Oficina Brennand, Ceramic art museum in Recife, Brazil

Oficina Brennand is a ceramic art museum in Recife housed within a former brick and tile factory, displaying thousands of ceramic sculptures and installations throughout multiple exhibition halls. The collection spans diverse works created across different periods and techniques.

The Oficina Brennand occupies the ruins of the Cerâmica São João da Várzea, a brick and tile factory built in 1917 by Francisco Brennand's father, the industrialist Ricardo Lacerda de Almeida Brennand, on the lands of the Engenho Santos Cosme e Damião in the Várzea district. The artist inherited the disused works and founded his workshop-museum there in 1971, beside the Capibaribe River and remnants of Atlantic Forest.

The name Oficina means workshop, and the site still works as both museum and atelier. Francisco Brennand trained with muralist Murilo La Greca and landscaper Alvaro Amorim, then studied painting in Paris with André Lothe between 1948 and 1952. His motifs draw on Greco-Roman mythology, literature, and local fauna and flora.

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday and is accessible by public transportation from the city center. Plan for several hours to explore the multiple exhibition spaces and the outdoor gallery areas.

The site occupies the grounds of the Engenho Santos Cosme e Damião, a former sugar plantation, in the Várzea district. The complex is bordered by remnants of Atlantic Forest and by the Capibaribe, the river that supplies Recife. The chapel, Imaculada Conceição, was designed by architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha.