Murilo Rubião made his life a vast panel divided between the colors of fantastic literature and those of the bureaucratic order, between artistic-literary friendships and the difficult negotiations between culture and power in a country of peripheral capitalism.
The works that Murilo developed among the public order, among the State, were, for the most part, related to leadership and articulations in the cultural area. Rubião has held several important positions in sectors of Minas Gerais culture related to broadcasting, fine arts, literature, choir singing etc. His vision of art is full, multiple. It resembles Mário de Andrade’s idea that art is one and that it is split in several expressions, but the artist needs to understand the functioning of this larger field, from the imbrication of the various artistic discourses, before attaching himself to only one language, which would limit him.
This is how Rubião took the flag of functionalism as an intellectual linked to cultural policy. Infiltrated in the webs of power, the writer was able to represent the artists and writers, especially from Minas Gerais, seeking to open space where they could go and important cultural productions to earn visibility.
Among the positions he held, we should highlight the ones as director of Radio Inconfidência, twice; director of the Official Press of Minas Gerais, director of Escola de Artes Plásticas Guignard, director of FAOP (Fundação de Arte de Ouro Preto), president of Fundação Madrigal Renascentista, president of the State Council of Culture of Minas Gerais, and so on. Parallel to his extensive life as a public man, Murilo was also increasingly consolidating his place as one of the best exponents of Brazilian literature of the twentieth century, especially in terms of the short story genre.