Large chunks of the population feel disenfranchised from the economic boom that Brazil has experienced in the past decade. Now they are asking for better public transport, a better health system and less corruption. They want to see more being done, which is a sign of a population doing something to improve its country and take it to the next level.

Let’s not forget that the past 10 years were very good for Brazilians in general. Sometimes we have to sit down and think about the fact that 30 million people were lifted out of poverty in a very short time – that’s one of the most impressive feats Brazil has ever achieved. It has been a product of the same level of growth and advancement that Europe enjoyed during its post-war period.

To a certain extent the protests are a means of maintaining progress, to fight for improvement and not conformity. It might come to not much in the end but then neither did the iconic protests in Paris in 1968. However, the legend of those protests still remains, and with it the idea of a perhaps fanciful utopia that can sometimes be healthy for society.

From what I can see, many of my fellow friends are joining in the protest movement for the first time, not only via social media but also on the streets. That makes me content, especially when I have heard that Brazil is not a country of protesters, that nobody does anything, that we are very accommodating. There are even protests scheduled in other major cities with Brazilian communities, from New York to Dublin.

Of course, I don’t agree with some of my friends who have the incredibly pessimistic view that Brazil should not host the World Cup and the Olympics, arguing that there are so many more important things to invest money in, such as health and education. I think it is OK to host huge events that need public money but here’s the catch: it needs to be correlated with great investments in other areas.

I have had a long and conflicted week, because while I was happy that the protests were happening, I am very much in favour of the World Cup and the Olympics taking place in Brazil.

But now that inner conflict has gone: I’ve decided I can be both. You always need a bit of circus but it needs to be accompanied by some serious governance, too.

Fernando Augusto Pacheco is a researcher for Monocle 24

A good starting point, then, for the Saatchi Gallery to reassess the medium and show off some of its own pulp product. Those white halls that have so often been decked with bigness and bold abstraction seem a little different when displaying works on paper and works of paper. The medium seems to suit the figurative a little more: there are pictures of things and people and there’s a comic-strip element to more than a couple of the works. What does paper do to people’s heads? Do they conform to notebook sketches and love notes? Is paper ephemera? Not likely, baby. This is no timid show of sketches.

Dominic McGill’s rangy six-metre frieze is a Bayeux tapestry of (relatively) recent history riffing on terrorism, communism, barbarism, civilisation, historiography and the once-mooted view that the appearance of a McDonald’s in a country was a sure sign that democracy finally ruled there. McGill’s pencil-on-paper monolith of modern mores is very deliberately not a tapestry or oil on canvas. He’s an artist interested in the codification and commodification of art, so what happens if you use the most common materials - pencil and paper? “No matter how much you think I’m worth, I’m just a bit of paper,” it seems to be saying.

Colombian Miler Lagos puns on his nation’s largest national daily, El Tiempo, for his “Fragmentos del Tiempo” (“Fragments of Time”), 15 tree branches rendered in painstakingly piled and carved newspaper. This is the weirdest-looking book you’ll ever flick through (actually, perhaps you’re not supposed to). What do trees become when they become newspapers? Just so many rings, descending into the mists of time. You know it.

Annie Kevans gives the lightest medium a heavy treatment: dictators as kids, wrought in ghostly pale oils. Can you read any evil in a sad-looking little Hitler? Radovan Karadžić looks like a jolly little team player; Mussolini a sensitive, feminine child. Oh well. Sparing with the marks but heavy on the lessons of history, that’s paper (sometimes).

Lest we forget, paper’s also playful because it’s so foldable, so easy. José Lerma and Héctor Madera have made a mega-size paper “marble bust” of the clowning journeyman boxer Emanuel Augustus that is funny, striking, disrespectful of the material it pretends to be and nicely naïve. It’s only old Emanuel the funny boxer – chill out! Rebecca Turner’s made a gravity-defining moon in paper that looks as heavy as one of Lucio Fontana’s floor-bound boulders, but this one just floats next to the wall like a lunar Malteser spilt from its wrapper.

Paper is a show that makes a show of the lightness of the stuff – there’s a confederation of kites and a flock of cranes like a nursery mobile, too – but at its heart this new Saatchi exhibition is a slightly crumpled note to remember to respect that most everyday yet unexpected of materials.

Robert Bound is Monocle’s culture editor. 'Paper' runs until 29 September.

There are two reasons that I mention this. One is the new Monocle Quality of Life survey that names the top 25 cities to live in the world, but more of that in a moment. The second is a conclusion I came to after spending several days at the New Cities Summit in São Paulo.

The summit is billed as a platform for innovation and change and there are some great speakers, fascinating people and intriguing ideas. The focus of this conference is mostly technology’s role in mending our metropolises, whether that’s finding a place to park or delivering healthcare in favelas. Despite it taking place in Brazil, it sometimes felt like I was hanging out with Silicon Valley in the sun. These companies, app developers and miners of big data tend to see places as rather flat: they are either early adopters or Luddites.

Because it cannot be monetised very easily, a conversation about the value of green space is unlikely to make much progress (unless one of those trees could disguise a telecoms pole). Although if you cornered the architect Daniel Libeskind you would have a refreshing conversation about memory and remembrance. And get hold of Lady Barbara Judge and you could debate the role of a good mayor.

The tech city – or smart city – approach to urbanisation often looks at a city in China or Brazil and thinks that they all could be improved with a similar approach. But the fact is some of the “smartest” cities are also the least loveable places in the world. Have you ever been to Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, a sustainable clean-tech “cluster”? It’s OK for half an hour but to live or work there would not be good for the soul. It’s bleak.

I’d rather live in Paris where, I was told several times at the conference, residents spend something daft like half their lives (OK, I exaggerate) looking for a parking spot. Not good but who cares if you can get a seat outside a cute café and nosey around a nice neighbourhood once you have finally turned off the ignition?

Perhaps the problem is that the biggest potential clients for new tech are nations such as India where you have the likes of Bangalore growing at 900 residents a day. Ouch.

There’s a fear that stalks the summit’s floor that city’s are all growing at unsustainable rates, that the rush to the city needs to be acted on now, fast, before we all go to hell in a handcart. But the truth is that not all of the world’s cities are coping with the same issues. They all have their tricky issues but what’s a worry in Zürich’s city hall is not what has them nervous in São Paulo, let alone Ahmedabad.

It’s a challenge. How do you create a debate (and not just at the likes of this conference) that recognises that all cities are different, admits that some are beyond redemption and weaves together the significant contribution both technology and a good local store can make to our lives?

Well, we are doing our part with the new ranking of the top 25 cities to call home in the July/August issue of Monocle. It’s on newsstands this week – and don’t hold your breath dear residents of Masdar City.

Andrew Tuck is Monocle's editor.

Monocle’s Country Fayre

This weekend we invite you to our special in-house event: Monocle’s summer Country Fayre, our very own take on an old English tradition. Our headquarters will play host to the second annual Monocle Country Fayre featuring our favourite nations, retailers and delicacies. A petting zoo, Monocle’s mascot Monochan and musicians Georgia Mancio and Ian Shaw will all be at Midori house to entertain. Exclusive stallholders include Hentsch Man, Drake’s London, Trunk Clothiers, Daunt books and the Embassies of Colombia and Sweden. Come and join us.

Midori House, 1 Dorset Street. Open Saturday and Sunday, 11.00 – 17.00.
More information

EXHIBITION: TOKYO

Sophie Calle: For the Last and First Time

Don’t skip a visit to Tokyo’s Hara Museum to see two separate installations by French contemporary artist Sophie Calle. On display until the end of June, her solo exhibition explores the interwoven themes of sight and beauty. The Last Image is a merging of text and photographs about people who have lost the power of vision, while Voir la mer is a film installation capturing the facial expressions of people that see the ocean for the first time. This is a debut for Calle’s visual narratives in Japan.

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11.00 – 17.00; Wednesday 11.00 – 20.00. Until 30 June.
haramuseum.or.jp

ART: MONTREAL

Dale Chihuly: Un Univers à Couper Le Souffle

Dale Chihuly is a master manipulator of glass, elevating it to unprecedented levels over 50 years of pushing the fragile material to its limits. This results in a joyful strength in his works, which immerse viewers in fantastical worlds of shapes, colours and textures. Four installations were specially created for the exhibition at Montreal Museum of Fine Art –– Persian Colonnade, Ruby Pineapple, Mille Fiori and Glass Forest #6 –– each unique and yet still part of the same universe.

Montreal Museum of Fine Art, 1380 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal Quebec. Open from Tuesday to Friday, 11.00 – 17.00; Saturday to Sunday, 10.00 – 17.00. Until 20 October.
acouperlesouffle.ca

EXHIBITION: PORTLAND

Michael Embacher: Cyclepedia

Esteemed Vienna-based designer and bike collector Michael Embacher has picked out 40 models marking epochal moments in bicycle design to exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. Spanning the gamut from the professional racer to the distinctive Strida, Cyclepedia is a must-see for bike lovers. From 10.00 to 13.00 on Saturday, enthusiasts can join a “Summer Joyride”: a pedal tour around America’s bicycle capital to learn and appreciate public art from industry experts.

Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Ave, Portland, Oregon. Open Tuesday to Wednesday and Saturday, 10.00 – 17.00; Thursday to Friday, 10.00 – 20.00; Sunday 12.00 – 17.00. Until 8 September.
portlandartmuseum.org

FESTIVAL: BROOKLYN

Northside Festival

Taking over Brooklyn for the next few days is the Northside Festival. Since it started in 2009 it has expanded from music and arts to include the NExT entrepreneurship conference – which took place leading up to this weekend – but music’s still the main pull. Local favourites The Walkmen are set to headline Williamsburg’s McCarren Pool Park on Saturday while Solange takes the stage on Sunday, with over 350 bands appearing at smaller venues. After all that you can wind down by catching a few films from 17 to 20 June, including Joe Swanberg’s All The Light In The Sky, a reflective look at a loveless Hollywood actress, and Franck Khalfoun’s horror fest Maniac, starring Elijah Wood.

At venues across Brooklyn until Thursday 20 June. Ticket gives entry to all events on a first-come-first-served basis, with every ticket valid for the McCarren Pool shows.
northsidefestival.com

It’s comforting not to simply feel lost in a sea of densely packed towers, not sure whether you’re smack dab in the middle of it all or trickling out into the city’s edge. In Rio neighbourhoods have boundaries; there’s a sense of place to each and this means learning what makes the city tick is all that much easier. Without being too much of a reductionist, being able to glean the socioeconomics of one patch versus another – wealthy, touristy or industrial – can help you piece together the elements that make Rio, Rio.

In no small part, this is due to its topography. The Sugarloaf or Two Brothers mountains, its lagoon and canal, the ocean and bays carve up Rio. The city twists along and away from beaches to peaks with the Corcovado at its centre, atop which sits Rio’s famous art deco statue of Christ. It means the views standing on the coast at Urca or in Botafogo can’t be mistaken for one another – but it means equally that the border between them isn’t like hopping from one side of a street to another (as in what’s south of Houston or north of it) but something of a more imposing divide.

There are places in Rio where this is played up, of course. You need only look to the promenade of Copacabana and the black-and-white mosaic waves of its paving stones, a pattern designed by Roberto Burle Marx. The pattern has been trickled through its upmarket neighbours of Ipanema and Leblon but the tone of those places also share more in common with each other than with the rest of city. Strong defining lines aren’t always property of the well-to-do: the boundaries of the city’s many favelas are perhaps even more severe. Vidigal favela climbs over the Two Brothers with such a distinctly different character that even from the most distant end of Ipanema you can identify what it is. And once you get any kind of height in Rio, you draw with your mind the border of every district – something that would be impossible down in São Paulo.

Vistas of Rio from its peaks have another effect, of course. A second advantage of its topography: it inspires. From many angles Rio makes for a postcard city but taking in the entire city at once, from up high, isn’t just a good geography lesson. You can imagine there must be some correlation between these views and keeping a city relaxed and creative: its landscape is both elegant and dramatic, as well as being organic and very urban. All thanks to a few hills.

David Michon is Monocle's managing editor.

The show’s host Andrew Neil and professional conspiracy mocker David Aaronovitch gently derided Jones, which only seemed to wind him up further – he started yelling about a Nazi plot to create the euro and suggesting US security officials had threatened to behead him.

It was all rather entertaining. Then the show ended, I switched over to the news and caught the latest on the secret US plans to listen to our phone calls and read our emails. Conspiracy theories are far harder to knock down when you find yourself starting your rebuttal with the words, “Well, yes, the US government may have secretly read your Gchat, but…”

Precisely what the National Security Agency may or may not have had access to is still unclear. The NSA has been unwilling to answer any questions and, given its track record when it comes to telling the truth, even if they had we wouldn’t necessarily know much more.

And that is the big problem: it’s not what it was doing, it’s what it said it was doing. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, was absolutely clear earlier this year. When asked during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing whether the NSA collected “any type of data on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans”, he replied simply: “No, sir.”

Transparency is a very easy word to say when you’re running for office. Barack Obama used it a lot when he was a mere senator. Transparency is far harder to implement, it seems, once you’ve won an election and spy chiefs suggest it’s best to keep things quiet.

Harder, but no less important. For the more free governments hide, the easier it is for the less democratic to employ similar methods.

The British Library is currently presenting an exhibition on propaganda, which features posters, films and artefacts from the 16th century to the present day, looking at the ways in which governments, protest movements and organisations have tried to manipulate, persuade and sell. One image stands out. It was produced in 1971 by the Soviet Union. The cartoon is called Freedom American-style. Two police officers peer out of the eyes of the Statue of Liberty, a white truncheon dangling down to give the impression of a tear.

The Soviets had the KGB; its satellites had the Stasi, StB and the AVH. Wives spied on husbands, children on mothers. Here they are questioning the freedoms of Americans. And here are Alex Jones and the conspiracy theorists saying, “Yeah, told you so.”

Steve Bloomfield is Monocle's foreign editor.

But I felt as though I was in Turkey long before my flight left JFK. While on the ground, one of the first things a flight attendant offered me was some Turkish delight. This was simple enough but a clear sign of the culture to come. And it got me thinking: how many experiences offer you delight the minute you take a seat?

This brings me to one of the basics of modern air travel. You see, some airlines have got so good at taking seat pitch (jargon for leg room) and peanuts away, that when they give back the smallest hint of service or chewy indulgence, you’re hooked. Like a schoolboy who has spied his first crush in the playground, I was hooked all because of a chewy, powdery confection. And the leg room wasn’t bad either.

But it’s about more than sweets. Turkey’s struggle to align its traditions with the rest of the world is arguably a sticky situation. No matter what the outcome of the ongoing protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and elsewhere in the country, this place and these people will forever be reconciling the old with the new. Turkey, like any country finding its footing in the world, will have to face the same criticism and lessons that other developed nations have faced. In the age of social media and CNN, protesters and governments alike need to understand just what first impressions the world is seeing.

So again I ask: where is Turkey? It’s stuck between Europe and Asia and wedged between old and new. The people here are proud of their culture and want to share it with the world. And, if you talk to anyone who’s been here long enough to know, they’ll tell you that you might have to get onboard and sit through a few sticky situations before you can expect to find delight.

Tristan McAllister is transport editor for Monocle.

Yesterday, journalists were camped out around the city, stalking hotel lobbies where it was thought the 29-year-old American was staying. Glenn Greenwald, the columnist for London’s The Guardian newspaper, who broke the story and recorded the widely seen video interview with Snowden, was confronted by local news cameras at his hotel. Today, Hong Kongers continue to play their own game of whistleblower Where’s Wally? Snowden’s location remains unknown.

Regularly at the forefront of global financial news, Hong Kong hasn’t made headlines on the diplomatic front since the handover of the territory from Britain to China in 1997. But, Snowden’s decision to leave his former home in Hawaii and head to these shores has put this special administrative region in the spotlight.

In his recent video interview, Snowden shares his reasoning for coming to Hong Kong as being in part due to the “spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent” that people enjoy here. Indeed, the past few months have seen examples of both in this city of Seven million. From the 40-day dock workers’ strike to the thousands who braved torrential rainstorms in Victoria Park last week to honour the Tiananmen Square massacre, Hong Kong residents are certainly more free than their countrymen across the border. But how will this really play out in the case of Snowden?

The city is abuzz with speculation about what the authorities here will decide. While China and the US don’t have an extradition treaty, Hong Kong does have an agreement with Washington. And in the light of at least token cooperation between Xi and Obama following the weekend’s pow wow, would Beijing really want to get involved in the Snowden case if the US press charges?

While some figures on the American right have been quick to upgrade Snowden’s status from whistleblower to defector, many proponents of free speech in Hong Kong – who have seen the Bradley Manning case unfold – are calling for their government to offer Snowden a safe haven. And if the government does so, a new standard of freedom would be set for Hong Kong.

But, while the city operates under the “one country, two systems” policy with efficiency on a daily basis, Hong Kong ultimately falls under the rule of Beijing. And even if the government here made the unlikely decision to go against US wishes, China isn’t exactly the place you’d want to be as a cyber-security whistleblower.

Aisha Speirs in Hong Kong bureau chief for Monocle.

The park patrol makes his rounds on a bicycle that’s a tad too big, pedalling along the footpaths so slowly that he seems perpetually in danger of falling off. Around the park, wooden signs ask visitors to keep dogs on a leash and to refrain from playing sports. This being Japan, the families and couples picnicking wouldn’t even think to violate the rules.

But the park patrol is vigilant and he isn’t afraid to crack down on the smallest of infractions. On this day, he spots a small, remote-controlled dune buggy zipping around. Five boys run after the toy trying to catch it. Nowhere does it say that this isn’t allowed but the park patrol has decided that it wouldn’t be wise to let this go unchecked. It might embolden rule-breakers, so he scolds the toy’s owner and it is quickly put away. Peace is restored.

But what is a park for if it isn’t meant for recreation? In a city of 13 million people where public space is a rare commodity, I question such restrictive rules.

I grew up in San Diego, next to a park about the size of Kitanomaru. On weekends, families would barbecue, play music and be merry; children would tumble in the grass or toss a Frisbee. There were the occasional dust-ups but I never saw things get so out of hand that I wished we had a patrol, or the police for that matter. Their presence would have suggested that those who used the park couldn’t speak up and ask for a little consideration when the occasion called for it. And that’s in the US, where laissez-faire is the prevailing ethos.

In Japan, children are taught from early on the virtues of omoiyari, or consideration for others. Making a nuisance of yourself is frowned upon. Self-restraint is part of the culture. Add to that the rules and the patrol, and you might wonder where locals can go to let off a little steam.

Kenji Hall is Asia editor-at-large for Monocle.

PHotoEspaña

Now in its 16th year, PHotoEspaña is on show at museums and galleries throughout Madrid for the next month. Showcasing the best of international images, videos and installations, this year’s theme is based around body politics, section, curated by Cuban curator and art critic Gerardo Mosquera, the festival explores the body’s communicative capacity. The featured works are varied, ranging from the dark, melancholy images of Lithuanian talent Violeta Bubelyeté and Fernando Brito’s photo-documentaries of Mexico’s violent culture, to classic images of the Kennedys from celebrated US photographer Mark Shaw.

On show at locations around the city, see website for details. Until 28 July.
phe.es

EXHIBITION: LONDON

Cinematic Visions: Painting at the Edge of Reality

Starting Saturday at the Victoria Miro Gallery in north London, Cinematic Visions is a collection of paintings looking at the relationship between photography and art. The works of 28 artists who have risen to prominence in the late 20th and early 21st century century are on show, including contributions from Yayoi Kusama, Chris Ofili and Cecily Brown. Visitors can expect a broad range of filmic depictions that blur the line between the silver screen and the painted canvas.

Victoria Miro Gallery, 16 Wharf Road. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10.00-18.00. Until 3 August.
victoria-miro.com

FESTIVAL: TORONTO

Field Trip Music & Arts Festival

Toronto-based indie record label Arts & Crafts Productions celebrates 10 years of discovering some of the best Canadian music with the Field Trip Music & Arts Festival this Saturday, a one-day event held at Toronto’s historic Fort York. The line-up of talent includes Broken Social Scene, Feist and Stars among others, meaning that the city’s musical heritage will be taking centre stage. But festival organisers are also bringing art contributors and gourmet food to the fort, too.

For York and Garrison Common. Saturday 8 June, 12.00-23.00.
fieldtriplife.com

EXHIBITION: PARIS

Otherness I Is Someone Else

Debuting this week at Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton is Otherness I Is Someone Else. Looking at concepts behind the construction of identities, works on show include Israeli artist Gil Yefman’s knitted anthropomorphic dolls, Iranian artist Reza Hazare’s expressionistic drawings and the stage costumes of performance artist Leigh Bowery. Classic photography such as Pierre Molinier’s self-portraits depicting himself in transvestite dress and Francesca Woodman’s floating images of seemingly fragmented bodies help define an exhibition with no easy answers to questions concerning our sense of self.

60 Rue de Bassano. Open Saturday 12.00-19.00 and Sunday 11.00-19.00. Until 15 September.
louisvuitton-espaceculturel.com

MUSIC: GLOBAL

Thundercat: Apocalypse

He might be named after a kids’ cartoon but there’s not much to laugh at in the impressive quality found on Thundercat’s (aka Stephen Bruner’s) second album, Apocalypse. The LA-based musician has had a chequered musical history, starting out in punk bands and coming from a family that includes renowned soul session players and Grammy-winning performers. But Bruner’s musical strength is in chilled, dance and hip-hop-style sampled beats and studio trickery, which means he’s found a friend and collaborator in fellow production wizard, Flying Lotus. Apocalypse achieves that rare quality of combining sincere and progressive sounds with accessible, fun songs. Hopefully Thundercat won’t be growing up any time soon.

Apocalypse is available to buy now.
brainfeedersite.com