In the middle of nature in Bonito, the artist decorated a house that has a cow named Beyoncé in the backyard
1 km from the center of Bonito, ‘Casa Boiadeira’ is a dream that Pedro realized. (Photo: Personal archive)
‘Casa Boiadeira’ holds a piece of all the places that Pedro Braga Ribeiro, 26, visited on his travels around Brazil. Simplicity is what brings beauty to the home surrounded by nature, macaws, giant anteaters, tapirs and a cow named Beyoncé.
The artist lives in Bonito, 297 km from Campo Grande, where he was born and lived until he was 17 years old. At that age, Pedro came to study Law in the Capital where he stayed for six years until he suddenly changed his life during the pandemic. This period marked the beginning of trips throughout Brazil, which were essential for the creation of Casa Boiadeira.
Upon realizing that he didn’t like the routine he was leading, the handsome man dropped everything. “I took a ride from Bonito to São Paulo to pursue my dream. Then I spent 1 and a half years on the road, traveling with a backpack on my back,” he says. While traveling, he did volunteer work from the coast of São Paulo to Salvador. During the journey, he took advantage and ‘jumped’ to Minas Gerais.
In the backyard, Pedro on the crab swing and next to Beyoncé the cow. (Photo: Personal archive)
The phase was marked by learning, the artist opened up to other cultures, ideologies and ways of living life. With this ‘baggage’ he returned to Bonito in March 2023 to fulfill an old dream: Casa Boiadeira. He explains that he had to restore the family house practically from scratch.
“The land had been abandoned for more than 5 years, completely rotten and full of weeds. I faced all that head on, I put a hoe in my hand, music on the last, a lot of love and determination to make that area my home”, she says.
The process took five months for the property, in his words, to become habitable. With the support of friends and family, the Bonitense man transformed the space into something truly unique. “My house today has a little bit of every place I visited while I was on the road. There’s a little bit of São Paulo, a little bit of Rio de Janeiro, a little bit of Minas Gerais, a little bit of Espírito Santo and a lot of Bahia,” he says.
In the outdoor area, the resident colored walls and created a garden. (Photo: Personal archive)
The pink that marks the facade of the home, for example, represents a promise that Pedro made during his passage through the Holy Spirit. On the train, he met a lady, who that same day welcomed him home as he was going to sleep at the station.
“It was a simple shack, simple decoration and furniture collected from the street, as well as the paint she painted on all the walls of the house: pink. I spent two weeks living with Raquel in her pink house and I promised her that when I had my house it would be pink too,” she says.
The decoration of the house is made up of pieces donated by friends and reused by the artist who collects them on the streets and during trails. He gives details of other decorative items that are the fruits of the season on the country’s roads. “I have shells, seaweed and crab legs that get ruined on the beach and the famous ribbons from the Lord of Bonfim that are my amulet on my house key”, he mentions.
In the internal area, blue and pink colors define the atmosphere of the living room and kitchen. (Photo: Personal archive)Portrait of the artist’s mother is near the door and the blue table. (Photo: Personal archive)
In the internal area of the house, the environments are marked by the meeting of blue and pink paints on the wall and the vibrant green of the door. Near the main entrance you can see a portrait of a woman. “It’s my mother, I made a collage with this portrait of her at 15 years old”, she says.
The living room and kitchen are practically one, but in every corner there is a pop of color. The turquoise blue table, the sword of Saint George, the wooden cabinet, the kitchen sink curtain with a toucan design, hats that became chandeliers, the ‘altar’ to Rita Lee surrounded by pebbles that symbolize cities visited are details that enrich the Boiadeira House.
In the living room, next to the wooden door that divides this space from the bedroom, Pedro hung a shirt. “The flowered shirt on the wall is the one he wore whenever he arrived in a new city. It always gave me good luck and now it has become a memory of my trip,” he highlights.
A flowered shirt is a ‘lucky charm’ that the artist wore when traveling. (Photo: Personal archive)
Leaving home, nature shows all its power in fauna and flora. In the outdoor area, the artist placed a table to welcome friends, a macramé swing and upholstery. Despite the natural shade formed by trees, such as the grandiose seriguela, Pedro improvised a kind of tent with fabrics.
Casa Boiadeira is always open to friends and visitors from Bonitense. He comments that the space has provided unique moments for many people. “In October, I received a Dutchman who came directly from Japan to visit me. He saw a tapir and an anteater for the first time. In December I received a friend from Bahia who was camping in my backyard”, he reports.
If it depends on him, Casa Boiadeira will continue to be meeting spaces. “Where today is my home, I am working to soon become the Casa Boiadeira Cultural Space. I want to bring the movement of the road into my home, culture, colors, music, swing and lots of axé for MS”, he emphasizes.
Altar to Rita Lee has stones that represent cities. (Photo: Personal archive)The kitchen has a sink curtain printed with toucans with colorful beaks. (Photo: Personal archive)
Living in paradise – Pedro has a special relationship with the city where he feels in direct contact with the divine. The house, which is 1km from the center of Bonito, is a piece of paradise that he enjoys day after day, like bathing in the sacred Formoso River.
Despite being in tune with the place he chose to live, the artist sees that the scenario around him could soon change. “This entire area of fauna and flora behind my house is being deforested to become a condominium. The animals that pass by there every day are being expelled from where they have always lived and this has left me feeling really sad. Showing this area and all this existing life before it ends for good is very important”, he points out.
In the end, the Bonitense man takes the opportunity to talk about the strength that Casa Boiadeira has and that he wouldn’t trade that for any refinement in this life.
“My essence is nature and I need it to live. I’m not dazzled by big cities and luxuries, but rather by the immensity and strength of the universe and everything natural that exists in it. The privilege of living here makes me want everyone who loves me to have the opportunity to get to know this land”, he concludes.
Jack, Pedro’s mascot, near the entrance to the pink-painted house. (Photo: Personal archive)Before the renovation, the house and land had been abandoned for five years. (Photo: Personal archive)
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