Mariwô: A Estética do Deslocamento

Ames Yavuz presents Mariwô: A Estética do Deslocamento, the first solo exhibition in the UK of Brazilian artist Alberto Pitta. On view are new works from Pitta's Mariwô series, exploring the spiritually significant motif of the Oil Palm frond through screen-printed and painted textiles. Since the late 1970s, Pitta has engaged with Afrodiasporic cultural traditions of Bahia, Brazil, particularly Carnival blocos and their aesthetic practices. Printed and embroidered textiles serve as embodied forms of communication and storytelling, functioning as "second skin" that allows wearers to "transform into free, mobile expressions of culture" and "passports" to "navigate the city with pride and purpose." The Mariwô series centers the African oil palm tree, considered sacred in Candomblé tradition, the Afro-Brazilian religion in which Pitta's mother, Ialorixá Mãe Santinha de Oyá, was a spiritual leader. As ritual objects, palm fronds are shredded and hung on shrine doors and windows as protectors; in these works, the shredded frond becomes part of the symbolic matrix of the print. Throughout his career, Pitta has served as artistic director of the Olodum bloco and created the Cortejo Afro. His practice serves to preserve and enliven cultures as collective self-affirmation and liberation against racism.