A sacred present: the ceremonial performance by Ziel Karapotó and Olinda Tupinambá that took place on the last April 19, 2024 saw two bare bodies, moving in seemingly random ways around a circle. Olinda, painted in red, blows on the smoke breathed out by Ziel, crushing to pieces the invaders’ bullets. Art is not a mere object of contemplation or collection, but a device that connects us with the Divine. The spirits descended, nobody is the same anymore, and the transformative magic of Pajé art shows us how their ancient culture is still so foreign to most. I believe that that place at the Biennale belongs to them, to all indigenous people fighting for their right to exist and prosper. Representatives of the Tupinambá, Wapichana, Baniwa, Pataxó people, standing also for the other 300 indigenous people of the Hãhãwpuá territory, are invited to occupy a space that has always been theirs. These emancipated curators and artists know the cultural and political importance of indigenous movements and know the importance of inscribing their instances in the European-derived contemporary art platform. A small step in the redemption story to save a territory most, though not all, call Brazil.

Featured image: Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia – Photo Matteo de Mayda