Frestas Triennial Curators Discuss Decolonial Approach and Afro-Indigenous Cosmologies

The curatorial team for the third edition of Frestas – Triennial of Arts, organized by Sesc-SP in Sorocaba, participated in the International Seminar ARTE!Brasileiros on October 9. The collective curatorship, comprising Beatriz Lemos, Diane Lima, and Thiago de Paula Souza, emphasized negotiations and contradictions as key to their process. As three non-white curators, they confronted a representational abyss, framing their work within identity politics. The triennial, titled 'O rio é uma serpente,' gathers Afro-Indigenous, native, and ancestral cosmologies, rejecting a mere thematic approach in favor of a worldview. Their methodology began with listening encounters in Sorocaba, focusing on territory and education. To expand their understanding, they embarked on a two-month journey through Northern and Northeastern Brazil, engaging with local art circuits and examining environmental racism's impact on traditional communities. The pandemic intensified their message, revealing racial and classist structures within the art system. A study program with 15 artists, along with free online activities, aims to foster radical educational practices and redistribution policies. The triennial seeks to reflect on what it means to be a dissident, racialized body within a contemporary art circuit that has historically invisibilized non-Western knowledges.