The prison complex on Frei Caneca street

In 1936, at the beginning of the Vargas dictatorship, a hospital nurse noticed on my desk, amid books on psychiatry, literature, and art, some books on Marxism—which I also studied.  Then, she reported me to the board. I was arrested that same night and taken to the first-time offender ward on the penitentiary on Frei Caneca street, where I remained for a year and a half. I lost my job and was excluded from civil service—which I had joined after passing an exam—, for eight years, on the grounds that I belonged to a circle of ideas incompatible with “democracy”. 
– Nise da Silveira

The prison complex on Frei Caneca street was originally created in 1850. The panoptic building, modeled after European prisons, enabled an all-round surveillance of the prisoners. An over-billing scandal during its construction—which took 20 years to be concluded— is said to have brought down a minister of the Brazilian Empire. The prison was the scenario of countless murders, rebellions, and torture sessions, and many political prisoners were sent there, both during the Estado Novo and the military dictatorships.
In 2011, 172 years after its construction, the Frei Caneca prison complex was imploded. Artist Carlos Vergara, who was following the demolition of the building, produced a series called Liberdade [“Liberty”], with films, photographs, paintings, monotypes, objects and cell doors, which preserve the memory of the place.

After a year in prison, I became obsessed with freedom. 
– Nise da Silveira

Both Nise and Francisco Mangabeira are two idiots. Why do they insist on writing so much? Many notes were found in their homes on literature and philosophy books that they used to read, which gave me a lot of work to investigate. 
– Minister Costa Neto (1995)

In 1936, at the beginning of the Vargas dictatorship, a hospital nurse noticed on my desk, amid books on psychiatry, literature, and art, some books on Marxism—which I also studied.  Then, she reported me to the board. I was arrested that same night and taken to the first-time offender ward on the penitentiary on Frei Caneca street, where I remained for a year and a half. I lost my job and was excluded from civil service—which I had joined after passing an exam—, for eight years, on the grounds that I belonged to a circle of ideas incompatible with “democracy”. 
– Nise da Silveira

While in prison, Nise met other relevant political prisoners, such as Olga Prestes, Maria Werneck, and Elisa Berger, her cellmates. It was also in there that she met her fellow countryman Graciliano Ramos. Amid reports of early-morning torture sessions in the prison, she read and studied profusely.
The prison complex on Frei Caneca street was originally created in 1850. The panoptic building, modeled after European prisons, enabled an all-round surveillance of the prisoners. An over-billing scandal during its construction—which took 20 years to be concluded— is said to have brought down a minister of the Brazilian Empire. The prison was the scenario of countless murders, rebellions, and torture sessions, and many political prisoners were sent there, both during the Estado Novo and the military dictatorships.
In 2011, 172 years after its construction, the Frei Caneca prison complex was imploded. Artist Carlos Vergara, who was following the demolition of the building, produced a series called Liberdade [“Liberty”], with films, photographs, paintings, monotypes, objects and cell doors, which preserve the memory of the place.

All art is political when it expands sensitivity, when it increases our ability to see the good and the bad.
– Carlos Vergara (2012)

The pleasant talks I’ve had with Nise drive my bad memories away. The poor thing forgot her own afflictions and took care of mine.
– Graciliano Ramos (1953)