THE PARADISE OF ART

1.     Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background? 

I am originally from Aracaju, Northeast region of Brazil, and I did my initial training at a university in Recife and at cultural institutions around there. In 2007, I was invited to join the curatorial team at Inhotim at a time when the institution had recently been opened to the public. There, with a group of curators that included Jochen Volz, Allan Schwartzman, Inês Grosso, Rodrigo Moura, we were able to implement much of the Inhotim project that we know today, developing important artistic commissions. My first collaboration with Inhotim ended in 2015, when I got involved with the project of the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo Incerteza Viva (2016), as part of the curatorial team. In 2013, I had already been associate curator of the 9th Mercosur Biennial, in Porto Alegre.  Added to these experiences is the curation of the 36th Panorama da Arte Brasileira: Sertão, at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo, in 2019. In the same year, I took on the artistic direction and co-curation with Diego Matos, of the exhibition “Entreendo, poetic and historical anthology of the work of Cildo Meireles”, at SESC Pompeia, São Paulo. I have undertaken various independent curatorial projects, among which I highlight the exhibition Entrementes, by Valeska Soares, at Estação Pinacoteca, São Paulo (2018); the exhibition MitoMotim, at Galpão VB, São Paulo (2018). In 2017, I earned a PhD from the Graduate Program in Visual Arts at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. In April 2023, I was invited to return to Inhotim, this time taking on the role of Artistic Director.

 How did you become a curator and why? 

My interest in contemporary art was established when I visited exhibitions at the Aloísio Magalhães Museum of Modern Art, during my formative years in Recife. The curator Moacir dos Anjos was at the head of the institution and was fostering a vibrant program there. On an occasional visit, I came across works by artists such as Rivane Neuenschwander, with whom I have the privilege of being able to work with now. I was deeply affected by those artistic experiences, which addressed present-day issues in a very engaging and sensitive way. I then combined my interests in art theory and critical writing with curatorial practice.

3.     In what ways is Inhotim a unique curatorial institution? 

Since its origin, Inhotim has affirmed itself as an institution that works with art and nature collections from the instances of creation, exhibition/dissemination and collecting, engaging with contemporaneity and the territory in which it is inserted. Distinguishing itself from the traditional understanding of the museum as a repository of collections and an agent of memories and stories, Inhotim places the processes of creation as central to its artistic and cultural program, becoming a living institution, always in tune with its time, and dialoguing with the geographical, political and cultural environments of which it is a part of.

4.     What, in your opinion, is Inhotim's curatorial mission? 

Inhotim is located in the interior of Brazil, in Minas Gerais, 60km from the capital Belo Horizonte. It is not an urban museum, it does not respond to the fast pace of life in the city. Spanning over 140 hectares of green areas, gardens, galleries and outdoor artworks, it provides a unique experience of contemporary art, always in a direct integration with nature. Since its inception, the institution has challenged itself and its collaborators to conceive projects that cannot happen elsewhere, that are unique in the way they relate to physical, geographical, cultural and political aspects of this territory.

5.     How does the institution's commissioning process work and what are its objectives? 

Experimentation is at the heart of Inhotim's work. It is exercised in the commissioning of unique and innovative artistic projects, which arise from the close dialogue between curated artists and architects, and the dedicated work of Inhotim's production and atelier teams and workshops. Usually, artists are invited to visit the place, and then create a conceptual proposal, which is discussed and developed with the curators. This process involves a series of production tasks. Architects, designers, producers, builders and specialists from various areas come together depending on the artist's needs. A location is chosen and the landscaping and green areas teams work on that site.

The experimentation is also in the development of unique exhibition projects, which create new ways of exhibiting works, always aiming at providing transformative experiences for the public in their interaction with the artworks and the context of Inhotim.

If in other institutional environments, the instance of creation is reserved for artists' ateliers and independent or extraordinary projects, at Inhotim it is the foundation of the curatorial and educational programs.

6.     What do you look for in a work and/or in an artist? 

I look for restlessness, curiosity, non-conformity, conditions to keep the experimentation process always alive and that, to some extent, define art itself.

7.     A work or artist that recently caught your eye? 

Here in our region there is an artistic scene that never tires of impressing me. From artists who have been developing their trajectories for decades, such as Solange Pessoa, Jorge dos Anjos, Rivane Neuenschwander, to a younger generation that demonstrates great creative force. Specifically in Contagem, an industrial city in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, there are names that I am sure will soon have great recognition, such as Luana Vitra, from whom we commissioned a project in the 2023 program, Desali, Randolpho Lamonier, Froiid. The scene of Contagem also includes film directors, such as André Novais Oliveira, Gabriel Martins and Maurílio Martins.

8.     Do you think art should be political? 

I believe that art has an inseparable political nature. Especially when we are threatened by conservative waves, there is nothing more political than generating the new, finding form, image and word for what we only experience in the subtle field.

9.     Do you believe your work as a curator has political significance? 

When we are managing concepts and affections, provoking transformative experiences by promoting public access to art, when we make curation a platform for generating knowledge and debate, when we act as mediators between cultural contexts that otherwise would not be found, yes, I believe that the curator's work has political meaning and effect.

10.  Inhotim is famous for its site-specific works - can you talk about the 3 that are most interesting, important or striking to you and why? 

It is always difficult to choose works within the context of our collection, especially because we work with long-term or permanent exhibitions and assemblages. In this sense, the works can be accessed many times and in different ways, depending on the itinerary and the path of the visitor. The same work can gain different approaches with each visit. In addition, each work or exhibition that is added ends up transforming what is already installed, as in a large and diverse text, in which new ideas are added.

11.  What changes when working with site-specific works from a curatorial point of view? 

When we work with specific works, we do not lose sight of the fact that artistic making does not end in the deliberations and gestures of the author artist. The process of creating a work of art needs to be integrated with the way we display it, the ability of the public to physically and symbolically access that work, how much that experience can engage the audience and how it impacts their surroundings. All these aspects transform the work itself.

12.  What is the work in Inhotim's permanent collection that you feel most connected and/or moved by and why? 

13.  How important is the interaction between art and nature to the institution and how does it shape its curatorial work? 

Inhotim's experience is made of inside and outside, shadows and sunny areas, architectural constructions and massive vegetation, the red of the ore that constitutes the soil of the region and the red that colors the works of artists. It is made of the landscape composition that takes the visitor to the next artistic project. It is made of the work of art that makes them face differently the view of the lake, the trees and the forest in the background. Inhotim's founding condition is the fact that it is a museum and a botanical garden based in a region of strong mining activity. There is no possibility of thinking about art here without looking at and considering its landscape, natural and social territory.

14.  Can you talk about some examples of works in which this interaction is more evident? 

This relationship is direct in works such as Elevazione (data), by Giuseppe Penone, De Lama Lamina, by Matthew Barney, but it is also in the work of Claudia Andujar, which shows indigenous cultures and struggles. The relationship between art and nature is at the basis of all the thinking of artists such as Tunga, or in the context where Adriana Varejão's historical and pictorial research is anchored. These are just some of the examples.

15.  How does the educational program work? What about working with disadvantaged communities? 

In 2023, Inhotim made an important move to meet its educational vocation and relationship with the territory through the creation of the Education program, taken on by Gleyce Kelly Heitor. In this project, the emphasis is on protagonism of youth, engagement with communities and research and production of knowledge at the intersections between arts, nature and education. There were more than 20,000 people served by education projects in 2023 (Inhotim para Todos, Nosso Inhotim, Jovens Agentes Ambientais, Lab Inhotim and Descentralizando o Acesso, as well as Thematic, Panoramic and Wellness visits).

As part of this relationship, the institution carries out diverse programs with the community, such as the Botanical and Environmental programs which include plant rescue, biodiversity monitoring in the surrounding area, and the donation of seedlings, among other activities. The Education program includes Nosso Inhotim, an engagement initiative with the community of Brumadinho, which ensures free admission to city residents. Also as part of Education, there are initiatives aimed at educating children and young people in the region, such as Jovens Agentes Ambientais (Young Environmental Agents), Laboratório Inhotim (Inhotim Laboratory) and Escola de Música (Music School). About 70% of the people working at the institution are local to the region

16.  What is Inhotim's role in supporting contemporary Brazilian artists? 

16.  What about specific artists, such as indigenous and minorities? 

Inhotim is deeply connected to its context, relating strongly not only to the national art scene, but also to local artists. Institutions need to position themselves as agents and vectors of a decolonial epistemological turn and, in this sense, taking care of the diversity and representativeness of their collection is fundamental, although institutional commitment should not be restricted to these collection policies, but should also reach social practices.

18.  Three emerging Brazilian artists we should meet? 

It has already been cited above

19.  Can you talk about the project with the Institute for Afro-Brazilian Research and Studies (IPEAFRO)? 

In November 2020, Inhotim approached Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Afro-Brasileiros-IPEAFRO (Institute for Afro-Brazilian Research and Studies) with the proposal to create an exhibition program based on the work of Nascimento and IPEAFRO's collection. In a shared curatorial action, an unprecedented model in the history of Inhotim, the two institutions occupy Galeria Mata with the Black Art Museum-an endeavor led by Abdias in the 1950s-and the IPEAFRO documentary archive starting in December 2021, the year that marked the tenth anniversary of the loss of this important Brazilian intellectual.

Abdias Nascimento and the Black Art Museum unfolds in four acts, through exhibitions and programs that reconfigure themselves in an attempt to showcase the breadth and complexity of Abdias Nascimento's work. Today, the Abdias Nascimento project and the Black Art Museum reverberates beyond Galeria Mata, expanding into other temporary galleries at the Institute, its collection and programming, consolidating itself as more than an artistic project, but an ethical program. It thus gains strength and a breadth of action fronts, characteristic of Abdias Nascimento himself. Inhotim extends its gratitude to IPEAFRO for the learning and all the exchanges, and celebrates the legacy of Abdias Nascimento.

Exhibition Acts – Galeria Mata

First Act: Abdias Nascimento, Tunga and the Black Art Museum (2021)Second Act: Dramas for Blacks and Prologue for Whites (2022)Third Act: Sortilege (2023)

Fourth Act – Quilombismo: Documents of a Pan-Africanist Militancy; 2023

Temporary exhibitions, outdoor artworks and occupations

Arjan Martins, Windsock Installation (2021)

Occupation Inhotim Library: Jaime Lauriano (Occupation Inhotim Library: Jaime Lauriano; 2022)

O mundo é o teatro do homem (The World is Man's Theater; 2022)

Quilombo: vida, problemas e aspirações do negro (Quilombo: Life, Problems and Aspirations of Black People; 2022)

Mestre Didi: Os iniciados no mistério não morrem (Mestre Didi: Those initiated in the mystery do not die; 2023)

Mônica Ventura, A noite suspensa ou o que posso aprender com o silêncio (The suspended night or what I can learn from silence; 2023)

Direito à forma (Right to form; 2023)

Fazer o moderno, construir o contemporâneo: Rubem Valentim (Make the modern, build the contemporary: Rubem Valentim; 2023)

21.  What responsibilities do you feel most in your role as a curator at one of the most important contemporary art institutions in the world? 

22.  What motivates you to keep doing your job? What is the most important thing for you to achieve through it? 

Every day we work so that the people who come to Inhotim are affected and transformed by the experiences they have here. Maintaining the vitality of our program and engaging the interest and desire of each person who lives Inhotim is a constant challenge. And here we are not only talking about those who visit us, but about the many people who work here and who collaborate with us.

22.  What is the most challenging thing about your job? 

Never disconnect from the most innovative and experimental ideas and, at the same time, be able to transform these ideas into practices, experiences and realities that can be shared with many people.

23.  Can you tell us some anecdotes and behind-the-scenes of your work, such as interactions with artists, or with a visitor, or anything that could give a small glimpse into the “real life” of that work? 

24.  Any upcoming or ongoing projects that you can share with us? 

In 2024, Inhotim will have two openings, the first in April and the second in October, when we will renew our temporary exhibitions. At the first opening, on April 13, Grada Kilomba (Lisbon, Portual, 1968) and Paulo Nazareth (Lives and works around the world. Homem velho, Borun Nak (Old man, Borun Nak) [Vale do Rio Doce]/ Pindorama [BR]) will have solo exhibitions in important exhibition spaces of the institution -Galeria Galpão and Galeria Praça respectively.