[A] LA FLEUR DE LA PEAU [[ON] THE FLOWER OF SKIN] Performance

The relationship between what is seen and unseen, the material and the immaterial is also featured in the performance by Paulo Nazareth [A] LA FLEUR DE LA PEAU [[ON] THE FLOWER OF SKIN] (2020), never before presented in Brazil. Underlining the exhibition opening, yet without generating agglomeration, the performance will be held on Friday 13 November, at 6pm (GMT-3), inside the Bienal Pavilion whilst the building remains closed to the public. The performance is aimed at online audiences, and will be livestreamed via the Fundação Bienal Instagram page.

In the work, non-white people punch a bag of wheat flour hung from the ceiling and use a broom to rearrange the white powder on to the floor, shaping it into a defined circle. In so doing, the performance problematizes, in a symbolic way, colonial relations of power, both by the gestures and bodies on stage as well as by alluding to the various meanings and uses attributed to the circle (and geometry) by different Western and Eastern systems of knowledge. From the following day onwards, visitors will be able to see, in the space, the remains of the performers’ action, which will also be then transformed throughout the exhibition period and through the action of the draughts that flow inside the building.

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Une publication partagée par Bienal de São Paulo (@bienalsaopaulo)