SP-ARTE – Brazilian Routes
SP–Arte: Brazilian Routes, took place from August 24 to 28, 2022 at ARCA, in Vila Leopoldina, in São Paulo.
Focusing on selected projects, whether solo or collective, the fair seeks to strengthen ties between agents from the five regions of the country, valuing the photographic and artistic production of the entire national territory. According to Fernanda Feitosa, director of SP–Arte, “there is a very high quality production that comes from the Amazon, the Jequitinhonha Valley, capitals and interiors in different regions to which we do not always have access. Brazilian Routes is an invitation to this immersion”.
Carmo Johnson Projects presents for the first edition of Rotas Brasileiras: “ Huni Kuin Chants and Axé Drums ¹ curated by Paula Borghi, featuring artists Alberto Pitta, Bruno Novelli, Kasdia Borges and MAHKU (Moviment of Huni Kuin artists)
Huni Kuin Chants and Drums of Axé
Living spirits are present both in the chants of Huni Kuin ceremonies and in Candomblé festivities. From the prayer houses in the Amazon rainforest to the terreiros (2)in Bahia, the synesthesia between music and image takes shape in the works of MAHKU, Bruno Novelli, Kassia Borges and Alberto Pitta.
MAHKU, a collective conceived by Ibã Hunikuin in 2012 in Acre - Amazon, presents lively and intense paintings that give visuality to ceremonial chants. These are paintings that keep their traditions and culture alive. It should be noted that the sale of MAHKU works guarantees the acquisition of land around their village, in order to protect them from deforestation and ensure the preservation of the forest. An artistic and activist movement.
Kássia Borges (Kassia Rare Karaja Hunikuin), also a member of MAHKU, presents three totems composed of ceramic vases painted in bright colors and images of various types of boa constrictors, a symbol empowered by feminine ancestry. A sculpture that invites the public to take a 360° turn around its surroundings, following the movement of boa constrictors and various types of body graphics, mainly from Kassia’s own Karajá culture; regarding the artist's ethnicity.
In a lively dialogue with the MAHKU, Bruno Novelli presents two large-format paintings that pay homage to the Huni Kuin people and weave relationships between worlds: the native people and the white man. They are images of animals, often blurring the contours that define them, to the point of not identifying whether the animal is a jaguar or a person. There is a notable reference to animism, which stems from Novelli’s wonder at his experiences with people of the forest and their power medicines.
At the same time, Alberto Pitta presents paintings that rescue his African ancestry to the sound of images of axé drums, especially with regard to his experience with the carnival of the Afro blocks in Salvador. They are artistic creations that start from his own Afro-Bahian cloth silkscreens, with symbologies that are inspired by Candomblé terreiros ² , afoxé, Yoruba culture and rock drawings.
In this way, animals such as snakes, monkeys and jaguars, as well as power plants, enchanted beings and forest spirits, compose mirações visualities. Meanwhile, patterns that talk about the origin of the world through rock images, create bridges that connect the Afro blocks of Salvador with Mother Africa.
This is how “Cantos Huni Kuin e tambores de Axé” present, on a floor of sacred leaves, tree bark with terracotta-colored walls, the encounter between Huni Kuin rituals and Afro processions. They are chants and drums enlivened through images typical of visual art.
Paula Borghi, curator
¹Axé has its origin in the Yoruba language, and mainly means force of realization and manifestation of divine power. It was only in 1980 that Bahian axé as we know it today took to the streets and became one of the biggest and best known (or consumed) Brazilian musical genres.
²Terreiro is a designation given to the place where some Afro-Brazilian cults are celebrated, such as candomblé.