Sao Paulo (AFP)

The 34th edition of the Sao Paulo Contemporary Art Biennale begins on Saturday under the sign of diversity, with many indigenous artists, such as Jaider Esbell, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of this major cultural event in Brazil.

Until December 5, visitors will be able to admire in the pavilion nestled in the heart of Ibirapuera Park, the green lung of the megalopolis of Southeast Brazil, 1,100 works by 91 artists from around the world, including nine from indigenous peoples.

Originally scheduled for 2020 and postponed due to the pandemic, this large group exhibition, the first edition of which took place in 1951, will be accessible free of charge to anyone presenting a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19.

The theme of this edition is "Faz escuro mas eu canto" ("It's dark but I'm singing"), inspired by a line by the poet Thiago de Mello, from the state of Amazonas (north).

“One of the highlights of the exhibition is to come into contact with the works of Jaider Esbell and other contemporary indigenous artists, and to be dazzled by their poetic richness,” said Italian Jacopo Crivelli, a from the curators of the Biennale, to the weekly Veja.

Visual artist and writer from the Makuxi ethnic group, Mr. Esbell, 42, lives in the Raposa Terra do Sol indigenous reserve, in the state of Roraima (north), an emblematic territory marked by land conflicts and intrusions of illegal gold miners.

On the occasion of this Biennale, he notably presents the work "Entidades" ("Entities"), an inflatable sculpture 17 meters long which represents two purple snakes decorated with colored circular patterns.

Works by Brazilian artist Daiara Tukano, exhibited at the Sao Paulo Biennale, September 2, 2021 NELSON ALMEIDA AFP

Sitting in the middle of the Ibirapuera Park lake, they represent fertility and protection for the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, increasingly vulnerable since the coming to power in 2019 of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Inside the Biennale pavilion, an installation presents objects that survived the terrible fire at the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro (south-east), in September 2018.

For example, we find the Santa Luzia meteorite, weighing nearly 2 tonnes, found in 1922 in the State of Goias (center-west).

© 2021 AFP