Ernesto Neto - Nosso Barco Tambor Terra
02 MAY 2024 - 07 OCT 2024
MAAT Gallery
Ernesto Neto, one of Brazil's most international and well-known artists, presents an immersive installation that evokes the crossing of cultures between different continents.
Curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Nosso Barco Tambor Terra [our boat drum earth] is one of the largest sculptures Ernesto Neto has ever made. Its shape is a product of months of work, in dialogue with MAAT’s architectural space and the museum's surroundings, richly imbued with history and symbolism as the departure point for the caravels that set sail for what would come to be known as the Americas.
Using images (sails) and materials (canvas and ropes) generally associated with transatlantic voyages, Ernesto Neto creates a set of unprecedented installations that occupy the venue's different dimensions. To create the work, Neto used mostly chintz, a relatively cheap cotton fabric that is extremely common in Brazil, often printed with brightly coloured flowers and plants. The fabric was cut into strips and crocheted by various assistants, based on a technique developed over the years in the artist’s studio in Rio de Janeiro: atelienave. The material thus obtained was used to create the cells that together compose the sculpture. The work’s overall plan is developed freehand, through tests and adjustments supported by specific software that allows for precision but also sufficient malleability to adapt to the specificities of the space at the time of mounting in situ.
In recent years, alongside his activity as an artist, Neto has also devoted himself to percussion. Throughout the exhibition, the sculpture, which incorporates a series of instruments, will be periodically activated by a musical programme, devised by musicians and groups from various parts of the world, with particular emphasis on the rhythms of African and Asian diasporas. Symbolically, the meeting of rhythms and beats in Nosso Barco Tambor Terra forms a counterpoint to the multitude of languages spoken around the world, alluding to the possibility of finding, in specific moments and contexts, common languages that allow a communication that transcends the verbal and facilitates authentic and profound encounters. Consistent with the artist’s desire to create a truly collective and diverse work, various drums from a range of provenances that inhabit the installation can also be played by visitors to the exhibition.
The musical programme, curated by Ernesto Neto and Tânia Lopes, will be announced soon, on the MAAT website.
MAAT patron and exhibition sponsor:
Support:
Margão
