The 3rd Black Brazil Art Biennial begins this Wednesday (27th), at Teatro Gonzaguinha, in Rio de Janeiro. The event brings together works by more than 200 black Brazilian and foreign artists and the program runs until June this year. The Black Biennial is made up of exhibitions, shows, short film screenings and virtual activities, occupying various cultural spaces in the capital of Rio de Janeiro and the city of Niterói, such as galleries and museums.
In an interview with Good Living Programhistorian and museologist Patrícia Brito, creator of the event, explains that the Bienal Black arises from a virtual artistic residency, whose works develop guide the theme and exhibition axes of the Bienal Black.
“It’s not a unilateral proposal, so to speak. It’s a proposal where there is interference, intervention from artists who are thinking together, what is the theme we are going to explore. And this year we are going to explore the issue of migration, of these displacements that people do around the world. And, incidentally, this is a theme that is also coupled and accommodated in this G20 meeting that is also taking place in Rio de Janeiro”, he explains.
“Talking about flows in flux, which is the theme of our biennial, has to do with this movement that people make, not only for reunion, family or economic reasons, but mainly for this sense of belonging, when you leave from your place of origin and is, so to speak, invited to start your life over, reconnecting with things you are not yet familiar with. We invite artists to think from this perspective, about what it is like to leave a place of origin and move to the other”, he adds.
According to Patrícia, the idea for the Biennale emerged in 2019, as a space to “reflect and criticize our system”, which she considers to be full of inequalities. In this sense, the Black Biennial does not exclude anyone.
“What is missing to balance this theme of gender within spaces, whether of women and men or also there, in the racial field, black men and women versus white men and women. The Biennale wanted to invite the artistic body to this discussion, but it didn’t to jump headlong into this clash. What do I mean by that? I want to say that, although our name is Bienal Black Brazil Art, our work is to put women and men, white and black people in the same space. And we all do this reflection on the arts, on the arts system, on why there is access for some and not access for others”, explains the curator.
Among the places that will host exhibitions and other actions of the Black Biennial are the Hélio Oiticica Municipal Arts Center, the Correios Cultural Center, the Correios Cultural Space in the city of Niterói, the Cidade das Artes, the Samba Museum, the Maré Museum and the Choreographic Center of the City of Rio de Janeiro.
Check out the full interview in the audio player below the title of this text.
Editing: Nicolau Soares
