more jobs, more opportunities… which is the reason why things are happening. I love Paris too, but I don’t speak French. I love Europe, everywhere you go there is so much history, the architecture, the culture… I mean everything was invented there… I love Italy and as my boyfriend has family there we went many times, in Rome. But something I can’t stand is winter because I’m from Rio, so… (laughs).
