The iconography and the various forms of expression of the maternal figure are part of a group of more than 100 artworks that make up the new exhibition at the Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araújo, in Parque do Ibirapuera, São Paulo. Curated by Claudinei Roberto da Silva, the exhibition Mães – no imaginário da arte also marks the opening of the 2023 season of temporary exhibitions, the first with new shows since the death of the museum’s founder, the visual artist Emanoel Araújo.
Among sculptures, paintings, murals, drawings and prints, Mães brings together artists such as Aline Bispo, Bruno Giorgi, Candido Portinari, Claudia Andujar, Di Cavalcanti, Flávio de Carvalho, Gilda Vogt, Jean-Baptiste Debret, José Pancetti, Mário Zanini, Marjô Mizumoto, Pierre Verger, the Yombe people and Rosana Paulino.
Claudinei Roberto da Silva returns to the museum, now as the institution’s guest curator for the 2023 season. Previously, he worked in collaboration with Emanoel Araújo on other exhibitions at Afro Brasil. In this exhibition, he highlights “the centrality of the maternal figure since the dawn of humanity, with the first pictorial or sculptural representations of the ‘Great Mother’, of the mythical and fundamental provider of life”.
To bring together the large-scale collection, it was necessary to have the logistical support of Art Quality, a partner company of Clé Reserva Contemporânea. Once each artwork had been chosen, with the authorisation of private collectors or museums, the team determined the best conditions for packing, transport and unpacking for the installation of the exhibition.
The broad scope of the selected works offers visitors a perspective that gives pride of place to Brazilian colonial, academic, modern and contemporary art. And, according to the curator, it aligns with the museum's aim of showing the role played by mothers among people of African descent in Brazil and in other territories of the African diaspora, going beyond the family sphere and highlighting the figure of the mães de santo.
“The imposing ialorixás, matriarchs who govern the spiritual and social life of entire communities and who, for a very long time, have resisted, comforted and encouraged the building of the complex networks of relationships that create histories and memories”, says Claudinei in the text that opens the exhibition.
The Museu Afro Brasil is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 5pm, with visitors allowed to remain until 6pm. Tickets cost R$ 15.00, with a half-price ticket at R$ 7.50. On Wednesdays admission is free. Information on the museum's website.
