In the year that the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation presents the exhibition Complexo Brasil, curated by José Miguel Wisnik, Milena Britto and Guilherme Wisnik, Colóquio magazine dedicates a special issue to Brazilian literature and art, viewed through the lens of the first 25 years of the 21st century. More than a direct dialogue with the exhibition and its curatorial project, we were interested in responding in this special issue to a principle that we feel is shared with this initiative: that of seeking to capture, within a complex and multifaceted framework, some of the bright spots of a literary and cultural reality that is crucial to thinking about the present of the universe with which Colóquio magazine engages.

The focus on Brazil naturally constitutes a cross-section of this broader universe; as does the choice to comment on Brazilian literature and the arts from the perspective of this century. We believe, however, that this is a delimitation which, rather than isolating and highlighting a partial angle, allows for the construction of a privileged vantage point from which to examine the past and future of Brazilian cultural production, its dialogues with the other contexts covered by Colóquio, and also its impact on the Portuguese publishing landscape and within the pages of the journal throughout its history.

From the introduction by Clara Rowland and Joana Matos Frias