Oyendau: The Cosmic Sense of Life

OYENDAU: The Cosmic Sense of Life is a solo exhibition by Paula do Prado featuring seven large-scale textile works created over twelve months. Drawing on her Charrúa, Iberian and West African Bantu-Kongo heritage, do Prado weaves together colourful motifs and figures from Indigenous cosmology and mythology. The works explore relationships between lands of the Southern Hemisphere, from plants and waterways to celestial movements. Rooted in a 2023 trip to Uruguay where do Prado reconnected with her ancestral river, Rio Cuareim, the works depict riverine life forms existing between land and water, layered with references to the Southern Cross, Milky Way and cellular structures. The exhibition title combines the Charrúa word oyendau (memory) and the concept of cosmic sense of life from Brazilian Indigenous writer Ailton Krenak, speaking to do Prado's work to restore relationships with the more-than-human world.