Mestre Guarany (Francisco Biquiba dy Lafuente Guarany)

1884 - 1987, Santa Maria da Vitória - BA, Brazil

Francisco Biquiba dy Lafuente Guarany, better known as Mestre Guarany (1884–1987), was born in Santa Maria da Vitória, Bahia, into a family deeply connected to woodworking. The sixth child of Cornélio Biquiba dy Lafuente Guarany, a boatbuilder, he was nicknamed “Guarany” in reference to his Indigenous ancestry. From a young age, he learned to work with wood in his father’s workshop, a craft that would shape his entire artistic journey.

After his father’s death, Guarany expanded his work beyond utilitarian carpentry, but it was as a sculptor of carrancas that he left his greatest legacy. Carrancas, carved wooden figureheads, were mounted on boats navigating the São Francisco River. Originally created in the late 19th century to ward off evil spirits, these sculptures gradually took on cultural and aesthetic significance that surpassed their practical purposes.

Mestre Guarany created his first figurehead in 1901, at the age of 17, and became the most renowned carranca sculptor in the region. However, with the decline of riverboats starting in the 1940s—replaced by lighter canoes—Guarany stopped producing carrancas.

The rediscovery of his work began in the 1940s and 1950s when photographers like Marcel Gautherot and Pierre Verger documented the carrancas of the São Francisco River, showcasing them in Brazil and abroad. Publications such as O Cruzeiro magazine (1946) and the album Brésil: 217 photographies (1950) helped reframe carrancas within the art world, not merely as folkloric elements but as powerful artistic expressions. This renewed appreciation led Mestre Guarany to resume sculpting, this time creating pieces for collectors and exhibitions, signing and dating his works between 1950 and 1974.

Guarany’s carrancas masterfully blend the sertão (hinterland) tradition with influences from urban and industrial life, representing a fusion of the symbolic and the utilitarian. One of his most notable works features the iconography of a horse, alluding to the connection between the terrestrial and riverine paths used by muleteers. This sculpture demonstrates his technical and creative mastery, with details that imbue the figure with a posture that is both aggressive and majestic.

Guarany’s contribution to Brazilian art was widely recognized in landmark exhibitions, such as Civilização do Nordeste (1963), organized by Lina Bo Bardi in Salvador, and A Mão do Povo Brasileiro (1969), held at MASP. These exhibitions reaffirmed the relevance of his work, solidifying his status as the greatest carranca sculptor of all time.

Exposições Individuais:

1981 Guarany: 80 Years of Carrancas, Serviço Geral da Marinha, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1981 Guarany: 80 Years of Carrancas, Serviço Geral da Marinha, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

1981 Guarany: 80 Years of Carrancas, Serviço Geral da Marinha, Recife - PE, Brazil

1981 Guarany: 80 Years of Carrancas, Serviço Geral da Marinha, Salvador - BA, Brazil

1981 Guarany: 80 Years of Carrancas, Serviço Geral da Marinha, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

Exposições Coletivas:

2024 - 2025  “Cosmo/Chão”, Oficina Francisco Brennand, Recife - PE,  Brazil

2023 - 2024 Brasil Futuro: as formas da democracia, MAR - Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

2023 Brasil Futuro: as formas da democracia, Solar Ferrão, Salvador - BA, Brazil

2023 Brasil Futuro: as formas da democracia, Espaço Cultural Casa das Onze Janelas, Belém - PA, Brazil

2023 Brasil Futuro: as formas da democracia, MuN - Museu Nacional da República, Brasília - DF, Brazil

2023 Reverses and Transverses, Artists beyond boundaries (and friends) at the biennials, Galeria Estação, São Paulo – SP, Brazil

2023 The Square São Paulo, Casa de Vidro, São Paulo – SP, Brazil

2021 Between Banks and Shores - Fire, Water, Air, Museu do Pontal, Rio do Janeiro – RJ, Brazil

2021 They Were Already Here, Galeria Base, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2021 Terra and Temperaure, Almeida&Dale, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2018 - 2019 Exposición Lina Bo Bardi Tupí or not tupí?, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain

2018 Art Week, Pavilhão das Culturas Brasileiras, Parque do Ibirapuera, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2016 - 2017 The Hand of the Brazilian People, MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2016 Viva o povo Brasileiro, CCC - Centro Cultural dos Correios, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

2015 A viagem das carrancas, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2013 O CO-LE-CI-O-NA-DOR: arte brasileira e internacional na Coleção Boghici, MAR - Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

2010 O triunfo das carrancas, CCC - Centro Cultural dos Correios, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil

2008 - 2009 Exposição Imaginário do Povo Brasileiro, Restaurante Antiquarius, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2006 - 2007 Brasil Imaginário, Galeria Estação, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2006 Viva Cultura Viva do Povo Brasileiro, Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araújo, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2004 - 2005 Forma, Cor e Expressão, Galeria Estação, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2002 Espelho Selvagem: arte moderna no Brasil da primeira metade do século XX, Coleção Nemirovsky, MAM/SP - Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2002 Pop Brasil: Folk Art and the Folk in Art, CCBB - Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2000 Mostra do Redescobrimento: Brasil + 500 anos, Fundação Bienal, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1995 The Heirs of the Night: Fragments of the Imagination, Centro Cultural de Belo Horizonte, Belo Horizonte - MG, Brazil

1994 The Heirs of the Night: Fragments of the Imagination, Espaço Cultural SOS Sul, Brasília - DF, Brazil

1994 The Heirs of the Night: Fragments of the Imagination, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1992 O voo da asa branca, Festival Veraneio Brasileiro, Zürich, Switzerland

1992 Brasil: descoberta e autodescoberta, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

1984 - 1985 Tradition and Rupture: A Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1982 A Century of Sculpture in Brazil, MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1977 II Festival Mundial de Artes e Culturas Negras, Nigéria, Africa

1977 I Exposição Mundial de Figuras de Proa, Paris, France

1975 O Rio: carrancas do São Francisco, MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1969 The Hand of the Brazilian People, MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

1954 IV Centenário da cidade de São Paulo, Parque do Ibirapuera, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

Publicações Selecionadas:

2015 A viagem das carrancas, Editora WMF Martins Fontes, Instituto Moreira Salles, São Paulo - SP, Brazil

2006 Carrancas de São Francisco, Paulo Pardal, São Paulo, Brazil

1995 Os Herdeiros da Noite, Centro de cultura de Belo Horizonte, Brazil

1981 Guarany: 80 anos de carrancas, Serviço Documentação Geral da Marinha, São Paulo, Brazil

1974 Carrancas de São Francisco, Serviço Documentação Geral da Marinha, São Paulo, Brazil