Valter Hugo Mãe: “In the generosity of words, and in the difficulty of the visual arts, I grew up”

The daily lives of the Brazilian people are permeated by African influences in the way we express ourselves – whether in intonation, vocabulary, pronunciation or the way we construct our thoughts. The temporary exhibition is about these influences. African languages ​​that make Brazil, curated by the musician and philosopher Tiganá Santana and realization do Museum of Portuguese Language, an institution of the Secretariat of Culture, Economy and Creative Industry of the State of São Paulo. The exhibition opens to the public on May 24 and will be on display until January 2025.  

The exhibition has master sponsorship from Petrobras, sponsorship from CCR, Instituto Cultural Vale, and John Deere Brasil; and support from Itaú Unibanco, Grupo Ultra and CAIXA. 

Languages ​​of the inhabitants of sub-Saharan African lands, such as Yoruba, Eve-fom and those of the Bantu group, play a decisive role in the configuration of the Portuguese spoken in Brazil, whether em their vocabulary or in the way they pronounce words and intonate sentences, even if this structure is not known to the speakers. It is a history and a reality left by around 4,8 million African people who were violently brought to the country between the 16th and 19th centuries, during the period of slavery. In addition to the language, this presence can be felt in other cultural manifestations, such as music, architecture, popular festivals and religious rituals.  

“At the same time that we want to show the public that we speak a series of expressions and structures that go back to black-African languages, we also want to reveal how this happens. Why do we speak youngest and not Benjamin? Why do we say doze and not doze“These words are part of our vocabulary, our life, our way of thinking,” says Santana. 

The exposure African languages ​​that make Brazil welcomes the public with 15 words from African languages ​​printed on oval wooden structures hanging around the room. Words such as bunda, to curse, marimbondo, Palm oil, hominy, worm e youngest. The public will also be able to hear them in the voices of people who live in the territory of Estação da Luz, where the Museum is located.  

Another highlight in the space is the work of the Bahian artist J. Cunha – a fabric printed with the words “Bantu Civilizations” who dressed the traditional Ilê Aiyê, the first Afro block in Brazil, in the 1996 Carnival. In addition, around 20 thousand cowries will also be suspended and distributed throughout the area. In the Afro-Brazilian tradition, shells are used in divinatory practices and function as a language that connects the physical and spiritual worlds.  

“The cowrie shells are present in Afro-religious spaces in Brazil, which were not exclusive, but the main centers of preservation and reinvention of African languages ​​in Brazil. From there, black presences radiated to other dimensions of Brazilian popular culture,” says Santana. 

Still at the entrance to the exhibition, the public will see several adinkras spread across the walls. These are symbols used as a writing system by the Ashanti people, who live in countries such as Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo, in Africa. They can represent everything from different elements of culture to entire proverbial sentences in a single ideogram. Evidencing the presence of this people as part of the African diaspora, it is possible to find, in various regions of Brazil, railings of residences and other architectural constructions adorned with some of the more than 80 adinkra symbols. 

The exhibition includes two video installations by the renowned visual artist from Rio de Janeiro Aline Motta. In the work Celestial Body III, loaned by the Pinacoteca de São Paulo and projected on the floor on a large scale, the artist highlights ancient forms of Central African writing, specifically those of the Bakongo people, present in territories such as Angola. This work was developed with historian Rafael Galante. Already in Celestial Body V, created exclusively for the Museum of the Portuguese Language, four proverbs in Kikongo, Umbundu, Yoruba and Kimbundu, translated into Portuguese, will be displayed in movement on the walls and in dialogue with Celestial Body III.  

One of the main names of the new generation of sculpture in the country, the Bahian Rebecca Carapiá  signs works of art created in dialogue with Afrocentric frequencies and spellings, based on his work with metals. 

The exhibition also shows how popular songs in Brazil were created from the integration of African languages ​​and Portuguese, such as Slaves of Job and Open the Wheel, tindolelê. The “Jó”, from the track Job's Slaves, comes from the Kimbundu and Umbundu languages ​​and means “house”, “house slaves”. “Enslaved ladinos, creoles and black women, who performed domestic work and spoke both the Portuguese of their masters and the language of those who performed external work, were the bridge for the Africanization of Portuguese and for the Portugueseization of Africans in the linguistic and cultural sense”, says Tiganá Santana based on research by professor Yeda Pessoa de Castro. 

In addition to the cowries, the exhibition explores other non-verbal languages ​​originating from African or Afro-diasporic cultures. Among them, braided hair, which, during the period of slavery in Brazil, served as maps of escape routes. And turbans, whose different ties indicate hierarchical position within Candomblé. There are also two works by the designer Goya Lopes, whose main references are the capulanas, the colorful cloths worn by women in Mozambique. Such works emphasize a significant articulation with the Yoruba language. 

Another example of non-verbal language are the drums, which make up a scenography consisting of a projection created by Aline Motta, with images of the sea and excerpts from the text Racism and Sexism in Brazilian Culture, by Lélia Gonzalez, one of Brazil's leading intellectuals, a reference in studies and debates on gender, race and class. In these excerpts, the use of the expression Portuguese coined by the intellectual. Finally, still in this scene, it is important to highlight the presence of sculptures by Rebeca Carapiá, conversing with the frequencies of the drums. 

In an interactive cinema room, visitors will be surprised by a projection of images when pronouncing words of African origin such as axis, afoxé, zombie e Shrimp bean ball.  

The public will have access to a series of recordings of Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations and content about African languages ​​and their presence in Brazilian Portuguese. There will be a performance by singer Clementina de Jesus, images of the Folklore Research Mission conceived by Mário de Andrade, interviews with researchers such as Félix Ayoh'Omidire, Margarida Petter and Laura Álvarez López, as well as recordings of performances by the Ilú Obá De Min group and the Orkestra Rumpilezz, and the video Soul Orderer, by Eustáquio Neves, which portrays Mr. Crispim, from the quilombola community of Ausente or Córrego do Ausente, in the Jequitinhonha Valley region.  

All this amidst the sounds of ritual songs and narratives in Yoruba, Fom, Kimbundu and Kikongo, recorded by the American linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner in the 1940s in Bahia and provided by Indiana University in the United States. It will also be possible to watch films about Quilombo Cafundó: one that had existed for over 40 years and another that was conceived for the exhibition, dealing with the Cupópia language in a more emphatic way. 

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Exhibition | African languages ​​that make Brazil
From May 24th to January 18th, 2025
Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am to 16:30pm (staying allowed until 18pm)

The cultural circuit of Av. paulista, in São Paulo, once again has an important exhibition space. Closed for a period of 18 months for structural reforms and technical improvements, the Art Gallery do Fiesp Cultural Center will reopen at the end of July 2024.

The 850m exhibition space² – which integrates the complex of performing and visual arts, audiovisual, music, literature and technology of the SESI-SP - it presents "other ships: an Afro-Atlantic collection”, with an exhibition period that runs from July 24, 2024 to February 16, 2025. The unprecedented exhibition will allow the large public visiting the site to discover the rich and diverse collection of African and Afro-Brazilian arts at the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at the University of São Paulo (MAE/USP).

The collection began to be created at the end of the 1960s (a time when movements for independence of former colonies in Africa were consolidated), through donations or purchases ordered by the university. Marianno Carneiro da Cunha (1926-1980), then professor at MAE/USP, was one of the main names leading the institutional and scientific project for the construction of the collection.

An archaeologist specializing in the Middle East, he taught between 1974 and 1976 in Ife, in Nigeria, a sacred place for Yoruba, being responsible for purchasing parts for the MAE. With look anthropological e educational, Marianno was concerned with also bringing molds to Brazil, showing interest not only in the artistic object, but also in the technique of different cultures from central and western Africa.

The trio of exhibition curators, Carla Gibertoni Carneiro, Renato Araújo da Silva and Rosa CR Vieira, point out that these two African regions are connected to Brazil for centuries transatlantic circuits. They brought countless ships of violence to our coast, but they also brought other ships, which allow us to dive through alternative stories and create new meanings for the hundreds of objects selected for the exhibition.

OTHER SHIPS: THEMATIC CORE

Open to free visitors until February 16, 2025, the exhibition that reopens the Art Gallery will present more than 300 pieces African and Afro-Brazilian, many never before shown to the public, which will be divided into seven thematic groups.

The visit begins with “Inside the waters”, where objects related to the cult of Iemanjá and Oxum, orixás of the seas and fresh waters, can be seen, such as a crown, bracelet, fan (abebê) and mirror.

Em “Afro-Atlantic baggage” there are also several pieces linked to African-based religions: bow and arrow from Oxóssi, figurines from Exu, staff (opaxoro) from Oxalá, ax (oxê) from Xangô, as well as altar elements and musical instruments.

at the core “From São Paulo to Ifé”, visitors will find varied works by the Yoruba, coming especially from Nigeria and Benin. There are everyday items, such as a chest, pestle, hoe and spoon, as well as a set of carved wooden and painted masks and pairs of Ibeji figurines, which are linked to twinning among the Yoruba people.

The term “Bantu” generically designates a whole range of cultures from Central Africa, from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. They will be represented in the nucleus “Bantu, from the midlands”, which features pieces such as raffia (straw) mats in different shapes, ceremonial cups and a milk container with a lid decorated with shells (cowries).

In "Winds in West Africa” objects from countries such as Ghana, Mali and Ivory Coast are brought together, including one of the largest items in the exhibition, a Dogon barn door. There are sets of clothing, fork-type combs, bronze figures and a scale for weighing gold dust, along with a scorpion-shaped weight used for weighing.

"Techniques” highlights the materials used in the different stages of the lost wax technique, an ancient technique that sculpts pieces of metal alloy by molding, in addition to presenting a set of adzes and allowing visitors to learn about the process of creating a Gueledé mask.

The last core, “Jewelry and everything that glitters”, is also the most notable in the exhibition, as the MAE/USP collection of African jewelry is one of the most expressive in the world. There are several examples of bracelets, anklets, necklaces, rings and earrings, in materials such as glass, bronze and ivory.

There is also a special section that brings together works by contemporary black Brazilian artists. There are eleven works, in different techniques and supports, by Denis Moreira, Denise Camargo, Guto Oca, Larissa de Souza and Renan Teles, which show that a collection is not fixed and can be recomposed to point out other ships in view.

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Exhibition | other ships: an Afro-Atlantic collection
From July 24, 2024 to February 16
Tuesday to Sunday, from 10pm to 20pm

A Tijuana International Pictorial Triennial 2024 is in its second edition and promises to be a cultural landmark on the border of Mexico. Held at the Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT), the exhibition brings together more than 80 works by 86 artists from 15 countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Germany, the United States and Spain. The theme of this edition explores issues such as corporeality, identity and territory, challenging the traditional limits of painting with contemporary and experimental proposals.

Visitors can actively participate by voting for the works that most impact them. The winner will receive a prize of 1 million pesos, with additional prizes for the second and third place winners. The curatorship is led by Leonor Amarante, a prominent Brazilian professor, ensuring a high level of artistic quality. The exhibition will be held in the El Cubo, Sala Marta Palau and Sala Planta Baja spaces of the CECUT.

The Triennale is not only a showcase for emerging and established talents, but also an invitation to reflection and cultural engagement.

General curation
The general curator is Leonor Amarante, Brazilian critic, editor and journalist. Co-Curator of the 2nd and 3rd editions of the Mercosul Biennial, in Porto Alegre (1999/2001), with Fábio Magalhães. General curator with Tício Escobar of the 5th Curitiba International Biennial, (2009). General curator of the 1st End of the World Biennial, Ushuaia, Argentina (2007). Responsible for the Brazilian part in the 3rd and 4th editions of the Clay Biennial, Venezuela (1997/1999). Juror for the selection of works at the Cuenca Biennial, Ecuador (2009). Curator of the Galeria Cilindro exhibition, at the 10th Havana Biennial (2009). Selection judge for the Bienal de las Fronteras, Taumalipas, Mexico (2014). Selection judge for the Arteamericas Miami Fair, editions (2010) – (2011). Today he is a member of the magazine's Editorial Committee arte!brasileiros.

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Exhibition | Tijuana Triennial: 2. International Pictorial
From August 2nd to February 28th
Tuesday to Sunday, from 10pm to 19pm

The exhibition Land of Giants invites the Sesc Casa Verde audience to immerse themselves in a new possible world and inspire visitors to think about contemporary Afro-Amerindian times and futures. Conceived and curated by artist, editor and researcher Daniel Lima, the exhibition unfolds into a video installation composed of eleven scenes, including a poetic intervention and an educational workshop, which exalt the poetic, symbolic and mythological forces that intersect between black and indigenous cultures in Brazil.

Packed with audiovisual resources developed especially to promote an interactive, sensorial and unique experience, the exhibition is inspired by theme park attractions such as ghost trains and mirror mazes. Throughout the tour, the viewer is challenged by a series of projections generated by optical sensors activated by presence: sometimes giant, sometimes tiny, in a path of lights and fantastic glimpses evoked by characters, performances, interviews and visual creations.

The scenes are starring 12 artists, collectives and leaders: Katú Mirim, an indigenous rapper from São Paulo; Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, an important Yanomami leader and author of the book “Queda do Céu” (Quendy of the Sky); Legítima Defesa, a collective of black actors and actresses; Naruna Costa, an actress, singer and theater director who performs the text “Da Paz” (From Peace), by Marcelino Freire; Jota Mombaça, a performance artist; Jonathan Neguebites, a passinho dancer from Rio de Janeiro; Daiara Tukano and Denilson Baniwa, artists from the Brazilian contemporary indigenous art scene; the central musical presence of Naná Vasconcelos; songs recorded by Juçara Marçal and Daiara Tukano, in addition to the poetic intervention of Miró da Muribeca, a poet and performer from Pernambuco.

“Land of Giants aims to bring together these generations of black and indigenous artists to question contemporary Brazilian ideology, claiming another image of Brazil, not the one created by Modernism from a white perspective,” argues Daniel Lima.

According to the curator, the exhibition was born from a process of research, self-education and investigation into quilombismo that began years ago, in previous projects led by him, such as Quilombo Brasil, and the video installation Palavras Cruzadas (2018/19), which provided the technical and poetic bases for the current project.

“Land of Giants is an expression of questions about the historical moment we are living in. A living document of the forces that constitute us as a contemporary society in Brazil. The video installation also invests in the representation of the oppressive forces that surround us like fire around us. In contrast, we position the lines of resistance articulated in this political-poetic imaginary”, concludes the curator.

Interaction and accessibility: learn more about some of the works in the exhibition

One of the highlights of the exhibition, whose gigantic scale symbolizes its title, the intervention by Davi Kopenawa Yanomami appears projected on a scale increased by 800%. Based on excerpts from his book The Fall of the Sky, Kopenawa speaks about the strength of resistance that exists not only in his figure, but in the culture of the Yanomami people who, symbolically, through the dance of their shamans, ensure that the sky remains above their heads and does not fall.

The “Kahpi Hori” series by indigenous artist Daiara Tukano is animated in three-dimensional format in a room of visual and sound immersion. Immersed in a cube with projections mapped onto the walls and floor and accompanied by songs sung by the artist herself, the audience experiences a dive into the symbolic universe of one of the expressions of contemporary indigenous Brazilian art.

In the body performance Get Up, Stand Up by Legítima Defesa, the members of the collective, divided into three groups and without speaking, challenge the audience with gestures of affirmation through projection that responds to interactivity, creating a game of actions and movements with the spectator.

Land of Giants has accessibility resources such as tactile maps, Braille subtitles, enlarged ink, audio description, video guide, audio guide and technological resources such as the vibroblaster, which transforms audio into sensitive vibrations. The exhibition also has an educational workshop open to the public with guided activities and a reading space.

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Exhibition | Giants land
From September 21th to December 22th
Tuesday to Friday, from 10:30 am to 18:30 pm, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 10:30 am to 17:30 pm

Sesc Registro is hosting the traveling exhibition Roça is Life, resulting from a result of actions in partnership between Afro Brazil Museum Association and Association of the Remnants of the Quilombo of São Pedro. The exhibition not only contributes to strengthening the self-esteem of the local population, but also to learning about the cancestral knowledge belonging to quilombola communities.

The exhibition was created with the aim of implementing a project that contributes to the safeguarding and extroversion of assets and memories of the quilombos of the State of São Paulo. After being enjoyed by 130.755 visitors at the Afro Museum, the exhibition will travel to Sesc Registro. The opening will take place on September 21 and will run until February 02, 2025. 

The exhibition “Roça é Vida” (Road is Life for Registration) provides visitors with the opportunity to have closer contact and learn about the history of an important traditional community in our region – the Quilombo de São Pedro, located in the municipality of Eldorado. The exhibition not only helps to strengthen the self-esteem of the local population, but also helps them learn about the ancestral knowledge of quilombola communities. 

The actions of the exhibition Roça é Vida culminated in the shared curation that brought together the originals and reproductions of the illustrations and text clippings from the books Roça é Vida by Viviane Marinho and In the company of the production of Dona Fartura: a story about quilombola food culture by Laudessandro Marinho. Photographs, work objects, everyday objects and objects from the quilombo collection, native seeds and the documentary video Quilombo São Pedro: Way of being and living, make up the collection.

The Traditional Quilombola Agricultural System stands out, characterized by the Roça de Coivara cycle, which is based on a set of knowledge and techniques of interaction with all elements of nature, flora and fauna, and are passed down from generation to generation to feed the families of the community. In 2018, the Traditional Agricultural System of the Quilombos of the Ribeira Valley was recognized as Brazilian intangible heritage by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage – IPHAN.

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Exhibition | Roça is Life
From September 21st to February 02nd
Tuesday to Friday, from 13pm to 22pm, Saturday and Sunday, from 10am to 19pm

With a unique and influential trajectory, rosana paulino brings up discussions about memory, nature, identity and Afro-Brazilian history in the exhibition “New Roots”. The works on display are the result of extensive research into the architecture and collection of the Eva Klabin House Museum, in Lagoa, proposing a conceptual separation between the two floors. With the aim of celebrating the 30-year career of the renowned artist from São Paulo, “Novas Raízes” opens on September 26 (Thursday) and can be visited free of charge from Wednesday to Sunday until January 12, 2025.

The artist's solo exhibition is her first in Rio de Janeiro after her exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, MALBA. With the show, Rosana became the first black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Argentine museum, which presented a retrospective look at the artist's career.

“This is a unique opportunity to see Rosana Paulino’s work in direct dialogue with a classic collection, thus proposing a historical and epistemological review for the visitor,” says curator Lucas Albuquerque, regarding the combination of the house’s permanent collection with the artist’s works. “Rosana intends for this exhibition to have a very strong educational character, questioning how we can rethink contemporary production in dialogue with new readings of the world, this one very different from the one left by Eva Klabin over thirty years ago,” he adds.

The rooms on the ground floor will be dedicated to works that expose the relationship between architecture and botany, with drawings, collages and installations. The works from the “Espada de Iansã” series, part of the 59th Venice Biennale, join other works that aim to break down the separation between inside and outside, with plants taking over the different rooms. Rosana draws attention to the incisive separation between the domestic environment and the garden, the result of a school of European thought that points to the need to tame nature.

The rooms on the second floor touch on a discussion about the private lives of black women throughout history. Works such as “Tropical Paradise,” “Wet Nurse,” and “Das Avós” bring back photographs and symbols from Afro-Brazilian history, reflecting on the subjugation of bodies to the erasure policies resulting from the slavery model experienced by Colonial Brazil. Using voile fabrics, ribbons, lenses, cutouts, and other objects, Paulino proposes preparing a resting place for all black women who were victims of Brazilian history, especially Mônica, the wet nurse photographed by Augusto Gomes Leal in 1860, one of the few whose name has been preserved throughout history.

'Novas Raízes' is an initiative of the Eva Klabin House Museum, produced by AREA27, sponsored by Klabin SA and produced by the Ministry of Culture. It has the support of Atlantis Brazil, Everaldo Molduras and Galeria Mendes Wood, and a media partnership with Revista Piauí and Canal Curta!.

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Exhibition | New Roots
From September 26st to January 12th
Wednesday to Sunday, from 14pm to 18pm

A Red receives the JAMAC Occupation. The collective, which is celebrating 20 years of activity, will now occupy the Vermelho stand, where it will exhibit and sell pieces from two projects: inventories e Learn something new.

JAMAC will be in residence at the bank, where it will be able to receive the public and talk about its long-term processes.

The Jardim Miriam Arte Clube – JAMAC, founded by Mônica Nador in 2004, starts by holding stencil mural painting workshops, also promoting collective creative and reflective practices. Over the course of two decades, JAMAC has dedicated itself to integrating art into the daily lives of the community, equipping the public to use stencils as a means of visual expression and, in many cases, as a source of income.

This set of experiences is now organized into inventories, a set of transversal regroupings of these experiences, organized by themes.

inventories is an open investigation of the collection of prints produced over 20 years of JAMAC stencil workshops. The work organizes the collection into thematic collections. In the JAMAC Occupation the Inventory presented will be Inventory: property, which will be displayed in a set of boxes with stencils where architecture is the main theme.

Learn Something New is a project that was born from the collaboration between JAMAC, Projeto Descartes and the Colo de Vó/Instituto Nova União da Arte group, which resulted in a porcelain collection and a publication that brings together prints and stories shared during weekly meetings by a group of artisans from different parts of Brazil.

Throughout the Occupation, new practices will be presented.

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Exhibition | JAMAC Occupation
From October 4th to December 22rd
Monday to Friday from 10:19 to 11:17, Saturday from XNUMX:XNUMX to XNUMX:XNUMX

The unprecedented exhibition “Ancestry: Afro-Americas – United States and Brazil” addresses relations between the two countries from the perspective of the African diaspora and how it is present in the visual arts. Based in FAAP Museum of Brazilian Art, the free exhibition brings together 132 works by great artists from both countries.

With an organic exhibition design, the exhibition, which will be on display from October 29 to January 26, 2025, offers reflections on the affirmation of the body, the oneiric dimension of dreams and the claim to space. Through these three axes – body, dream and space – “Ancestral” promotes an encounter that values ​​the concept of African-American identity in Brazil and the United States and decolonial art. The exhibition not only pays homage to artists who challenged the brutalities and erasure of colonialism, but also seeks to foster an open dialogue on the impact and relevance of ancestral African roots in their formation and in their social contexts.

Based on these provocations, the project proposes a renewed perspective on the world and a new way of existing, imagined by the group of participating artists. This creative process allows for a simultaneous movement between past and future, intertwining the ancestral lines that sustain the contemporary art scene and highlighting current productions that, in the future, may emerge as precursors of expressions of life as yet unexperienced.

“We were guided by the groups and communities of the African diaspora who reimagined the concept of servitude in the colonial nations to which they were brought, contributing significantly to the construction of the national identity of these places. Based on the idea of ​​human beings reinventing their existence in a hostile environment, we selected artists who evoke this invention, this transformation, and this process of 'becoming' as a powerful poetic and aesthetic tool,” comments Brazilian curator Ana Beatriz Almeida.

For American curator Lauren Haynes, the opportunity to work with Ana Beatriz “to present the work of African-American artists alongside the work of Afro-Brazilian artists was a great chance to explore connections and distinct practices of black artists working in two very different places. I hope visitors leave the exhibition having learned about new artists and new ways of making art.”

The exhibition takes place in the year that marks the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between Brazil and the United States. “The decision to place Afro-descendant art at the center of this celebration is very important and highlights the complex legacy that both the United States and Brazil share as a result of our histories with slavery. In 1824, the United States and Brazil had the largest populations of enslaved Africans. Two hundred years later, our current governments are working together to relaunch the U.S.-Brazil Joint Plan of Action to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER). I am confident that this exhibition will inspire us to intensify our efforts in the fight to end racism,” said the United States Ambassador to Brazil, Elizabeth Frawley Bagley.

Against this historical backdrop, the exhibition brings together 73 artists of great international relevance from both nations. Among them are new works by Brazilians Gabriella Marinho and Gê Viana, and American Simone Leigh, who brings a new work from her personal collection. Born in Chicago, the internationally recognized artist is the first African-American woman to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. Another American artist, Nari Ward, who has already had the opportunity to perform in Brazil, is another name who brings to the exhibition a work created on Brazilian soil exclusively for the occasion. The artist incorporates everyday objects into his works, thus enriching the artistic exchange between the nations.

The curators of “Ancestral” also include Abdias do Nascimento, an icon of cultural activism in Brazil, widely recognized for his contributions to the promotion of Afro-Brazilian culture and for having been awarded the Zumbi dos Palmares Prize. Among the North American artists, Kara Walker stands out for her provocative art, which examines historical and social issues and earned her the prestigious MacArthur Prize. Julie Mehretu is another significant presence, recognized for her complex paintings that establish a dialogue with current geopolitics, accumulating a series of awards throughout her career. Complementing this panorama, the Brazilian Rosana Paulino, awarded the PIPA Prize, brings a critical look at race and identity, highlighting the diversity and depth of the voices represented in the exhibition.

They are joined by names such as the young artist Mayara Ferrão, who uses artificial intelligence to rethink scenes of affection between black and indigenous people not told in “traditional history”; and the Sergipe native Bispo do Rosário, with his embroidered cloaks and objects that transcended time and subverted the concept of beauty and madness. Reinforcing the powerful dialogue about identity, culture and history, and reflecting the complexity of the human experience, we see the inclusion of works by Kerry James Marshall, Carrie Mae Weems and Betye Saar.

“Ancestral” investigates the intertwined narratives between Brazil and the United States through the lens of art, which transcends geographic and cultural boundaries, evoking the constant sensation of being in an unknown space and remembering another place, such as a trip to Salvador, where people and places could be mistaken for New Orleans. “The word ‘ancestral’ is common in both English and Portuguese. It is this shared origin that we seek to highlight in contemporary art, something that transcends geographic, linguistic and cultural barriers. The exhibition ‘Ancestral’ demonstrates that, even in the face of so much pain, suffering and with all the distance of centuries of African diaspora, its art persists in the ability to keep a flame burning over time”, highlights the artistic director of the exhibition, Marcello Dantas.

With support from the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation – FAAP and the United States Embassy and Consulates in Brazil, “Ancestral: Afro-Americas – United States and Brazil” is sponsored by Bradesco, Caterpillar, Instituto CCR, Citi, Itaú Unibanco, Whirlpool and Bank of America – which provided 52 works from its collection for the exhibition. In addition, the Museu Afro Brasil also provided works from its collection for the occasion.

“With the exhibition 'Ancestral: Afro-Americas', FAAP's long-standing partnership with the United States Embassy is entering a new chapter. This is even more relevant this year, when we celebrate the bicentennial of diplomatic relations with Brazil. We are happy to bring new reflections and perspectives on the ancestry shared by both countries to the public,” says MAB FAAP Advisor Pilar Guillon Liotti.

Service
Exhibition | Ancestry: Afro-Americas – United States and Brazil
From October 29th to January 26th
Tuesday to Sunday, from 10pm to 18pm

With critical text by the curator and researcher Luciara Ribeiro, the exhibition presents an unprecedented set of paintings, sculptures and installations that demonstrate the material and conceptual expansion in the artist's practice, while delving deeper into the themes debated throughout his career.

The first individual at Martins in Brazil in five years, Fronteiras inóspitas investigates the relationships between the subject and the dominant social structures, permeated by classic existential debates. An example of these reflections is the set of paintings produced for the exhibition, in which the artist lends his image in the form of self-portraits. Thinking about dimensions that are not limited to himself, Martins places himself in environments marked by symbols related to the brevity and impasses of life, as well as signs that relate to Brazilian society. One of these paintings reveals a birthday scene with balloons, banners and a table with bottles of soda. The character blows out the candles on a cake, next to which lies a skull. The symbol is a classic memento mori — images that in the history of art serve as a reminder that existence is fleeting.

Another work shows the character feeding a vulture and wearing a t-shirt with a reference to Hélio Oiticica's flag — the image of Cara de Cavalo's body stretched out and a change in the famous phrase: “Be marginal, don't be a hero”. More than a quote, Martins provokes the art system and questions the social values ​​that distinguish some between prestige and marginality.

The existential investigation marked by political criticism is also present in the large installation that welcomes the public to the gallery. Seca is composed of a boat resting on a mirrored surface. Upon approaching, the viewer notices that there is also another mirror in the vessel. “An illusion, a mirage, an impossibility in possibility,” writes curator Luciara Ribeiro in the exhibition text. “The image captured by the mirror makes the body present inside the boat, an entire dimension of the confrontation between reality and its projections, time and space. Time is different, with dilations and accelerations, being felt and projected, computed or risked,” she adds.

The violence present in Brazilian daily life, especially that perpetrated by the State, is addressed head-on in other works on display. Bulletproof vests are molds for sculptures, in addition to being, in themselves, material for works. In Dress Code 2, they are positioned and arranged on the wall, alluding to formalist compositions of Brazilian concrete art. The work raises discussions about the monetization of violence, highlighting the control, security and surveillance of bodies. “Surveillance and control as a strategy for managing public, political, social, educational and police violence,” points out the curator.

Service
Exhibition | Inhospitable borders
From November 09th to December 14th
Monday to Friday, 10am to 19pm, Saturday, 11am to 15pm

In books, classrooms, art exhibitions and museums, Brazilian history and culture have been perpetuated through the eyes of white people. Starting November 16, a different perspective will be presented in Crossroads of Afro-Brazilian Art. Comprising more than 140 works, the exhibition held at Cultural Center Bank of Brazil Rio de Janeiro (CCBB RJ) is curated by Deri Andrade and reverences the contribution of black artists to the country.

A success during its visits to the Banco do Brasil Cultural Centers in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte – where it was seen by more than 300 people – the exhibition arrives in Rio during the G20 Social meetings and presents itself as yet another opportunity for the national and international public to come into contact with Brazilian art. On display until February 17, the exhibition is sponsored by Banco do Brasil and BB Asset, through the Federal Law of Incentive to Culture (Rouanet Law), and produced by Tatu Cultural.

For the opening, on November 16 (Saturday), CCBB RJ is preparing a special moment: at 16 pm, Terreiro de Crioulo will perform, free of charge, on the ground floor of the Cultural Center. A gathering with lots of traditional samba and lots of positive energy, joy and full of axé. Admission is free, but tickets will be issued, available at the digital box office and on the CCBB website. The exhibition will be open to the public from 9 am and the galleries will remain open all day.

Also on the opening day, at 14 pm, the public will be able to watch the performance “What are walls made of?” by Davi Cavalcante. The artist will build a wall with bricks that bear various words. The work proposes a poetic reflection on the weight of human action in building relationships with space and peers.

THE EXHIBITION

The collective exhibition features the work of 62 artists, including 12 from Rio de Janeiro who were born or adopted by the city. Two of those honored by the exhibition are Lita Cerqueira and Arthur Timótheo da Costa. The others are: Andrea Hygino, André Vargas, Panmela Castro, Guilhermina Augusti, Matheus Ribs, Mulambö, Kika Carvalho, Elian Almeida, Rafa Bqueer and Yhuri Cruz.

“The purpose is to create a transversal and comprehensive dialogue on the production of black artists throughout the country, but there are local highlights, of course,” says Deri Andrade, curator of the exhibition. “We always invite artists who are recognized in the states where the exhibition is held,” he explains.

On the second floor and in the space next to the ticket office, there will be paintings, photographs, sculptures, installations, videos and documents that reveal different eras and discussions, contexts, generations and regions. The exhibition is wide-ranging, covering the period from pre-modern to contemporary times.

The works are divided into five axes: Becoming, about the importance of the artist's studio and self-portrait; Languages, which addresses artistic movements; Worldview, regarding political engagement and rights; Orum, about the spiritual relations between heaven and earth, based on the flow between Brazil and Africa; finally, Daily Life, which addresses discussions about representation.

Each axis is represented by emblematic black artists: Arthur Timótheo da Costa (Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1882-1922), Lita Cerqueira (Salvador, BA, 1952), Maria Auxiliadora (Campo Belo, MG, 1935 – São Paulo, SP, 1974), Mestre Didi (Salvador, BA, 1917- 2013) and Rubem Valentim (Salvador, BA, 1922- São Paulo, SP, 1991).

CENTRAL FIGURES

In the first section, the public will see the art of Rio de Janeiro native Arthur Timótheo da Costa, whose work spans the 19th and 20th centuries and exposes the artist's relationship with his studio, painting, photography and self-portraits. His work reveals a certain drama and evolves into a pre-modernist work.

Rubem Valentim, honored in section 2, is considered a master of Brazilian concretism. It proposes a discussion about religious form and elements. He began his career producing everything from still lifes to flowers and urban landscapes and moved on to using geometric symbols and emblems from African-based religions.

Axis 3 is dedicated to Maria Auxiliadora from Minas Gerais, who enchants with the use of colors in her portraits, self-portraits and religious festivals. But that's not all. Her work carries a more political discussion, engaged in the debate on housing, territories, food security and the rights of the black population.

Master Didi, in section 4, was an artist and priest, revealing a lot of spirituality and the Brazil/Africa relationship in his works. His work is also marked by the use of natural materials such as cowrie shells, seeds, leather and palm leaves and deals a lot with Afro-religiosities based on the relations between Brazil and Africa.

In the last section, the central artist is Lita Cerqueira, the only one still alive among the five key names in the exhibition. At 72 years old, she has established herself as one of the most important representatives of Brazilian photography, with international recognition. She began her career capturing images of popular festivals in Bahia, capoeira and details of the architecture of the historic center of Salvador. Soon after, she turned to stage photography, taking important photographs of musicians of her time, such as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa. She currently lives and works in Rio de Janeiro.

CURATOR

The exhibition is an offshoot of the Afro Project (projetoafro.com), in development since 2016 and launched in 2020, which currently brings together around 330 artists catalogued on the platform. These names span a vast period of artistic production in Brazil, from the 19th century to contemporary artists born in the 2000s. “The exhibition brings another reference and a new perspective on Brazilian art to visitors,” says the curator. “The history of Brazilian art erases the black presence and black artists from its references, the exhibition emphasizes this production as central to rethinking our own history,” he adds.

The research behind the project and the exhibition was born from Andrade's desire and, subsequently, his frustration at not finding many references to Afro-Brazilian art in Brazil. By poring over publications, materials from other exhibitions (such as several curated by Emanoel Araujo in the 90s, who would later become director of the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo and founder of the Museu Afro Brasil) and countless studies to map black artists and their works in Brazil, Deri Andrade began a meticulous project to catalog an art form that has sometimes been marginalized by society.

“Being an artist I think is already difficult, being a black artist in Brazil is even a little more complicated”, said artist Sidney Amaral (São Paulo, SP, 1973/2017), in 2016, when interviewed by the AfroTranscendence project. Since the conversation, this thought has accompanied Andrade, who dedicates part of his time to getting to know and investigating artistic production by black authors in Brazil.

Deri is also a researcher and curator, a journalist by training, assistant curator at the Inhotim Institute and creator of the Projeto Afro platform (projetoafro.com) for mapping and disseminating black artists.

Service
Exhibition | Crossroads of Afro-Brazilian Art
From November 16th to February 17rd
Wednesday to Monday, 09am to 20pm (closed on Tuesdays)

A Galatea is pleased to announce the first traveling exhibition of its program: Afrofuturist Bahia: Bauer Sá and Gilberto Filho It was first presented in Salvador and now arrives in São Paulo, at the space on Rua Padre João Manuel.

The exhibition, curated by Alana Silveira e Thomas Toledo, marks the debut of Bahian artists in a solo exhibition in the capital of São Paulo and has two exhibition centers: in the first, photographs by Bauer Sá (1950, Salvador, BA), produced between the years 1990 and 2000, explore the power of Afro-Brazilian ancestry through figurations of the black body represented as the protagonist of the scene; in the second, wooden sculptures produced from 1992 to the present day portray the utopian and modern cities imagined by Gilberto Filho (1953, Cachoeira, BA).

The dialogue established between the works of the two artists creates a rich visual narrative, connecting ancestry and fabrication around possible futures. The exhibition also features a critical text written by Ayrson Heráclito, artist and curator, and Beto Heráclito, writer and historian.

Service
Exhibition | Afrofuturist Bahia: Bauer Sá and Gilberto Filho
From November 27th to January 25th
Monday to Thursday 10am to 19pm, Friday 10am to 18pm, Saturday 11am to 17pm

Exhibition | Ana Claudia Almeida & Tadáskia
From November 30th to January 24th
Yrtça on Fridays from 10am to 19pm, Saturdays from 10am to 18pm

Exhibition | 31st Youth Arts Exhibition – MAJ
From December 6th to June 8th
Tuesday to Friday, 13pm to 21:30pm. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, 9:30am to 18pm