Ayrson Heráclito's 'Yorùbáiano' Exhibition Opens at Pinacoteca de São Paulo

Ayrson Heráclito's exhibition 'Yorùbáiano' opened at Pinacoteca Estação in São Paulo on April 2, 2022, presenting 63 works curated by Amanda Bonan, Ana Maria Maia, and Marcelo Campos. The show, originally conceived and exhibited at the Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR) in 2021, addresses the trauma of slavery and the silencing of Afro-diasporic cultures through photography, video, performance, and installation. Organic materials like sugar, dendê palm oil, and jerked beef are used symbolically to represent a 'diasporic cultural body' and evoke orixás such as Exú and Ogum. The performance 'Segredos Internos' set the tone at the opening. Works like 'Transmutação da carne' and 'Sacudimento' reference historical violence, with the latter's documentation presented near the former DOPS building. The installation 'Borí' features twelve large photographs of the head-making ritual for the 12 orixás of the xirê, with a sacred ritual scheduled for August 11 at Pina Luz. The exhibition runs until August 22, 2022.