Moisés Patrício, Untitled, series: "Family Album", 2020. Photo: João Liberato/Courtesy Galeria Estação

We ended the year with only one certainty. Even those who were lucky and didn't get sick – physically or psychically – or lost their job, are exhausted.

Efforts to sustain a year of isolation led cultural institutions to create alternatives through the development of virtual projects, managing marches and counter marches. Some of these projects managed to open to the public in person and will still exist until March/April 2021.

In terms of culture, the State, on the other hand, cut investments, laid off, reduced residences, awards and public notices.

We are pessimistic. The obscurantism that settled in the Brazilian government, which began with the denial of colonial history, defending the inexistence of racism in Brazil, the immunity of militias, the politicization of justice and the devastation of the environment, now openly fights against science, proclaiming against the need for investments and logistics in favor of vaccination.

The president's mockery against the fate of almost 200 deaths was not enough to create shame in part of the population that still thinks that this administration is not responsible for the results of the negligence. What insensitivity is this?

Starting from art, we are committed to showing how much it is possible to rebel against denialism and the need to erase history. Contemporary art is part of this ethos. Aesthetics and ethics do not allow one to be alienated from this reality.

The end of the year was crowned with several specific manifestations resulting from the encouragement of this violence. The majority of the Brazilian population that died from violence, Covid-19 or hunger was the black population.

In this edition, we made a point of listening to expert collaborators, researchers, academics, curators and black artists capable of denouncing and speaking out against this whole frenzied attack, marking the centuries-old roots of this violence.

If there's anything we can do, it's encourage memory. Unveil the myth of cordial miscegenation and collaborate by showing how much Afro-Brazilian and indigenous art are us.

At the end of the year, we would like to especially thank those who support this project, whose objective remains to spread and respect diversity.

We wish you all a good rest, with health, and a more hopeful year 2021.


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