Brazil is one of the biggest countries in the world and is regarded as one of the economic world powers of the future because of its lightning development. But there is another side to the coin: the enormous contrasts between rich and poor, the slums in the staggeringly enormous cities of millions, and the destruction of the rainforest. These contrasts are manifested culturally in a heady mixture of high and low art, technological innovation and traditional handicrafts.

Brazil is one of the biggest countries in the world and is regarded as one of the economic world powers of the future because of its lightning development. But there is another side to the coin: the enormous contrasts between rich and poor, the slums in the staggeringly enormous cities of millions, and the destruction of the rainforest. These contrasts are manifested culturally in a heady mixture of high and low art, technological innovation and traditional handicrafts.

This richly illustrated publication provides a review of the contemporary architecture, visual culture, art and music of Brazil. It offers wide coverage of the overwhelming urban development of the metropolis São Paulo and a survey of the powerful and fascinating visual culture – television, video, film, photography, graphic design – in Rio de Janeiro in particular. The section on art is introduced by the idiosyncratic oeuvre of Hélio Oiticica, complemented by the work of five of today’s leading Brazilian artists.