Ayrson Heráclito's Ritual Art Confronts Colonial Ghosts at Venice Biennale

Ayrson Heráclito, a Brazilian artist and Candomblé practitioner for over twenty years, views art as a form of healing and exorcism for colonial traumas. His work, which merges life, art, and religion, was featured in the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017. For the Biennale, he presented 'Sacudimentos,' a video documenting rituals performed in 2015 at the Casa da Torre in Bahia, Brazil, and the House of Slaves on Gorée Island, Senegal. These sites are linked to the transatlantic slave trade. The 'sacudimento' ritual, common in Afro-Brazilian religions, aims to cleanse spaces of lingering spirits. Heráclito describes his practice as a political, mystical activism to 'shake' colonial history. He uses organic materials like sugar, jerked beef, and dendê palm oil, which carry cultural and symbolic weight related to slavery and resistance. His 2000 performance 'Transmutação da Carne,' inspired by historical torture documents, was later restaged at Marina Abramovic's 2015 exhibition 'Terra Comunal' at Sesc Pompeia. Heráclito participated in a workshop with Abramovic, which deeply influenced his performance method. He critiques Brazil's myth of racial democracy and the nation's failure to confront its history of slavery. The artist is currently developing a project titled 'História do Futuro,' a series of films and photographs about his experiences in Africa.