So said H.J.S

Leandro Almeida

So said HJS is a documentary currently being edited and finalized that proposes to present the universe of “Seu Hernandes”, a young man of over 90 years old who as a boy boarded a train in his hometown to Rio de Janeiro in search of new life experiences, but above all driven by the motivation of a longed-for idea of ​​happiness.

Hernandes José da Silva, better known as Seu Hernandes [Seu or Mr is frequently used in addressing elders and tradespeople] is a charming human being with an incredible creativity capacity of reinvention, storytelling, and philosophizing about the world. The acronym HJS is the abbreviated signature of his full name Seu Hernandes José da Silva and how he refers to himself in daily speech and as author of his works and texts.

His house, known as Rancho Verde [Green Ranch] and also called Casa Museu Rancho Verde [Green Ranch House Museum] situated close to Morro do Bumba favela in the neighborhood of Viçoso Jardim, Niterói, is filled with small gestures. In every corner there is an object and a story, multiple narratives and memories. Transforming what he finds in the garbage into works of art, sculpture, and assemblage, Seu Hernandes imbues these objects with diverse meanings. At Rancho Verde almost everything is green. A color he says that came to him in a dream as meaning hoping in the face of life’s adversities. Seu Hernandes is a poet, inventor, artist, survivor, and sage – his is a beautiful story of many stories that help to cherish, preserve, and enhances his inventions and reinventions.

The young Hernandes turned 92 years in 2020 and he enthusiastically engages with the ongoing experience of Casa Museu Rancho Verde – a cultural, artistic, educational and environmental project or “house museum” coordinated by Ignes Albuquerque and Priscilla Grimberg inspired by HJS philosophy of life and the Rancho Verde itself. It is a space for the production and sharing of artistic, cultural, and socio-environmental knowledge; all catalyzed by Seu Hernandes practices and fostering a proto-cooperation between the artist and his surroundings, visitors to the space, and the activities held there. The documentary will not only be a work about an interesting character, but will also shine a light on a figure of cultural heritage, of a material and immaterial nature from the city of Niterói, a treasure from hidden worlds, and draw attention to the practices developed at the Casa Museu also as a way of expanding possible connections.

Foregrounding the archival and documental, the film will also be comprised of images produced by Seu Hernandes himself with his video camera as well as stories narrated by him exploring the artistic and environmental character of his practices; in addition the documentary will present the activities developed at Casa Museu Rancho Verde and, above all, the subjective, sensory, and inventive universe of HJS permeated by the mystique and philosophy that singularize his existence.

When he speaks about Rancho Verde, Hernandes emphasizes that the Rancho as well as all of his creations are the result of love – a love that he sees through a certain mystique that he refers to as “systems.”

The love system is an imaginary system, according to Hernandes, between him and his partner, a man and a woman who loved each other very much, who were very connected in everything, in all their daily routines, each one could not stay one day without seeing the other and so they lived that love on Earth.

Time went by and his partner fell ill. As Hernandes says, “the system of life we ​​cannot dominate” and one day, after 55 years of living together, they had to separate. In 2009 “the system” took her and left him here. But even so, she is always with him in everything he does and he always exalts her in the things he creates. This is the system of love, that of sharing existence together.

Hernandes also emphasizes the importance of another system; a system that he says governs him. He attributes all his words to the system, a system that directs, controls, and that gives him everything he wants. It is a sanctified system that comes from above. This system gives him courage, intelligence, and wisdom. The things he asked for, according to him, to be able to overcome all barriers and mountains. So, whatever he asked for, the system gave him and today Hernandes is a wise man. He reports that he didn’t even know how to write, but he managed to learn to write on his own, following a wish he had carried since birth. A spirit of a historian and a poet who occupies his soul and makes him feel like writing, and who fosters a great ambition to make poetry, poems and tell their stories. Everything real, nothing that is not of the imagination itself. As for him imagination is reality. He created a world, his world.

In concluding this brief overview of the documentary I end with Seu Hernades words, a poem written by, as he himself signs, HJS:

“So wrote HJS”

In infinite and endless longing, in the magic of the infinite,

in green, in the forest and in nature.

In a green dream, in the empire of the imagination.

In the world of longing, in the trash that is worthless,

everything that is old, can be new,

but everything that is new, may be old one day,

it will be old.

Left behind, restoration, imagination,

or seek another therapy,

search for truth, because, you don’t know who you are.

Know who you are so you can be happy.

From the garbage we lived, what is difficult is not to know how to live.

An empire and time.

For a long time.

Teach me,

courage, hope and wisdom.

Thank you time.

Who waited for me to have white hair

To give me wisdom.

Hernandes José da Silva – HJS

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Leandro Almeida
Has a background in education, arts and cultural and audiovisual production, audiovisual production, and is a teacher at the NGO Bem Tv. He coordinated social projects at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Niterói, mediating relationships of art, culture and community in his work as an art educator. He currently coordinates the Cinéclube do Décimo at FCS / Universidade Estadual de Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), runs the production company PROVISÓRIO PERMANETE PRODUÇÕES CULTURAIS, and is technical coordinator of the video laboratory of FCS / UERJ. He has directed and produced a wide variety of documentaries. Assim Falou H.J.S is his current project. He is from Rio de Janeiro and is the father of the incredible ten year old Nuno and two year old Jonas.