Collecting Mario de Andrade: a biography of a collector and a collection

Mario de Andrade (1893-1945), recognized as one of the most importante Brazilian writers, left an immense legacy that inspired generations across various fields of study. In this article, we celebrate his collecting role and his practice of "self-archiving" in order to introduce Carlos Okawati, renowd for his work on Mario de Andrade's legacy. As a collector and bibliophile himself, Okawati has dedicated himself to building and maintaining a collection of works produced by and about the author. Facing his life story, we aim to comprehend the objects/documents -from his personal archive and his collection-, as carriers of social life and biography, which connects individuals and subjects. Through the captivating narrative provided by the collector, we are able to unveil the fascinating trajectory of these objects, particularly books, revealing the paths of encounter and acquisition, while documenting the memory and information of a present time and space.