Transparent Memories: O Brasil que Habita em Nós

Taking place a few steps away from the sea at Mostyn gallery, in Llandudno, Wales, the exhibition ‘Roda Viva’ evokes the idea of a journey by sea. The location itself serves as a perfect entry into the world of Vanessa da Silva, a São Paulo-born artist who has been living in London for the past twenty years but is still deeply attached to her roots. Exploring themes of identity, ancestry, destiny, joy, and memory, the artist’s multimedia works take you on a trip to Brazil, its vibrant and rich culture filtered through personal recollections and a summoning of collective celebrations.

Vanessa da Silva’s artistic practice has been described as an exploration of ‘nationality, identity, migration, and displacement’⁰¹– elements that resonate deeply with me, as I, too, was born in Brazil but have lived abroad nearly all my life. These themes have been at the centre of my own personal research, piquing my interest in this exhibition. ‘Roda Viva’ is to date da Silva’s largest solo-show in the UK and one of the most personal – it was for her an opportunity not only to explore new media by working on canvas for the first time, but also to learn more about herself.

Entering the first gallery, you are directly immersed into the vida (life) of the artist. A series of four hand-embroidered screen prints on transparent, coloured mesh hang from the ceiling creating a circle visitors can step into. In pastel, bright hues, each tableau shows different generations of the artist’s family – those she has met and those she has not. Sourced from photographs da Silva brought back from a visit to her family in Brazil, the figures of her ancestors are simplified and stylised silhouettes which seemingly blend into each other through the see-through material. The choice of transparent mesh, a material imported from Brazil which the artist has started using in 2019, is also significant. As da Silva explains, the different superimposed layers represent not only different times in the artist’s family history, but also the different aspects that constitute her identity. In these pieces you can also see printed logos of products imported to the UK from the tropics – a reminder of the stereotypes that go hand in hand with being a South American in Europe. The association of the tropical with bright colours is one of the codes da Silva plays with throughout the show. The juxtaposition of commercial logos with family pictures shows the difference between how the artist thinks Brazilians are perceived abroad and how she actually feels. This is a feeling that many can relate to, particularly those from multicultural backgrounds who see themselves reflected in the various people they may never had the chance to meet because of distance, and those they met by living abroad; those whose identities are made out of the different experiences they have been through.

The circular installation of the four large textile pieces gives material presence to the exhibition’s title ‘Roda Viva’ – a Brazilian expression which translates to the ‘wheel of life.’ When I spoke with da Silva, she explained how the decision to hang the textiles in a circle was inspired by conversations with the exhibition’s curator, Kalliopi Tsipni Kolaza, who has managed to bring out one of the crucial aspects of the artist’s work: the sense of movement. In fact, movement is central to da Silva’s practice, as she connects it with the motion of life, a symbol of both continuity and unending transformation. This was a challenge to convey as the artist initially created the textiles on flat surfaces. Dangling from the top as curtains, the light-weight mesh moves easily, fluttering with the puffs of wind created by the visitor’s passage. And movement is suggested by the circularity of the installation – a material instantiation of the spinning ‘wheel of life’.

The wheel keeps on spinning as you move towards the second room of the exhibition dedicated to da Silva’s sculptural artworks. Here, the theme of movement is explored through dancing. Attached to the ceiling as banners are three screen prints on mesh bearing the inscription Canta, Canta Minha Gente (Sing, Sing My People), a reference and direct homage to Brazilian singer Martinho da Vila’s 1974 album. Beneath these words are drawings of hands mimicking the dancing that accompanies the song – also inspired by the album cover. The curation of this piece is particularly striking, as the space has been carefully considered. Skylights open in the ceiling, letting natural light shine through and making it appear as if the hands are reaching toward the sky in prayer – evoking a more spiritual dimension as the artist intended. You will have the best experience of this particular piece on a bright, sunny day.

On the floor, arranged choreographically, are the sculptures da Silva is best known for, related to the ongoing series Muamba Grove – two of which, #3 and #4, were installed at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2022.⁰² The sculptures can be assimilated to dancers, with their abstract shapes suggesting the body’s limits whilst simultaneously trying to move past them. The artist reimagines bodies as fluid shapeshifters, able to adapt and transform in a place at the intersection of spirit and materiality. On the right-hand side of the room, the patterns and colour combinations of the sculptures find echo in a series of drawings on paper, which the artist describes as occurring spontaneously but also serving as inspiration for the sculptures. This curatorial juxtaposition creates a dialogue between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art forms and gives visitors an insight into da Silva’s creative process. Perhaps missing in this room is the dimension of sound. I wonder how the sculptures and drawings would be perceived with some samba playing in the background. Da Silva is expected to hold a performance at the finissage on 31 May – an activation that might lend further nuance to her study of movement and liveliness (or vivacidade).

Brazilian sculptor Hélio Oiticica, an artist well-known for his innovative use of colours and materials such as pigment and earth, is another major source of inspiration for da Silva. This influence is evident not just in the colour palette of the exhibition, but also in da Silva’s choice to incorporate sand and beads of beans into some of her sculptures. According to the artist, the second room represents the cultural mixture found in Brazil: the dancing sculptures are reminiscent of carnaval, with its colourful floats, and a reference to roda de samba (circle of dance), in which people come together to dance, sing and play music, not only in street parties, but also as a significant part of Afro-Brazilian religious ceremonies. The sand evokes the beach, and the black beans symbolise both the country’s national dish, feijoada, and Brazil’s colonial history. Indeed, this dish is said to have its origins in Brazil during slavery when the enslaved had only rice and black beans to eat and sometimes cooked these alongside the leftover meat that was reserved to the white masters. Ever since then, rice and black beans have become strong symbols of Brazilian history and have often featured in art with multiple artists using them to make political statements. For instance, this is the case of artist Anna Maria Maiolino’s prize-winning work Monumento à Fome, (Monument to Hunger, 1978), a piece composed of two plastic bags, one filled with rice and the other with black beans, tied together with a black ribbon. Through this piece Maiolino, who was also influenced by Oiticica, wanted to shed light on the grim reality of hunger in Brazil during the dictatorship (1964–85), using the black ribbon as a reminder of the deaths that resulted from it and as a symbol of grief.⁰³ However, in da Silva’s exhibition these references are not explicitly addressed, meaning some visitors may overlook their political implications.

Da Silva describes the works in ‘Roda Viva’ as emerging from within, something she felt compelled to create, making it deeply personal. The use of black beans perfectly illustrates this – all Brazilian children grow up eating feijão preto, a taste of home akin to Proust’s madeleine. As a Brazilian, eating rice and black beans while living abroad always evokes a profound sense of nostalgia. Da Silva integrates bean beads in other artworks, such as the two canvases Com a Melodia do Tuti (With Tuti’s Melody) and Ô Vem Ô Vai Divina Maravilhosa (Oh Come Oh Go Wonderful Divine), which represent her father and mother, respectively – further reinforcing the connection between beans and home. Placed in the first room, these two pieces are made with the same see-through mesh used in the textiles, overlayed over screen prints, and with the bean beads adding a sculptural element to the flat surfaces.

A related theme in the exhibition is destiny and serendipity. This energy is palpable when in the artist’s presence, extending from practical events to a deeper sense of faith. One example of the former is the last-minute decision da Silva took of adding a line of beans in different coloured mesh along the perimeter of both rooms, unifying them and delineating the exhibition space. This idea was inspired by the bag of leftover beans she had not used. When she finished, only five beans remained. ‘Roda Viva’ is also eminently suffused with a spiritual and almost religious feeling – da Silva revealed how she experienced a sense of predestination, as though this exhibition was meant to happen, as though her journey to the UK was fated, and, through this, she knows to be on the right path.

As a member of the Brazilian diaspora, this exhibition touched me on a personal level and having the chance to speak with the artist further enhanced my appreciation of different pieces as I learnt more about the ideas and making-process behind each of them. I believe all those who encountered the artist in the gallery would say the same. There is something for everyone, whether you are drawn to drawing, print, embroidery, or sculpture, and many of the exhibition’s themes are generally relatable. However, because some references and subjects are so personal to the artist, it may be less accessible to visitors who do not have the chance to speak with da Silva and who are not familiar with the Brazilian context. To fully grasp the significance and depth of the various artworks, an audio guide or short film featuring the artist and curator discussing the show – similar to the one included in the exhibition of artist Ding Yi, also on view at Mostyn – would have been beneficial. On the gallery website a short video with da Silva serves as a beautiful introduction to the exhibition.⁰⁴

On a personal note, I was hoping for a more direct engagement with the political aspects the works deal with. Da Silva explains how she meant for this exhibition to be playful and joyful, a decision that led her to focus on practices of celebration and faith that have their roots in colonial times. Indeed, the emphasis here is more on resilience and creative resistance than on pain and violence. This choice is evident in the reference to ‘roda da samba’, a practice with origins in Amerindian and Afro-Brazilian religious traditions that served as a spiritual and emotional refuge for people living in a society marked by slavery, racism and colonial violence. Today samba has become a major symbol of Brazilian culture and the Carnaval de Rio de Janeiro a major element of soft power. The more violent historical origins of this national culture are at risk of being forgotten in the celebration of Brazil as post-racial democracy. As the history of the country and the contemporary legacies of its colonial past remain still underexplored – even in Brazil, and particularly abroad – attending to them more directly feels important. As part of the pressing task of decolonisation, art can be one of the most effective ways to deal with the colonial past by illuminating both the creative acts of resistance of the oppressed and the injustices that still persist in the present.

Vanessa da Silva’s intention of transforming the show into a celebration of joy is clearly achieved as she reimagines the gallery space and turns it into a vibrant hub filled with Brazilian cultural references. Despite the cultural specificity of these reference, a standout feature of the exhibition is its universal appeal, tapping into sentiments of nostalgia and the desire to feel at home that many can relate to, as contemporary notions of identity often transcend geographical boundaries. It also holds contemporary cultural relevance, resonating with the theme of the 60^th edition of the Venice Biennale, ‘Foreigners Everywhere’ (Stranieri Ovunque), curated by Brazilian museum director Adriano Pedrosa in 2024. All in all, with its emphasis on memory and movement, ‘Roda Viva’ feels like home for all those who happen to have more than one.