JULIANA LUNA

Activist and artist.

THE CITY TALK

HOW COULD YOU DESCRIBE RIO?
Rio is… a melting pot of beauty, culture and violence. There are a lot of good things about Rio and a lot of bad things about Rio, and they all blend in such perfection here. I think it’s just like any major city; there are things that you love so much and things that you hate so much. You just live this love and hate relationship with the city. Overall I think there are a lot of reasons to love it, because of its natural resources. Like even if you are having a bad day, you go to the beach and then you can just let go. Or there is this waterfall 20 minutes away, you know. Two hours away you even have paradise with places like Cabo Frio, Arraial do Cabo… If you really want to take a vacation you don’t even have to leave the city. It’s amazing, right? I love Rio for that reason. But then there are also a lot of reasons why I don’t love it. But it’s okay.

YOU TRAVEL A LOT AND HAVE LIVED ABROAD FOR A LONG TIME TOO. DO YOU ALWAYS END UP MISSING RIO WHEN NOT HERE?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I miss Rio a lot. I feel connected to it, in a very deep way.

YOU LIVE IN SANTA TERESA. BEAUTIFUL BUT A LITTLE BIT A PART FROM THE CITY AS IT IS ON A HILL, FAR FROM THE ZONA SUL AND THE BEACHES. WHAT MADE YOU PICK UP THIS NEIGHBORHOOD?
I just wanted to have a place where I could retire to. Rio is very intense; sometimes just walking down the street is tiring. So I needed some place where I could come back to and feel rejuvenated, with a garden, nature around me and a beautiful view. I chose to live here in my subconscious and all of a sudden this house presented itself to me.

ALL THE GOOD THINGS COME TO YOU!
That’s why I said I have to surrender (laughs). Life is not supposed to be a struggle.

WHAT IS THE TOURISTIC THING YOU LOVE TO DO IN RIO?
Honestly, I think it is the beach. I don’t go to the Corcovado, or the Pão de Açucar, or any of those places… Also I live in a touristic place here in Santa Teresa… So I think I’m very much of a tourist in my own city (laughs).

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BEACH HERE?
The easiest one is Ipanema because the subway takes you there, but if I really have to choose I would say Grumari. It is my favorite, favorite beach!

FAVORITE CULTURAL PLACE?
There is this little cinema in Santa Teresa that I really love. It is very small and has these beautiful aesthetics with stones on the wall and it always has really good films. Independent films. I love that place.

WHAT IS THE MOST UNEXPECTED THING ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD?
I think the architecture. Sometimes you are walking down the street and you see a little house with so many symbols of ancient times. I think we have become sterilized with all the new constructions that all look the same. When you come to Santa Teresa and you see a castle from the 1920s you feel this is amazing. Some of them have been renovated but I like the mix of modern and antic, it is the perfect match.

WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL FRIDAY NIGHT?
I go out with my girlfriends a lot, we go to parties and dance. There is a bar here in Santa Teresa we go to, Explorer, it is really nice and was recently renovated and painted in a bright aqua green color. They have great cocktails and great food there.
And there are also the traditional ones like the bar do mineiro or the "pão de queijo" place where we always go to. There are a lot of gastronomical experiences here.

WHAT IS YOUR GO-TO-GIFT FROM RIO TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO LIVE ABROAD?
I normally bring them crystals! I find them in this amazing crystal shop in Recreio called LEGEP. It is one of the most amazing stores I have ever been to; it has crystals that are my size! It is intense, like when you get there you don’t even know what to do with yourself (laughs). They have a large variety of crystals from Brazil and prices that range from R$1 to R$10,000. 

WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR LIFE?
I normally wake up at 8 and do yoga. I have breakfast. Then I find out if I have to either go out to run some errands, or if I have work. And if I have an event to go to, I plan for that. But I don’t really have a routine. The only thing I do systematically every day is waking up at 8 and doing yoga. After that, my life is just open to whatever happens (laughs).

WHAT IS THE BOOK ON YOUR NIGHT STAND?
I am reading this one about transcendental meditation written by a doctor from South Africa. It gives you a lot of information about how your brain works and how it responds to meditation. Sometimes I’m a bit of a geek, I like science and technology and things like that. I’m also reading one by Don Miguel Ruiz called the Mastery of Love because I have also been practicing how to redefine love in my life.

WHERE DO YOU SHOP FOR FOOD?
I am very weird with food, but I go to the Gloria market every Sunday where I buy all the vegetables I need for the week. I try to be a vegetarian but here it is a bit complicated.

WHAT IS THE SONG THAT WILL ALWAYS MAKE YOU HAPPY?
I don’t have a song in particular but I have an artist that makes me happy: Seun Kuti (Fela Kuti's son). I love dancing to afrobeat, I think it is very sensual and at the same time very powerful.

THANK YOU LUNA,
X

MORE ON LUNA HERE AND HERE.

©Ana Monteiro for "turban" pictures

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