Indomináveis Presenças

Banco do Brasil presents and sponsors the exhibition Indomináveis Presenças, which brings together 114 works in various media, produced by a collective of 16 artists, materializing the transformation of the colonial gaze on the arts and the urgent need for reparation and recognition.

The exhibition is an invitation to experience ways of expanding the world from Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIAPN+ perspectives committed to the emancipation of the imagination and the state of celebration.

By carrying out this project, the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center reaffirms its commitment to cultural plurality and to supporting projects that, in addition to celebrating art, provide the public with an immersive experience that fosters reflection on identity, diversity, inclusion, the rescue and valorization of histories, and traditions of an ancestral legacy.

Banco do Brasil Cultural Center

The contemporary poetics of Brazilian visual arts created by dissident bodies are outgrowths that sprout from the experience of pain, which brought together thousands of body-cultures for survival and re-existence. Their imaginaries celebrate the plurality that emanates from Black, Indigenous, and queer communities, their corporealities, territorialities, affections, and symbols.

If yesterday the quilombo was an ancestral technology of escape, today it has transformed into an Afrofuturist technology of recognition, co-creation, and strategy. If the village is an ancestral-origin cell of community, today it teaches about the future.

The curatorial process of this exhibition catalyzes an expansion of imaginaries towards a new decolonial symbolic ecology of culture. It lays bare a creative, aesthetic, technical, and poetic diversity of artists from different generations. It traces what is unavoidable in the multiple identities and expressions of Brazilian art.

"My skin is language

And the reading is all yours, oh ...

Despite so much no, so much pain that invades us

We are the joy of the city

Despite so much no, so much marginalization

We are the joy of the city..."

Alegria da Cidade - Lazzo Matumbi and Virgínia Rodrigues

Indomináveis Presenças is the presentification of counter-colonial imaginaries materialized in works of various forms. Idealized by the digital quilombo AfrontArt, the exhibition reaffirms its commitment to fostering the emergence and permanence of Black and Indigenous perspectives in the scene of Brazilian contemporary visual arts.

The shared curatorial process demanded from us the ability to dream during the unexpected. We embraced the challenge of becoming intimate with our divergences, transforming them into creative frictions, nurturing stubbornness, and insisting both on the joy of achieving the impossible and on the refusal to serve mere entertainment. We abandoned names, identity labels, and embraced the energy of transmutation. Our research is the foundation of what we present in the exhibition, but we must emphasize the importance of a curatorial process shaped and refined with each new encounter with artists. It was through conversation that we found the image of a forest that transcends time, raised by dark-skinned people.

The collective of artists present invites us to visit and experience ways of orbiting the world from Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQIAPN+ perspectives committed to the emancipation of the imagination and the state of celebration. The refusal of the world to embrace us as human beings appears less as a problem to be fixed, and more as a possibility to enter into relationship with the many and ancient ways through which we exist: gathered together and committed to re-fertilizing life despite the violence.

From the exorbitant forms, unfold fantastic narratives, abstract returns toward matter, monumental contestations, overlapping memories, and the fabrication of ancestral futures.

We perceive the noises of images rising in celebration after the battles won, and we become able to hear the promises whispered between caresses—this is only a half-beginning of a path. We planned a result, to navigate the spiral of time and settle, here and now, a world that comes and that is already here. The route we traveled made us incorporate traces and insist on the refusal of what is expected of dissident artists and their communities. We drew other routes on the map of Brazilian visual arts. Art only happens because it is lived, while we free our imaginations from the colonial project and become uncapturable.

Here are the images: abundant and enchanted. We wish for them to spread and populate chants, imaginations, dreams, school projects, and late-night conversations, for they are the trace and evidence that life continues happening because it is enchanted.

Nothing... nothing exists beyond the miracle and persistence.

Androgynous Subsistence

"...

No, I will not be silent, I will not run

Nor submit to obey you

Do not dare cross, you will not contain me

You will not be able to stop me, let alone detain me ..."

Asfalto Selvagem - Tássia Reis - 2024

Just as the construction of this diverse and expansive curatorship unfolded, let us proceed with voluntary acts:

Act I - Subsistence

In Social Studies, my favorite subject in elementary school, I learned that to stay alive here in Ayiê, it was essential to have a life/to be a subsisting human. Subsistence - my second favorite word.

Feminine noun

The state of people or things that subsist; that maintain themselves; existence; permanence.

The set of things essential to sustaining life; sustenance.

How, as a black, dark-skinned, and peripheral girl, would I be subsistent in this dog-eat-dog world?

At 9 years old, I encountered/faced my "first real" problem: To exist.

There, in that moment, not so long ago, I understood with the tools I had, that breathing wasn't my real problem as a human, that since I was 3, I needed to swim 3 times a week to stay alive here. But yes, my legitimate issue was/is being 'Me'.

Having total self-awareness is a privilege in a world where everything and everyone tries to confuse you and/or tell you who you are and should be. But it is also terrifying to realize that there is no space/form/formula to remain.

As an Aquarian, I live in and for the constant future.

Imagine how it is, for me and my peers, to (sur)live in a society that insists on defining the present by only referencing the past as the blueprint for not only what should be now but also what will become in the future. However, the great revelation of life/existence for native futurists like me is realizing that what is projected as present-future is actually the imperfect past.

Act II - The Entity

Figured as a great anticolonial thicket, Indomináveis Presenças arrives, creating strong and deep roots, which gradually generate their legacies/sprouts in their own axis like a fractal, expanding and touching everything like the Sun's light. Layer by layer, dominating the surroundings with its forest strength, like the ghettos, settlements, favelas, hills, slums, and communities.

Espadas de Ogum and Osossi, which grow together at the center of this exhibition, represent artists/quilombos/villages/territories/communities/humans/professionals who make up Indomináveis Presenças, which, in turn, born/reborn from the fertilization of Babà Oculto with Yà Mistério, manifests as a living, timeless, androgynous, and subsistent entity that occupies/invades/settles in this present, which is already the future.

If we accept that as individuals/humans, we are a present/blessing/gift, and that we are truly here to sow/establish a future in a true, constant, perennial, sustainable, subsistent way... We would truly give ourselves the importance/value/relevance that we are due to put into practice.

For we are here to receive grace, favor, offering, harvest, fortune, stroke of luck, and to consummate the blessing in the now. So that we can truly use our benefit/good fortune from and in this advanced (post)contemporary age.

Let us then do everything that is already being said/announced/proclaimed to us, everything that is already evident, put and proven by sciences/cultures/facts.

Let us fulfill and build here and now everything that we have, with all that we are.

Let us fully accept the offerings at this moment with the completeness they propose.

Let us let the curtains of old colonial love affairs fall, so we can receive the freshness of the many good winds blowing in multiple directions. And that, along with the fresh waters still springing odorless from the springs towards the sea, we may bathe and hydrate ourselves, just as the waters nourish the forests along their banks. These, represented here by the swords of Ogum and Osossi, not only fulfill their aesthetic function and support the works, but also as weapons, defenses, immunity, and foundation.

Indomináveis Presenças is like a Yoruba warrior goddess, always presenting with her complete attire and adornments. And in this contestatory celebration, she manifests/expresses herself with her tools, arms, armor at the ready, like royalty that does not arrogantly/provocatively carry its crown in hand, but on its head, so there is no need to announce who she is or why she is there.

Act III - Androgynous

At 6 years old, upon entering a department store in Salvador, Bahia, I saw in the normative/binary section designated for girls, a set featuring the character Sonic - a character normatively designated/channeled for boys - a shirt, shorts, and top, the kind of clothes I had dreamed of.

I ran to the rack, found one in my size, and, holding that dream in the form of clothes, I said with all my being:

"Mum, buy it for me, please, I won’t be able to live without it."

My intense plea for that simple outfit was, in fact, about the fact that they had finally placed in the girls' section an outfit from a character meant for boys.

I was born rebellious, anti-rules, I love the "and", I avoid "or" as much as possible.

I have always had a gaze towards the masculine universe as a possibility to, as a cis girl, be different from the other girls and live my mission/astrological essence as an Aquarian to the fullest here in Ayiê.

Which consists of being strange, different, unusual, alien, provocative, out-of-the-box.

And on that day, after my explicit request, my mother asked:

But why do you want that set so much? You don’t even like Sonic.

And I said:

Because this outfit is androgynous.

My mother, astonished, questioned my wisdom back then:

And you even know what androgynous means, girl?

And firm in who/what I am, I informed her:

Oxe! Androgynous is me, mainha!

And on that day, I understood that I was more than an androgynous human... I was/am an Indominável Presença.

Androgynous - my first favorite word adjective, feminine noun

Someone who presents features, traits, or behaviors that are imprecise, between male and female, or who notably exhibits characteristics of the opposite sex.

Spell, Indeterminacy, and Disobedience

When I embarked on the project that originated the Indomináveis Presenças exhibition in October 2023, important contours had already been established. The invitation was accepted because it was to celebrate Black, Indigenous, and dissident lives outside the norms of gender and sexuality. Over the months, the exhibition lost a name, grew, and gained a body along the way. The initial intentions were challenged with each conversation among curators, artists, producers, and the technical team. The exhibition rose like a forest from a curatorial effort to recognize what presented itself as a force for the re-enchantment of the world; it was about creating space and conditions to sustain this happening.

All we wanted was for the sowing (to us) to thrive.

Defiant of the hegemonic ways through which we inhabit the world, Indomináveis Presenças presents artists capable of delivering sensations similar to those of the dreams that surprise us when we wake up — that exciting discomfort of being crossed by something we do not yet fully understand, the vulnerability we access when we become able to recognize, in these dreams, the echoes of what is still to come.

The exhibition collaborates with the work being done by racialized artists around the world to reforest the collective imagination. It is also engaged in the work of defending those who have died and those who have not yet been born, and for this reason, it opens itself to a plurality of perspectives, impossible to index, but converging in the fact that they are not reconciled with the exploitative dynamics of racialized bodies and their territories by the cis-heteronormative order. We studied the narrative confluences and the pluralities of languages manifested by the curated artists, in the hope that

Indomináveis Presenças can operate the re/decomposition of the colonial imaginary.

The spell of re/decomposition can only happen in the friction of divergences and in the complexity of what, at first glance, may seem like mere contradiction, but is the condition of racialized and dissident life: to exist between worlds. In our indomitable forest, the places of cultivation of health and spirituality are indistinguishable, just as the images of love and emancipation walk side by side, in the fiction of archives, in performances of radical intimacy between the matters of the world, in monumental indisciplines, in the stitching of traces that presentify the past and, above all, in the abandonment of the iconography of violence for the transmutation of new forms.

We curate in the conflict of deep affections, exploring the idea of the exhibition as a study of the ways in which our productions continue to exceed cis-hetero and white models, generating uncapturable forces, capable of depositing into the future portions of indeterminacy and disobedience, because indomitable presences know how to make their home in the unknown.

Finally, it is important to highlight that the texts generously written and provided by Abigail Campos Leal, Correnteza Braba, Jota Mombaça, and Jup do Bairro, gathered in this catalog in the form of essays, poetry, and fiction, do not operate as devices of art criticism, but rather traverse the exhibition transversally, opening portals and possibilities for mediating the worlds present in Indomináveis Presenças.

Ventura Profana - Original Sound Piece

Ventura Profana, a visual artist, missionary, and evangelist, is one of the most provocative and critical voices in contemporary Brazilian art. Born in Bahia, Ventura has developed an artistic practice that challenges religious and cultural norms, addressing themes such as faith, dissent, and the impact of neo-Pentecostal churches in Brazil and beyond. Her work crosses different media—including music, poetry, and performance—creating a space where spirituality meets subversion. Her journey is marked by a deep exploration of the connection between religiosity and social control, using her personal experience as a starting point to critique religious doctrine and propose a new understanding of faith.

Her work has been exhibited in renowned institutions such as Sesc Pompéia, the Pampulha Museum of Art, and the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève. Ventura Profana not only redefines artistic boundaries but also questions the power structures that dictate norms around behavior, sexuality, and belief.

In 2020, she released the album Pentecostal Maneuvers to Kill the Lord, a bold exploration of fanaticism and religious repression. Her work is strongly political and aesthetic, reinterpreting traditional Christian narratives through a queer and Afro-Brazilian lens. Performances like Song of Songs, which was awarded the Leda Maria Martins Black Performing Arts Prize, showcase her ability to blend eroticism with social critique, exposing the hypocrisy and conservatism of religious institutions.

Ventura Profana goes beyond deconstructing dogmas—she creates a new territory of resistance, where faith becomes a tool for empowerment and affirmation for dissident bodies.

Ventura Profana’s sound work is a manifesto of resistance and spiritual liberation. Through music, she challenges the imposition of a faith that seeks to control the body, desire, and individual expression.

She uses sound to explore the potential of dissident spirituality, subverting traditional Christian doctrine and transforming it into a space of welcome and strength for historically marginalized bodies. This sound creation goes beyond a mere art piece—it reimagines church and worship, proposing a new model of community and faith where dogma is abolished and freedom is celebrated.

The repetition of sounds and rhythms in her work, a hallmark of Ventura’s style, echoes the hypnotic quality of religious chants—but she subverts their purpose. Instead of reinforcing submission to a higher power, Ventura Profana uses these elements to invoke personal and collective empowerment. Sound becomes an instrument to exorcise prejudice and the oppression often imposed by institutionalized religion, especially on dissident and LGBTQIA+ bodies. The rhythmic pulse and intensity of her words create an atmosphere of resistance—almost a ritual of spiritual decolonization—in which the artist resonates as a liberating force.

Abigail Campos Leal - Untamed Presences

Abigail Campos Leal is an artist whose work transcends conventional forms, using poetic and performative elements to explore questions of identity, pleasure, and ancestral memory. Rooted in the experience of being a Black woman, Abigail investigates pleasure as a path toward healing and resistance against historical and structural violence. In her work, pleasure unfolds into a political dimension, acting as a form of self-sustenance and narrative reclamation. By engaging the audience in a play of sensations and emotions, the artist evokes ancestries and brings back symbols of well-being and self-affirmation, turning pleasure into a practice of restoration and survival. Her creations often incorporate textual and sensory elements, revealing a visceral poetics, rich in symbolic layers and marked by a deep sense of existence and resistance.

The work consists of the poems below, printed on a colorful fabric attached to the wall of the exhibition space. They invite reflection:

“the spell is also a way of crossing through time and geographies.”

“I study as revenge for every love I never lived

for every pleasure I wished for, crying alone

for every beauty I dreamed of with no hope.

Boom! I’m here and I know you desire me”

The piece Untamed Presences takes shape as a poetic and sensory manifesto, in which Abigail Campos Leal addresses pleasure and Black presence as acts of resistance and occupation. The verse “the spell is also a way of crossing through time and geographies” suggests that, for the artist, pleasure is a transcendent experience—a way to break through the barriers imposed by colonial history and reconnect with ancestral roots. The idea of the “spell” here evokes Afro-diasporic spiritual practices, where body and spirit intersect in rituals that challenge time and space. It is a reaffirmation that Black presence is magical, powerful, and capable of subverting the narratives that once tried to erase it.

In the second excerpt, the artist frames pleasure as a form of symbolic revenge—a revenge for denied opportunities, repressed pleasures, and idealized, unattainable forms of beauty. The phrase “study as revenge” subverts academic and normative knowledge, turning the act of learning into a process of healing and affirmation. This study of pleasure becomes a reclaiming of personal history, a rebalancing of lived experiences interrupted by racism and misogyny. Abigail transforms pleasure into a space of resistance, where the violences that once tried to silence her desires and dreams are converted into impulses for creation and expansion. The expression “Boom! I’m here and I know you desire me” is both a cry of affirmation and a challenge. This “boom” carries explosive energy, confronting the audience with the undeniable force of Black and dissident presence.

Correnteza Braba - So Memories Don't Detach From Matter

The work of Correnteza Braba is deeply rooted in ancestry and in the complex relationships between memory, territory, and resistance. Her practice approaches spirituality as a means of connecting to roots and affirming identity in the face of forces that threaten to erase history and ancestral knowledge.

Correnteza employs poetic and ritual elements in her creations, evoking the presence of those who came before and those yet to come. In her work, the artist positions herself as a guardian of collective and individual memories, using the word as a tool for planting dreams and preserving legacies. Her poetics transcend time, establishing a bridge between past, present, and future, and reimagining the role of art as a vehicle for resistance and regeneration.

The work consists of the poems below, printed on a colorful fabric attached to the wall of the exhibition space:

“I write your memories in the present tense, I know you are the now, ancestry with a name, color, and territory.”

“You, who return to life in so many heads, in so many lands, in so many times, teach me that the sun in the north is strong and that I can be stronger than the end.”

So Memories Don’t Detach from Matter is configured as a declaration of devotion to ancestry and the resilience of collective memories that shape the artist’s identity. The phrase “I write your memories in the present tense” reveals a practice of resisting the erasure of the past; for Correnteza Braba, the present is not just a continuation of the past, but an active space for rewriting and affirming histories that defy oblivion. Here, ancestry becomes a living, tangible presence—with “a name, color, and territory”—emphasizing the importance of placing identities in specific cultural and geographical contexts. The artist thus acknowledges ancestry as a current force, shaping the now and asserting its existence in every detail of the contemporary world.

In the line “You, who return to life in so many heads , in so many lands, in so many times,” Correnteza

Braba evokes the circularity of time and the enduring nature of ancestral teachings. This return, this repetition of lives in “so many heads” and “so many lands,” points to an unbreakable continuity, where memories and knowledge adapt and resist across generations. Time ceases to be linear, becoming a cycle in which past and future are interwoven into the present. This process of return is also one of healing—a way to rediscover one’s own strength in the midst of adversity.

The work concludes with a powerful affirmation: “teach me that the sun in the north is strong and that I can be stronger than the end.” This line encapsulates the hope and strength that Correnteza Braba finds in ancestry—a force that surpasses destruction and transcends the idea of an end.

Jota Mombaça - Caught in The Movement (In The Wave)

Jota Mombaça is an interdisciplinary artist who explores the limits of the body, identity, and subjectivity. Their work unfolds in a complex territory where questions of gender, race, and ancestry intersect with themes of violence, crisis, and survival. With a trajectory that spans poetry, performance, and installations, Jota investigates the possibilities of a body that expands and defies normative boundaries—both physical and symbolic. Their art is deeply marked by personal and political experience, encouraging continuous reflection on what it means to exist in a world that often seeks to categorize and silence marginalized bodies.

Through a critical and emotional approach, Mombaça questions the foundations of belonging, ownership, and the separation between self and other, urging viewers to rethink notions of identity and relationship.

The work consists of the following poems printed on colorful fabric and displayed on the exhibition wall:

“We are just here. That’s all there is to know.”

“I feel like I’m accessing a new life.”

Caught in Movement (In the Wave) by Jota Mombaça is a poem that unfolds as a meditation on transience and the fluidity of identity. The line “We are just here. That’s all there is to know” suggests a radical acceptance of the present—a state of being that transcends the need for categorization and possession. In this context, being becomes an affirmation of existence that rejects the need for stability and surrenders to immersion in the moment. Mombaça seems to challenge the idea of individuality as something fixed and owned, questioning whether we must possess a defined “self.” At the same time, this being carries ambiguity: it offers comfort, but also an unsettling uncertainty about the meaning of permanence.

The phrase “I feel like I’m accessing a new life” points to a continuous process of transformation, where identity is in constant flux. This access to a “new life” represents not only a personal change but also a departure from the constraints of a static identity. By relinquishing control and allowing their own essence to be shaped by external forces—like a “wave” that carries and redefines everything around it—the artist proposes a sense of self that is simultaneously vulnerable and powerful. Mombaça explores the idea of an existence not grounded in fixed borders, but one that adapts and dissolves into an interdependent relationship with the whole.

Jup do Bairro - I've Been Here Before

Jup do Bairro is a multifaceted artist whose work spans music, performance, and activism, making her a key figure in contemporary Brazilian culture. Renowned for her powerful presence and commitment to issues of gender, race, and dissidence, Jup emerges as a force of resistance and transformation. Through her artistic practice, she challenges conventions and explores the body as a site of identity, struggle, and creation. Her career is marked by restlessness and experimentation, expanding the reach of queer art and breaking away from traditional notions of belonging and normativity. Jup uses art as a tool to reimagine the world, constantly reflecting on marginalization and the freedom to fully exist without the restrictions imposed by society.

The work consists of the following poems printed on colorful fabric and mounted on the wall of the exhibition space, inviting reflection:

“If it weren’t for the dream, I wouldn’t have come back.”

“I’ve been here before, I remember you. I remember an awaited freedom, a stifled scream. I remember your flight, a symbol of rebirth.”

I’ve Been Here Before is a poem that distills the spirit of struggle, memory, and liberation into just a few words, with visceral intensity. The phrase “If it weren’t for the dream, I wouldn’t have come back” reveals a desire to return, not driven by obligation, but by an inner impulse to dream of the possibility of rebirth. Here, the dream becomes a vehicle for transformation—a space of resistance where imagining something beyond the present reality allows a reconnection with the past and the overcoming of hardship. For Jup do Bairro, the dream is more than an escape; it is a political tool and a manifestation of hope. It enables the revival of what was lost and the rewriting of one’s story—not under the weight of pain, but with the power of a new possibility for existence.

The second part of the poem—“I’ve been here before, I remember you. I remember an awaited freedom, a stifled scream”—suggests a return to past experiences, echoing a continuous fight for liberation. This “awaited” freedom implies a hope-filled waiting, the anticipation of something greater—a break from imposed silences. The “stifled scream” is a powerful image that speaks to the barriers and repression faced, but also to the imminence of an outburst, of a voice that refuses to be silenced. This latent scream symbolizes not just oppression, but the strength of one who survives, who builds resistance within, ready to claim their existence with intensity.

Finally, the “flight, a symbol of rebirth” encapsulates the path toward liberation and transcendence. The flight becomes a symbol of emancipation—a break from that which confines. In Jup’s work, rebirth is not a return to the same point—it’s a redefinition of the self, a reconfiguration of identity that embraces both pain and achievement, allowing for a new beginning informed by memory and growth. This poem-as-artwork functions as a self-declaration of resilience and reinvention, where the artist affirms herself as a body and voice that resists and persists.

Mayara Ferrão - The Kiss 2

Mayara Ferrão, born in Salvador, Bahia, is a visual artist and creative director with a degree in Visual Arts from the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). Her artistic practice spans multiple media, including photography, illustration, painting, and creative direction. Mayara’s work is characterized by the exploration of themes such as ancestry, Afro-Brazilian culture, and issues of gender, race, and class. With a visual approach that blends the traditional and contemporary, she uses imaging and video technologies to give visibility to narratives of Black, Indigenous, and dissident bodies, deeply rooted in her experience as a Black woman from Salvador.

Ferrão has directed music videos, short and medium-length films, with her works screened at film festivals in Brazil and abroad. She also collaborates on book covers and projects that celebrate Black feminist voices, drawing on references from authors like Lélia Gonzalez and Saidiya Hartman.

In the lower right corner of the image, two Black women, face-to-face, share an intimate and warm embrace, their faces coming together in a discreet kiss, full of tenderness and affection. They wear traditional white garments and cover their heads with turbans—elements rich with symbolic meaning, evoking Candomblé and Afro-Brazilian religious and cultural traditions. In the background, a modest house with worn white walls is visible: one window is shut, another is missing its shutters, and a dark open door stands between them. Simple in structure, the house seems to bear silent witness to the emotional scene unfolding before it, capturing an atmosphere that feels both deeply intimate and universally resonant. Above the house, the thick canopy of large trees spreads across the top of the image like a natural roof, suggesting the isolation and protection typical of ancestral yards, where spirituality and daily life intertwine.

To the left of the women, a black rooster walks alongside a brazier, from which a thin column of white smoke rises. The presence of the rooster is emblematic: in Afro-Brazilian religious symbolism, the rooster often represents a bridge between the sacred and the profane, acting as a mediator between the physical and spiritual worlds. The smoke, in turn, evokes a connection with the ancestors, reaffirming the endurance of traditions in a setting that exudes spirituality and resilience.

The Kiss 2 stands within Mayara Ferrão’s body of work as a poetic meditation on affection and belonging, elevating the image of a kiss between two women into a complex and multifaceted symbol. Ferrão creates a composition that reclaims the intimacy of spaces of Black memory and experience, highlighting the importance of Black bodies in contexts of affection and spirituality, with a perspective that challenges the historical objectification and marginalization of Black women in the visual arts.

Helen Salomão - Letter of Recommendation

Helen Salomão, born in Salvador in 1994, is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, video art, writing, and installations. Her work is marked by the exploration of themes such as identity, body, spirituality, and ancestry, intertwining to create a visual poetics of healing and resistance. The artist often explores the body as a territory of political affirmation and a space of memory, using her work to question and subvert colonial and patriarchal structures that seek to limit the existence of dissident bodies.

Helen Salomão’s Letter of Recommendation is a multifaceted visual composition that blends different materials and languages to convey a personal and political message. Measuring 130 centimeters in height by 90 centimeters in width, the piece is composed of a series of overlapping layers, creating an image rich in textures and meanings. The base of the piece is a chiffon fabric and part of a patchwork quilt printed with the artist’s portrait. Over this portrait, a transparent mica crystal plastic sheet serves as a support for handwritten text in vibrant red ink, which reads:

Letter of Recommendation – To whom it may concern, Helen Salomão is a multidisciplinary artist. She uses different artistic languages to construct her works, such as photography, writing, video art, and installations. Her pieces express her lived experiences and concerns, such as her spiritual and ancestral connection, nourishment for the body and soul, the appreciation of the nature that we are, the importance of consciousness and memory-building, the body as a political space, and affection as a catalyst for healing.

Beneath this text, the underlying photograph shows the artist’s own face in an introspective self-portrait. In the image, Helen rests her chin on her left hand, gazing thoughtfully and contemplatively, as if reflecting on each word. The fine, translucent chiffon fabric allows Helen’s image to merge with the text, reinforcing the connection between body and discourse. Underneath the chiffon, in the background of the piece, lies a patchwork quilt made of various prints and textures, evoking memories and elements of Brazilian popular tradition.

In Letter of Recommendation, Helen Salomão employs irony by defining herself through a format traditionally associated with external validation—a letter of recommendation, typically written by someone else to attest to a person’s qualities and capabilities. By writing her own recommendation, the artist subverts the logic of dependency on external recognition, reclaiming the right to narrate her own path and qualities. This choice subtly critiques the structures that demand the legitimacy of marginalized voices and bodies through third-party approval, especially in an art world that often excludes or silences dissident artists. By appropriating this format, Helen flips the script, declaring herself the author of her own story and giving voice to her artistic and spiritual self without intermediaries, challenging a system that has historically conditioned an artist’s value on institutional endorsement.

Gê Viana - All That is Beautiful Among Us

Gê Viana is a visual artist currently studying at the Federal University of Maranhão. Her works move between her backyard and the streets. Deeply rooted in collage practices—both digital and manual—her art explores themes of memory, ancestry, and Afro-Indigenous resistance. Using archival images and oral narratives, Gê Viana confronts the hegemonic traditions of colonial culture and revisits the histories of her people from Anapurus, reinterpreting the everyday life of the African and Indigenous diaspora in Maranhão. Her artistic practice is not only an aesthetic expression but also a political act: by returning her creations to public spaces, Viana proposes a social and aesthetic-pedagogical formation that seeks to dignify and empower the marginalized identities of her territory.

All That Is Beautiful Among Us is a digital collage printed in fine art format, measuring 100 x 80 cm, which recontextualizes an image by Alex Agbaglo I Keïta, a Ghanaian photographer known for documenting the life and cultural traditions of West Africa. In the composition, two Black women are seated side by side; their elegant poses and elaborate clothing confer an aura of royalty and sophistication. On the left, one woman wears a delicate turban, a laced blouse, and a black-and-white checkered cloth draped over her legs. The woman on the right wears an intricately embroidered outfit and a decorative headpiece. Their gazes, directed at the viewer, convey a mix of serenity and strength.

In the background, a large red triangular shape, digitally inserted by Gê Viana, cuts through the image with vibrant intensity, contrasting sharply with the soft, neutral tones of the original photograph. This red element emanates from the upper left corner, creating an angular line that directs the viewer's attention toward the two central figures. In the upper right, a flower vase complements the scene, evoking an atmosphere of beauty and harmony, but also of resistance and vitality. Viana’s collage blends traditional and contemporary elements, exploring textures and color tones that add new layers of interpretation to Keïta’s original work.

Gê Viana’s choice to recontextualize Alex Agbaglo I Keïta’s photograph is itself an action charged with meaning. By inserting digital interventions and symbolic elements into an archival image, the artist proposes a rereading of Afro-diasporic relationships between past and present. The triangular red space Viana introduces acts almost like a claim; it slices through the original scene and forces the viewer to question the absences and presences that compose Black and Indigenous experiences. The vibrant, disruptive red may be read as a metaphor for spilled blood, historical resistance, or as a reminder of the enduring strength and beauty that persist amid colonial violence and erasure.

By appropriating and expanding the portrait into a broader visual context, Viana also highlights the power of ancestry and memory. The two women, with their solemn clothing and postures, stand as emblems of resistance and pride, evoking African and Indigenous royalty that transcends time. The digital interventions not only update the image but also challenge the continuity and transformation of Afro-Indigenous cultures in the contemporary world. The digitized background and the contrast between old and modern textures create an aesthetic of discontinuity that suggests the fragmentation of cultural memory while simultaneously allowing new stories and narratives to emerge.

Uýra Sodoma - Lama 23

Uýra Sodoma, 33 years old, is an Indigenous and trans artist born in Manaus and living in the Amazon region. With an academic background in Biology and a master’s degree in Amazonian Ecology, Uýra develops artistic work that intertwines science, nature, and identity. Known as the "Walking Tree," she incorporates elements of the forest into her artistic practice, addressing themes such as environmental preservation, biological and cultural diversity, and the struggles of Indigenous communities. Her work uses her own body as a medium for expression, through photo-performances and installations that aim to tell and retell stories of resistance and resilience. Uýra has had a significant impact on both the Brazilian and international art scenes, participating in prestigious events such as the 34th São Paulo Biennial and the 1st Biennial of the Amazon, and has received important awards, including the PIPA Prize and the SIM for Racial Equality Prize. Her works are part of collections of renowned national and international institutions, underscoring her growing relevance in contemporary art.

Lama 23 is a digital photograph printed in fine art format, measuring 66 x 100 cm, capturing Uýra submerged up to the chest in a greenish-blue-toned aquatic environment, evoking a lagoon or a natural body of water. At the center of the image, her body, painted white, contrasts sharply against the aquatic background. Uýra appears with her face tilted upward, eyes closed, and a serene expression, as if in deep connection with the surrounding environment. Her skin, covered by a layer of clay or mud, seems to intertwine with the landscape, reinforcing the fusion between body and nature.

On her head, Uýra wears an adornment made of fern leaves and a colorful scarf, which adds a vibrant touch to the otherwise monochromatic composition. The scarf, in shades of red, green, and yellow, partially wraps around the leaves, creating a sort of vegetal crown that may symbolize a connection to the natural environment and simultaneously evoke Indigenous ancestry. Around her neck, sharp-pointed leaves are arranged radially, framing her torso and forming a visual effect resembling a necklace or armor, reinforcing the idea of protection and resistance.

Lama 23 reflects Uýra Sodoma’s practice of exploring the body as a symbiotic territory with nature. In this work, the artist transcends the idea of the human body as a separate entity from the landscape, inviting us to reconsider the boundaries between humans and the natural world. Covered in mud and adorned with plant elements, Uýra embodies a union with the earth and water, subverting the notion of the body as merely a physical, individual entity. The layer of mud is not just an adornment; it represents a kind of incorporation ritual, an act of reclaiming Indigenous origins and a visceral connection to the land. This incorporation materializes the spiritual and symbolic relationship between body and nature, highlighting how Uýra embodies the violated and vulnerable ecosystems of the Amazon, sounding an urgent call for environmental protection and the safeguarding of ancestral territories.

By covering herself with natural elements, Uýra also challenges the colonial view that separates humans from nature and categorizes Indigenous peoples as the "primitive other." In Lama 23, she reclaims the symbolic power of her adornments to invert this perspective, affirming her identity as the "Walking Tree" and evoking an entity that is not confined to the individual body but represents an entire collectivity. The work raises questions about adaptation and resilience in the face of pressures imposed by industrial development and deforestation in the Amazon. Uýra’s figure emerges from the water as both an ancestral and contemporary being, an entity that carries the memories of the forest and the diaspora, articulating a form of resistance that is both poetic and political.

Edgar Azevedo - Untitled

Edgar Azevedo is a self-taught photographer from Salvador, Bahia, who has established himself as one of the most powerful voices of the new generation of Black auteur photographers in Brazil. With a style characterized by emotional intensity and the exploration of authentic expressions, Azevedo creates images that celebrate human diversity and complexity, going beyond the surface to capture the essence of his subjects. Nominated by the British Fashion Council as one of the 50 global creatives in the NEW WAVE: Creatives in 2019 and listed among the 21 most influential names in the market by Forbes Life in 2023, Edgar has collaborated with renowned brands and has been featured in magazines such as Vogue Brasil, Elle Brasil, and Glamour. His photography is an ongoing dialogue between the real and the imaginary, provoking audiences to question conventional aesthetic standards and to embrace the beauty of diversity. By focusing on portraits that exalt individuality, Azevedo invites viewers to develop a new perspective of empathy and inclusion.

Untitled is a digital photograph measuring 107 x 80 cm, printed on canvas, featuring a close-up portrait of a Black man. The model’s face occupies nearly the entire frame, tilted slightly to the left and partially submerged in water, which clings to his skin, creating a visually rich texture full of detail. The photograph is in black and white, which heightens the nuances and shadows on the model’s skin, emphasizing his introspective and serene expression. The liquid texture of his face and body generates an effect of fluidity, as if he is either emerging from or dissolving into the water.

The model’s eyes are closed but covered with a white substance, resembling clay or a mineral, which contrasts with the dark tone of his skin and creates a duality between deep introspection and alertness. This white layer over the eyes, with an almost surreal appearance, also contributes to the mystery and visual tension of the piece, while challenging the viewer to seek deeper meanings within the image. The droplets and small ripples around the face enhance the sense of movement and naturalness, as if the man is undergoing a process of fusion with the liquid environment.

The work transcends traditional portraiture and stands as a source of introspection and resistance. Azevedo celebrates the beauty and resilience of the Black body, using the simplicity of elements — water, clay, and skin — to explore the strength of roots and the ancestral connection to the earth. The model emerges as an archetypal figure, representing not just the individual but a collective that carries memory, struggle, and hope. The use of the white substance over the eyes can also be seen as a subtle critique of attempts to erase or control racialized bodies, where the imposition of a “white veil” suggests the struggle between self-assertion and the oppression of external narratives.

Bernardo Conceição - A Decorated Path

Bernardo Conceição dos Santos, a multidisciplinary artist born in 1999 in the outskirts of Itinga, Salvador, uses his art to explore themes of spirituality, identity, and resistance. His work engages in dialogue with Afro-Brazilian traditions, reimagining cultural elements within a contemporary aesthetic that reflects both the peripheral urban universe and a spiritualized worldview. With works exhibited in the Modern Art Museum of Bahia (MAM BA) and in the Roots exhibition at the National Museum of Afro-Brazilian Culture (MUNCAB), Bernardo stands out for a visual approach that blends painting, fashion, and creativity, also expressed through his brand Semprevivo.

A Decorated Path is an acrylic painting on canvas, measuring 133 x 127 cm, that captures the strength and mysticism of a stylized portrait. At the center of the composition, the face of a Black figure fills the frame, featuring strong and expressive features. The figure’s skin displays a gradient of warm tones, such as gold and brown, creating a play of light and shadow that lends depth to the face. The eyes are striking — white and elongated — with two red rays emanating from each, creating a dramatic contrast against the dark background.

Golden ornamental elements, such as stars, hearts, and crescent moons, float around the figure’s head and braided hair, creating an atmosphere of magic and power. The hair is detailed with small locks and adornments that enrich the composition. To the left of the canvas, a golden shape reminiscent of sun rays projects upward, illuminating the image. Around the figure’s neck, a necklace of red and green beads with a central pendant reinforces the work’s ancestral symbolism.

In this piece, Bernardo Conceição builds an image that transcends conventional portraiture to explore themes of spirituality, mysticism, and identity affirmation. The choice of colors and golden adornments evokes sacred elements, such as religious icons and Afro-diasporic symbolism, celebrating Blackness and its ancestral heritage. The red rays emanating from the eyes may symbolize both spiritual intensity and the strength of an identity in constant transformation. This element imbues the work with a sense of vigor and determination, suggesting that the path of identity and ancestry is a powerful and vibrant process.

The inclusion of celestial elements around the head — stars, moons, and hearts — suggests a representation of cosmic forces that protect and guide the central figure, endowing them with a divine aura. This set of symbols evokes both orixás and protective entities, suggesting that the portrayed figure carries within them a spiritual force that transcends the physical body. The necklace with green and red beads and the centralized pendant reinforces the connection to African-based traditions, possibly referencing symbols of protection and ties to ancestral roots.

Bixa Tropical - Yellow No (2023)

Márcio Costa, artistically known as Bixa Tropical, is a visual artist from Bahia whose work explores the colors, intensity, and vibrant tropicality of Brazil. His pieces, self-described as “hot and burning art,” capture the exuberance of Brazilian everyday life through expressive and colorful characters. Bixa Tropical uses his art as a means of personal expression and the recovery of emotional memories, diving into Bahia’s cultural references and themes of bodily freedom and the celebration of presence and identity. With an approach that blends the heat of colors and the casualness of figures, his work evokes tropicalismo and the desire to transgress established visual patterns, asserting itself as a celebration of the nuances and complexities of the body and Brazilian culture.

Yellow No is an acrylic painting on Canson paper, exhibited in digital format, that presents a seated female figure resting her face on her hand, wearing an expression of introspection or slight melancholy. The background wall is a vibrant pink, contrasting with the yellow of the table and the warm tones of the figure. The character, with dark skin and voluminous hair tied into two rounded buns on either side of her head, wears a blue strappy dress decorated with white flowers, one of the straps slipping off her shoulder. Her red lips, striking and expressive, contrast with her slightly downcast gaze, as if lost in thought.

On the table, there is a wine glass with yellow liquid halfway filled to the left, a blue plate with pieces of cheese and a knife in the center, and a pitcher also filled with yellow liquid to the right. These elements create an atmosphere of a casual meal, tinged with solitude and contemplation. The simplicity of the arranged objects and the figure’s posture suggest a moment of pause. The combination of strong colors and simplified lines highlights Bixa Tropical’s characteristic stylization, where expressive details and emotional intensity take center stage.

In Yellow No, Bixa Tropical uses color contrast and minimalist composition to explore themes of introspection and identity, capturing an intimate moment of pause and reflection. The figure’s expression, with her thoughtful gaze and the hand supporting her face, suggests a moment of self-awareness or existential pause, breaking away from the usual representation of joy and festivity commonly associated with tropicalismo.

The composition balances the figure and surrounding objects to intensify the sense of solitude. The wine glass, plate with cheese, and knife suggest a narrative that perhaps hints at a frustrated meeting. These ordinary elements acquire emotional depth through the context created by the central figure, as if they are extensions of her introspective state.

By choosing a solitary and melancholic figure amidst vibrant colors, Bixa Tropical seems to subvert the idea of tropicality being exclusively associated with exuberance and joy, using these same elements to compose a scene that is both vibrant and contemplative. Yellow No challenges the viewer to see tropicalismo through a new lens, where the intensity of colors coexists with emotional complexity, suggesting that the warmth of Brazilian culture also embraces moments of introspection and individuality.

Juh Almeida - Can Love Save Me?

Juh Almeida is a photographer and filmmaker from Bahia who builds her art through an Afro-centered and experimental perspective. Her practice blends poetic and documentary elements, exploring the visual narratives of the African diaspora and the complexity of Black identities in Brazil. She holds a degree in Arts from the Federal University of Bahia, specializing in cinema, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in cinema at the University of São Paulo. Juh believes in the transformative power of the image. Her work stands at the intersection of art and life, where the potential for new imaginaries emerges as a revolutionary tool to reconfigure social and political perceptions. Moving between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Juh integrates aspects of Brazil’s cultural diversity into her photography and filmmaking, making her art a space of resistance and questioning.

Can Love Save Me? is a black-and-white analog photograph, printed on fine art paper, measuring 77 x 120 cm. The image shows two Black female figures, positioned side by side, wrapped in translucent veils that give them an ethereal and mystical appearance. Both women face the camera with serene and introspective expressions, conveying an intense stillness. Their faces are partially adorned with leaves and flowers delicately arranged, creating a natural frame that blends into the veils and softens the contours of their faces. The woman on the left has lighter, voluminous hair; the woman on the right has darker, braided hair and a septum piercing. Both stare directly at the viewer, challenging them to find a deeper meaning within the scene.

The soft texture of the veils, combined with the grain of the analog film, adds a tactile quality to the image, where light and shadow blend to create an atmosphere that floats between dream and reality. The black-and-white composition enhances the timelessness and universality of the theme, highlighting every detail of the leaves, petals, and the characters' facial expressions.

In Can Love Save Me?, Juh Almeida constructs a visual narrative that challenges traditional notions of love, identity, and salvation, using visual symbolism to question the role of affection as a restorative and liberating force. The choice of black and white eliminates chromatic distractions, allowing the viewer to focus on texture and visual contrasts, emphasizing emotional nuances and the depth of the connection between the two figures. The veil, commonly associated with ceremonies and rituals, here becomes an element of protection and mystery, suggesting both intimacy and a subtle barrier that preserves the essence of the portrayed women.

The flowers and leaves adorning the figures’ faces evoke a connection to nature and the sacred, referencing spiritual and self-care practices that run through Afro-diasporic cultures. Juh reconstructs the conventional imaginary of salvation as something external or transcendent, suggesting that love and care come from within and from the affectionate relationships we build with one another. The title Can Love Save Me? emerges as a reflection on the healing and transformative potential of love amid a world marked by pain and suffering. This question is not merely rhetorical; it is an invitation to reflect on what it means to love and be loved in a society where racism and marginalization still inflict deep wounds.

Rafaela Kennedy - Família Vaskes (2020)

Rafaela Kennedy, an Amazonian visual artist, uses photography as a tool to challenge hegemonic narratives and rewrite stories marked by invisibility and stigmatization. Her artistic practice focuses on elevating individuals who inhabit the margins of cultural representation, combining her experiences as a transvestite with her Indigenous and Black ancestry to create images that celebrate gender and identity diversity. By confronting stereotypes and problematizing the exclusionary gaze of society, Rafaela promotes a visual reclamation of Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian roots. She has participated in international exhibitions such as "REBOJO" in London, and received the "Woman Artist Residency Award" at Zona Maco in Mexico, as well as having her works displayed at events like SP-Arte and the "Show Against Racism" in São Paulo. With an aesthetic that values the dignity and beauty of marginalized bodies and experiences, Rafaela Kennedy transforms her art into an act of resistance and visibility.

Família Vaskes is a digital photograph printed on fine art paper, measuring 80 x 120 cm. The image depicts a group of eight Black people posing around and on top of a white Kombi parked on a dirt field. The scene consists of eight individuals, each displaying a relaxed expression, capturing a moment of unity and lightness. In the center of the composition, two female figures, one blonde and the other brunette, sitting together, convey a sense of pride and confidence; their colorful clothing stands out in the image, drawing the viewer’s eye. To the left of them, a man in a blue T-shirt is sitting, holding hands with the blonde woman. To the right and left, standing next to the open doors of the Kombi, are two young men in shorts and caps but shirtless, one of whom is holding a bundle of leaves and wearing sunglasses. Sitting on the roof of the Kombi are two young people and a child, all in shorts and shirtless. On the right side of the photo is an orange traffic cone with a flashing light. In the background, dry vegetation and exposed dirt create a contrast with the whiteness of the vehicle and the sunlit bodies, highlighting the naturalness and authenticity of the scene. The arrangement of the group suggests a nearly theatrical composition, yet at the same time spontaneous, conveying affection and closeness.

Família Vaskes challenges the traditional conventions of family portraits, positioning itself as a visual manifesto of affection and resistance. By portraying a non-conventional family, Rafaela Kennedy subverts the idea of "family" in the Western context, expanding this concept to include those who build bonds beyond blood ties, valuing chosen and cultivated relationships within the margins of society. The work celebrates a community that is organized around solidarity and belonging, aspects often denied to LGBTQIA+ and Afro-Indigenous people in Brazil.

The worn white Kombi, anchored in a rural setting, emerges as a symbol of resistance and mobility. Historically associated with travel, collectivity, and memories of youth, it represents the adaptability and resilience of those often forced to occupy peripheral spaces. The presence of the orange traffic cone suggests a form of alert, as if the group is asserting their space in a territory historically denied to them. This seemingly incongruous object adds a touch of irony to the image, reminding the viewer of the constant vigilance and resistance faced by those who challenge social norms.

Emerson Rocha - Dor e a Glória IV

Emerson Rocha, an Afro-Brazilian visual artist from São Roque, São Paulo, stands out for his ability to capture the complexities and strengths of the Black experience through visual representations of resistance and dignity. In his work, he uses a distinctive palette of deep blue, gold, and white, exploring themes of identity, peripheral affectivity, and self-knowledge.

A graduate in Art: History, Criticism, and Curatorship from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Emerson uses his art as a space for empowerment, where the Black body is valued and celebrated, breaking away from limiting stereotypes. In a context where representation often dehumanizes, Emerson subverts these narratives, creating portraits that engage with spirituality, ancestry, and resilience.

Dor e a Glória IV is a 50 x 50 cm painting created on kraft paper with a mixed technique involving acrylic, India ink, colored pencil, marker, acrylic paste, waji, and gold pigment. The central composition displays the face of a Black man with an intense and enigmatic expression, staring directly at the viewer with completely white eyes, without pupils. This vacant gaze gives the figure an almost supernatural aura, stripped of earthly individuality and endowed with a sense of transcendence. His hair, beard, and goatee are painted gold, referencing a common style among young people from the outskirts who dye their hair and facial hair, giving the portrait a touch of contemporaneity and cultural identity.

Four golden roses, with detailed stems and leaves, pierce the man’s head, forming a cross. The stems pass through his skull, leaving visible wounds with small traces of blood at the entry and exit points, evoking the imagery of Christ’s crown of thorns. The religious symbolism, reinforced by the contrast between the deep blue background and the radiant gold of the vegetal elements, creates an atmosphere of martyrdom and sanctity, as if the man portrayed were destined to bear a symbolic burden greater than his individual existence. Small golden stars scattered around add a cosmic dimension, suggesting that the character’s pain and glory transcend the earthly plane.

Dor e a Glória IV presents a figure who embodies both suffering and transcendence, evoking religious iconography related to sacrifice and sanctity. The golden roses that pierce the figure’s head serve as ambiguous symbols: on one hand, they evoke beauty and fragility; on the other, through the presence of blood and wounds, they signal pain and sacrifice. This combination suggests that the character’s resistance and glory emerge from his own suffering, drawing a parallel between the Black body and a messianic image. The reference to Christ’s crown of thorns points to an attempt to sacralize the Afro-Brazilian experience, elevating it to a level of spiritual redemption and dignity.

The deep blue background, obtained through a blend of acrylic paint and African indigo, not only highlights the gold and black of the figure but also establishes a symbolic connection to African ancestry and transcendence. This shade of blue carries a historical and mystical weight, symbolizing a sense of belonging to something greater than the individual, evoking the cosmos and the infinite. By choosing this color to envelop the figure, Emerson constructs a setting that suggests a spiritual plane, where the figure is both a contemporary individual and a timeless archetype of Black resilience.

Elton Panamby - Untitled

Elton Panamby is an artist whose work explores the boundaries between the physical and the spiritual, engaging with bodily, sonic, and dreamlike practices. Their art focuses on ritual experiences and visual manifestations, attempting to touch and represent the invisible. Panamby, who identifies as “mother/mamão,” transforms their lived experiences and gestational processes into artistic elements, approaching motherhood in a decolonized and plural way. Moving between São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Maranhão, Panamby constructs a poetics that blends ancestry and regeneration, challenging gender norms and proposing an alternative, inclusive vision of parenthood. Their practice includes sounds and visual languages as vehicles for communicating with dimensions beyond the tangible world, bringing a spiritual and ritualistic focus to their work.

In this 2019 digital photograph, Panamby captures an intimate and mystical scene. At the center of the composition, we see an androgynous figure, with a beard and breasts, holding a child in their arms. The adult figure, shown with a bare torso, wears an elaborate necklace made of colorful beads and a crown of cowrie shells that covers their eyes. This crown, crafted from ropes and adorned with shells, creates a ritualistic mask that blocks physical sight and suggests an inward-focused perception. The figure also wears a vibrant turban in shades of orange with patterned fabric details, rising imposingly above the head and adding a sense of solemnity to the image. The child, with light skin and curly hair, rests relaxed in Panamby's arms while nursing, conveying a sense of safety and comfort.

In the background, a deep blue fabric patterned with shapes resembling spirals or spiral shells in red and yellow tones spans the entire image. This pattern enhances the ritualistic atmosphere of the scene, evoking references to African ancestry and spirituality. The intense color palette — orange, green, blue, and gold — combined with the tranquil posture of the figures, creates a sense of peace and solemnity. Every visual element seems carefully chosen to convey a message of unity and sacredness.

Panamby constructs an image that transcends conventional portraiture, exploring the relationship between motherhood, ancestry, and spirituality in a visceral and transformative way. The work evokes deep symbolism related to care and protection but breaks from traditional gender and motherhood conventions by presenting a parental figure that challenges normative categories. The “crown of cowries” covering Panamby’s eyes is not merely a decorative accessory; it symbolizes connection with the invisible, suggesting that care and love transcend physical sight, existing instead on a spiritual and intuitive plane. This visual choice emphasizes the idea that parenthood is, above all, a state of communion and deep perception, beyond sight and logic.

The act of carrying the child at the chest while breastfeeding reinforces a bond of protection and trust.

This gesture, often associated with the archetype of the "Madonna and Child" in Western tradition, is here recontextualized within an Afro-Brazilian aesthetic that celebrates gender plurality and challenges the heteronormative notion of family. The child, cradled in the adult’s arms, represents continuity, regeneration, and the future, while the adult figure acts as a spiritual guardian who shelters, nurtures, teaches, and guides.

Cosmos Benedito - Untitled

Cosmos Benedito is a self-taught artist from the Alto Pantanal region, near Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul. Their practice involves a deep connection with Indigenous and Pantanal narratives and ancestries. Moving between the borders of Brazil and Bolivia, Cosmos uses their work to explore and reconstruct cultural and environmental memories, addressing themes such as decolonization, corporeality, and self-perception. Their pieces, often made with organic and recycled materials, propose a discourse on ancestral continuity and the relationship between body and land.

As a transmasculine, autistic, and hearing-impaired artist, Cosmos sees their art as a space to express forms of existence that challenge and expand the limits imposed by colonial society. Through a unique “cosmoperception,” Benedito creates a visual universe that weaves together history, nature, and spirituality.

The artwork, measuring 176 x 96 cm, is a complex and multifaceted composition combining painting and collage on a canvas filled with symbolic materials. The upper part of the work is dominated by a turquoise blue sky, where stylized fish made from different materials and vibrant colors stand out. Centered at the top of the sky, a silver moon crafted from aluminum foil reflects a rough texture, evoking a nocturnal and mystical atmosphere. Below this sky, a red band divides the composition, where two figures — each made up of a single large yellow eye, resembling ritual masks — float with a piercing gaze.

In the lower half of the artwork, the ground is dark and dotted with small elements like seeds, leaves, old coins, and fragments of keys, blending into the earth. A serpent, painted in black, white, and red, stretches across the composition, reinforcing the symbolism of rebirth and transformation. At the center, a yellow spiral, with a central structure resembling a fruit, creates a visual vortex that draws the viewer's eye to the heart of the piece.

In this work, Cosmos Benedito transforms the canvas into a microcosm of ancestral connections and natural symbolisms. Untitled is a representation of the cycle of life and death, a celebration of the boundaries between the tangible and the invisible, where each element — from the fish at the top to the seeds and keys at the bottom — acts as a fragment of a complex narrative about continuity and resistance. The silver moon that dominates the sky suggests a cyclical sense of time, where lunar phases symbolize rebirth and the perpetuation of life — a life marked by exchanges between the human and the non-human, a central concept in Cosmos's translinguistic and border-crossing approach.

The presence of the fish and the serpent dialogues with the idea of movement and adaptation to the Pantanal environment, where the surrounding fauna and nature are fundamental to the identity of the artist and their community. These animals can also be interpreted as spiritual guides, entities that traverse both the aquatic and terrestrial worlds, alluding to the flexibility and resilience of Pantanal and Indigenous peoples. The serpent, with its vibrant colors, evokes transformation and rebirth, moving sinuously and tracing the path of memory that Cosmos preserves and expands through their art.

Adu Santos - Posithiva+Vhiva

Adu Santos is an artist and researcher from São Paulo who uses art to investigate questions of memory, social museology, and the complex relationships between body, identity, and representation.

A museology undergraduate at the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia, Adu explores tensions between presence and absence in official discourses and colonial legacies, articulating perspectives that seek to reframe and question national memory from a critical and social standpoint. Her multilanguage artistic practice involves performance, photography, and curatorship, addressing themes of resistance, vulnerability, and corporeality. For Adu, the body is a territory of struggle and reconnection, and her art seeks to transform stigmas and bring visibility to marginalized histories and lived experiences.

Posithiva+Vhiva is a photo-performance composed of nine digital photographs arranged in the shape of a cross, each measuring 21 x 42 cm and forming an installation of 105 x 210 cm. The series, printed in fine art and mounted on conservation board, presents the Black transfeminine body of Adu Santos from different angles and fragments, capturing an intense and visceral presence. The photographs are displayed against a background covered with medication leaflets, filling the walls and surrounding the artist in an atmosphere marked by an intense red tone. Red lighting dominates the scene, giving the work a ritualistic and dramatic quality, as if every detail of body, skin, and texture were carefully illuminated to emphasize both strength and fragility.

The set of images offers a fragmented view of Adu’s body: the upper part of the cross highlights her face, with eyes that stare directly at the viewer, challenging any attempt at invisibilization. At the center, her bare torso is shown in a posture of exposure and surrender, with arms extended and open. The lower section of the cross features close-ups of her body from the back and front, revealing intimate and challenging details that emphasize both vulnerability and the power of the body in its totality. The overall composition is structured in such a way that each image seems to confront and question the viewer’s perception, while the texture of the medication leaflets in the background introduces an additional layer of meaning, referring to the impact of medicalization and the stigmas surrounding HIV-positive bodies.

Posithiva+Vhiva is a work that deeply and complexly addresses the stigmas and challenges faced by HIV-positive bodies, especially those belonging to the LGBTQIA+ and Black communities. The choice of medication leaflets as a background creates a symbolic element that alludes to the constant impact of medicalization and the psychological weight of living with a condition that society insists on stigmatizing. Adu Santos subverts this context by placing her naked and defiant body in front of these leaflets, creating a visual and conceptual contrast where the body asserts its sovereignty and affirms its existence in a space often dominated by gazes of stigma and prejudice.

The red color that predominates throughout the composition transcends the symbolism of blood and life, becoming a visual cry of resistance and affirmation. By flooding the environment with this color, Adu establishes a connection with the body and the experience of HIV-positivity, but also with the symbolism of blood as a vehicle of continuity, resistance, and belonging. The cross formed by the images is a reference charged with meanings; it evokes both sacrifice and redemption, subverting Christian symbolism to affirm the dignity and complexity of bodies that have been historically marginalized.

Rainha F - Alvorada

Rainha F is a visual artist and seamstress born in Rio de Janeiro and based between Rio and São Paulo.

A Fine Arts student at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, her practice explores matrimonial symbologies and codes, subverting them to question colonial and patriarchal structures. The artist draws on her lived experience to reconfigure the notion of marriage, especially concerning the exclusion and marginalization of Black and gender-dissident bodies from this ritual. In her works, Rainha F stitches narratives of resistance and autonomy, deconstructing the Western romantic imaginary and opening space for new possibilities of affection and presence within the symbolic sphere of matrimony. Her work stands out for its critique of the monopoly of whiteness over ceremonial rites and for creating a visual poetics that redefines the role of the "bride," a historically oppressive archetype for dissident bodies.

Alvorada is a large-scale digital photograph (120 x 80 cm), printed in fine art, that captures a moment of serenity and introspection. The image presents a Black figure lying among white flowers, immersed in a soft twilight that accentuates the contrasting palette between the darkness of their skin and the light petals. The composition is marked by the subject’s face, partially illuminated, looking directly upwards with a serious and challenging expression. Wearing a dark green garment with a wavy texture, the figure seems almost to blend with the floral background, creating a composition of somber elegance. The delicate, predominantly white flowers are grouped around the head, evoking a crown or a ritual of passage. Small points of light gently outline the contours of the face, while deep shadows add mystery to the scene.

Alvorada is a work that challenges and reinterprets the concept of matrimony and the role of the "bride" through subversive symbolism. By laying the Black figure among white flowers, Rainha F evokes a ritual of passage or a moment of farewell and rebirth. The choice of white roses, traditionally associated with purity and death, intensifies the tension between the expectation of innocence and the burden of oppression, recurring themes in her practice. Here, the artist creates a visual narrative that transforms the Black body—historically excluded from representations of affection and ceremony—into an icon of resistance and renewal. Instead of submitting to the ideal of purity imposed by whiteness, the Black body emerges as the very embodiment of a “dawn” that redefines and breaks away from traditions.

The lighting, which leaves parts of the face in shadow, suggests a somber introspection, as if the subject were absorbing the layers of meaning projected onto them. This play of light and shadow builds an atmosphere of ambiguity, where life and death, beginning and end, coexist. The green of the garment may allude to associations with fertility and regeneration, pointing to a critique of the sterility imposed on marginalized bodies within the realms of affection and traditional matrimony. This detailed attire, almost camouflaged among the flowers, highlights the robust presence of the body while challenging the viewer’s gaze to confront the idea of invisibility and absence that so many dissident bodies face.

Rafa Bqueer - Casaco Themônia

Rafa Bqueer is a visual artist and performer, born in Belém do Pará, whose transdisciplinary practices cross the boundaries between visual arts, performance, fashion, and art education. With a sharp focus on racial, gender, and LGBTQIA+ issues, Bqueer's work explores the complexities of these marginalized identities and their relationship with contemporary art. Graduated in Visual Arts from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), the artist has participated in important national and international exhibitions, including the MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles and the Museum of Art of Rio (MAR), where they held their solo exhibition "UóHol." Rafa Bqueer is also notable for using different materials and formats, often combining fashion and performance to investigate the intersections between art and urgent social issues. Their work is permeated by a constant search to subvert stigmatized representations and create new narratives about body and identity.

Casaco Themônia is an imposing and vibrant sculpture, measuring 130 x 72 x 288 cm, and is made with a rich combination of materials, including lamé, acrylic blanket, sequin fabric, lycra, and plush, which add texture and shine to the work. The sculpture evokes a caricatured figure that oscillates between a dark fur coat and a fantastic creature, appearing as a hybrid between the familiar and the monstrous.

In the coat, two enormous bulging eyes stand out, with golden edges, surrounded by black lashes and dark, shimmering irises, creating an expression that is both comical and attentive, as if the creature is observing the viewer with a fixed and penetrating gaze. These eyes stand out against a face covered with dense black plush from the coat, which adds a sense of volume and warmth, reminiscent of a furry animal. Above the eyes, two large, curved horns emerge in a vibrant metallic pink, reinforcing the fantastical and playful nature of the piece. Just below the eyes, an exaggerated mouth displays large, plump lips in a metallic pink tone. These lips frame a series of sharp, golden, triangular teeth, which stand out against the pink and create a tension between the attractive and the threatening. From the mouth emerges a long, undulating, and sinuous tongue, made of lamé in a metallic pink tone. The tongue extends from the mouth to the ground, unfolding like a shiny satin rug, inviting the audience to follow its path to the creature.

In this work, Rafa Bqueer challenges traditional notions of fashion and sculpture by creating a visual entity that is both an object of desire and a caricature, invoking the idea of "Themônia," a term rich in meanings in the Brazilian LGBTQIA+ context. The word “themônia” refers to resistance and subversion within the queer community, evoking figures that adopt the posture of “bicho” (creature) or eccentric beings, redefining identity through eccentricity. By naming the work Casaco Themônia, Rafa Bqueer not only honors the courage and performance of marginalized identities but also affirms the centrality of difference and plural expression in contemporary art.

The exaggerated aesthetic of the piece, with its voluminous shapes and striking colors, reflects the visual culture of resistance of queer bodies. The shiny materials and caricatured design of the figure bring forth a sense of spectacle and theatricality, key characteristics of the LGBTQIA+ universe and, particularly, of carnival and Brazilian popular culture. The open mouth and sharp teeth, combined with the long and prominent tongue, can be read as a symbol of defiance, an open laugh that refuses silence and claims space. The work thus projects a playful monstrosity that embraces the strange and the exaggerated as attributes of power, challenging the viewer to confront their own perceptions of normality and anomaly.

Lucas Cordeiro - Encontro

Lucas Cordeiro, born and raised in a Brazilian urban context, is a visual artist whose work investigates the social and technological dynamics that shape contemporary life, especially in peripheral spaces and racial relations. His artistic practice is characterized by the use of everyday and discarded objects, such as elements of pop culture and technological components, to reflect on the complexity of human interactions and the transformation of urban spaces. Cordeiro moves between sculpture, installation, and collage, exploring the tension between the materiality of objects and the stories they carry, evoking cultural memories and questioning the established hierarchies between the center and the periphery.

In recent years, Cordeiro’s work has been recognized in various exhibitions, bringing to light discussions about how consumption, technology, and racial identity intertwine in Brazilian metropolises. In his works, he critiques the symbolic emptiness of mass-produced items, while also reinterpreting these objects by inserting them into artistic narratives, offering new meanings and questioning the power relations that permeate everyday life. Cordeiro thus proposes an alternative and subversive view of urbanity and discard, transforming the banal into a dense and visually compelling critique.

The sculpture Encontro by Lucas Cordeiro is composed of an intriguing juxtaposition of elements from urban culture and discarded technology. The work is supported by two 160 cm iron rods and is 80 cm wide. On each of these rods rests an orange Adidas cap, featuring the brand's signature three white stripes on its side. The caps face each other and are connected by ten overlapping brims that form a horizontal line and meet at the center. The brims of the caps form a continuous line, almost like a disciplined arrangement, referencing an aesthetic of industrial repetition. Hanging below the brims, a series of thirty dark green, worn-out, and burnt circuit board strips hang in chaotic collage, strongly contrasting with the regularity of the caps.

The orange caps, almost fluorescent, evoke a sense of youth and urban belonging, while the scorched circuit boards, with their exposed electronic components, create a visual texture that blends technological advancement with signs of obsolescence and wear. The raw iron support holds the piece, adding a sense of weight and resistance, like a column supporting the work and reinforcing the duality between the new and the old, the valued and the discarded.

In Encontro, Lucas Cordeiro explores the contrasts and tensions present in contemporary urban life, offering a visual critique of consumerism and planned obsolescence. The use of the orange caps, an icon of popular sportswear and urban fashion, represents not only belonging to a culture but also the commodification of peripheral identities. The choice of orange, a striking color associated with visibility, reinforces this idea of collective identity that is simultaneously celebrated and instrumentalized by mass culture.

On the other hand, the circuit boards carry dense symbolism. They represent the invisible side of modernity—the digital infrastructure that supports today’s world but becomes obsolete and useless once discarded. These burnt and corroded boards allude to the ephemerality of technology and the rapid transition between the useful and the disposable, highlighting the environmental and social impact of reckless consumption. The position of the boards, hanging like fragments of something that is no longer useful, creates a visual metaphor for the disconnection between the consumer society and the consequences of its own discard.

The object you have in front of you now, which you can feel and touch as you listen to this audio, is the tactile representation of a work located at the center of the exhibition space, named Moita.

A central cube supports and is covered by leaves whose forms are intertwined, resembling the leaves of Espada de São Jorge (Sword of St. George), also called Espada de Ogum, considered a protective plant and which here also carries the concept of purification, natural expansion, and strength.

Narrow at the bottom, rounded at the center, and slightly pointed at the top, the leaves of this thicket support monitors on all sides, which incessantly display various works by the artists present here. They represent artists, quilombos, villages, territories, communities, humans, and professionals who make up the exhibition.

Imagine that a thicket has its leaves as well as its shoots, from where new lives can emerge. Also, imagine that this Espada de São Jorge or Espada de Ogum thicket, in some way, surrounds, protects, and defends the televisions—or the works of the participating artists. Called "swords," these plants refer to symbols and signs of African-rooted religiosity and forests, but also to weapons that are ready, though not necessarily wielded. A possibility to intervene in the colonial legacy, reforest our imaginations, and ensure that other future ancestors can continue to sprout, with joy, love, and vitality.

As Luana Kaiodê states in her curatorial text, Indomináveis Presenças arrives figuratively as a great anti-colonial thicket, creating strong and deep roots, generating shoots, expanding, and touching everything as if it were the sunlight, dominating the surroundings with layers, with the strength of the forest, like the ghettos, settlements, favelas, hills, neighborhoods, and communities.