Regina Silveira's 'Exit' at Mube Explores Labyrinths and Migration Through Augmented Reality

Regina Silveira's exhibition 'Exit' at the Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (Mube) in São Paulo presents 41 works created between 1970 and 2018, curated by Cauê Alves. The central installation is a geometric labyrinth illuminated from above, which visitors navigate using virtual reality glasses. This augmented reality experience makes walls appear and disappear, creating a metaphor for contemporary migration barriers and the socio-political construction of borders. The labyrinth, a recurring theme in Silveira's work since the 1970s, is described by the artist as having exits, unlike the metaphorical walls that close spaces. The exhibition also features 'Sumidouro,' a new video work that distorts the museum's architectural beams and ceiling grid, extending the walls of the Mube. This site-specific piece engages directly with the museum's architecture, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha, whom Silveira calls a modular architect. The labyrinth installation is modular, constructed from 196 identical wooden panels covered in fabric, and now belongs to the collection of Itaú Cultural, which will manage its future. The exhibition frames walking through the labyrinth as a temporal perception exercise, challenging the visitor's habitual cognitive and perceptual patterns.