Ruchita's exhibition "Territory of Passage"

Born in Curitiba and based in Florianópolis, the multimedia artist Ruchita opens, in Museum of Image and Sound, an institution of the Secretariat of Culture, Economy and Creative Industries of the State of São Paulo, the exposure Transit territory – her first solo show in São Paulo. With free admission until August 24, the exhibition, which includes the book launch Every moment of finding oneself is a moment of losing oneself. This exhibition, a series of activations, was conceived specifically for the MIS and presents eight works produced between 2017 and 2025. These are video art pieces and photographic series that explore the relationships between body, time, and memory.

Curated by Brunno Almeida Maia and art direction and exhibition design of Leandro LeãoThe solo exhibition reaffirms the proposal to bring the language of video art to the public, articulating performative, audiovisual, and photographic elements in an immersive and non-linear approach. The unprecedented exhibition also establishes a direct dialogue with the MIS video art collection, a national and Latin American reference, with more than 5 titles produced and cataloged since the 1970s. By placing Ruchita's work within this historical context, Transit territory The artist's research and production align with an experimental tradition marked by names such as Walter Zanini, Letícia Parente, Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Pape, and Arthur Omar.

“There is still a strong centralization of production in the Rio-São Paulo axis, and artists from the South, North, Northeast, and Midwest face barriers to visibility. Making my debut in São Paulo, precisely at the MIS, has an important meaning for me – and I share this feeling with other artists who are underrepresented – especially because my multimedia work focuses on audiovisual media,” celebrates Ruchita. “Video still faces institutional resistance compared to other media, such as painting or sculpture, but there is no denying that technology has increasingly permeated contemporary artistic production. In this sense, the MIS has always played a relevant role in projection and recognition.”

Drawing from personal experiences translated into performances for the camera, Ruchita uses her own body as a field for artistic experimentation, developing works in photography, installation, and video that highlight the transience between portrait and self-portrait. Transit territoryHis investigations are permeated by existential, psychological, and symbolic questions, articulating intimate and collective aspects of human experience.

Structured around two curatorial axes – The Unfinished Body e The Body is Time The exhibition brings together works that address themes such as vulnerability, transcendence, repetition, impermanence, and dissolution. In the first section, the series... I am not finite. (2018) documents the performative action of a video installation on two screens that captures the artist's body tied to a tree – representing social and mental constraints – and the attempt to reach infinity by pulling a suspended rope, a repetitive gesture that brings the body closer to the intangible.

The new series... Alternate (2025/2026) delves into the artist's daily experience of living with diabetes. Using honey and blood as metaphors, Ruchita composes a visual and sound essay that explores the highs and lows of her daily life. In thresholdsIn this work, the artist writes a graph of fluctuating blood glucose levels on a mirror using blood; CompassA red scarf represents this fickleness; in Abyss, the reflection in a pool of honey evokes a corporeal pain; in A body that surrounds me.Honey drips down Ruchita's body, revealing movements that escape our control and pass right through us.

"Alternate "It stems from something that affects my body, my emotions, and my routine. I felt it was important to talk about this topic because the numbers continue to grow. Today, more than 16 million people live with diabetes in Brazil and almost 600 million people worldwide. So, this work also serves as an invitation to observe the body and daily care," proposes Ruchita.

The 23 photographs of Discontinuum – depictions of blood and honey on paper, displayed without frames – break down physical and symbolic boundaries. The work A clear state of ambiguity (2017-2018) completes the first axis of the exhibition. In it, 12 people have their vision obliterated by a mirror that reflects the artist's eyes. Next to the video display screen, a printed self-portrait of Ruchita is fixed directly onto the wall, containing the same piece of mirror glued on that overlays her gaze. Thus, the viewer's eyes will be reflected in place of the artist's eyes – a reflection on portraiture, self-portraiture, otherness, and an invitation to connect with the experience of the other.

On the second axis, The Body is Time, the series In the face of impermanence It explores duration and ephemerality in dialogue with the Japanese culture of Wabi-Sabi (which advocates that nothing is finished, permanent, or perfect). The triptych consists of two audiovisual works and a photographic installation. This perpetual motion (2018), a video installation recorded on Naoshima beach and projected onto real sand deposited on the ground displays the artist's image, which appears and disappears in harmony with decomposing algae, symbolizing the fusion of the individual with nature and the eternal cycle of decomposition and reintegration. Already in To be without being (2018), Ruchita remains motionless for hours at the Shibuya intersection in Tokyo, while the crowd rushes past at a frenetic pace – projected on a loop, the 8'09" video, of varying dimensions, was filmed in slow motion to accentuate the paradox between Zen contemplation and urban speed, a clash that also echoes in the daily life of the São Paulo metropolis.

“Performance has always been the basis of my work. My creative process stems from internal experiences, from issues that I try to externalize through images,” explains Ruchita. “Everything arises from this personal investigation, this existential search that has accompanied me since I was very young. The body ends up becoming a place of perception, experimentation, and transformation. It is from the body that I try to create connections with others,” concludes the artist.

Service
Exhibition | Transit territory
From the 11st of July to the 24th of August
Tuesdays to Fridays, 10 am to 19 pm; Saturdays, 10 am to 20 pm; Sundays and holidays, 10 am to 18 pm.