tuesday 10th august 2021, 15:23 (CET)

---Sao Paulo

email from Rachel:

"Dear Ile, Sil, and Paola,
I have thought about it a lot, and I want to propose Berna Reale as an artist for your project, I will send you some links. She is a visual artist who works as a forensic expert, she created a very powerful work on violence and the female body. She has exhibited her work in many countries, including the Venice Biennale and recently the Contemporary Art Pavillion in Milan. I will attach some pictures of it here [...]. She does not live in São Paulo, she comes from the Amazon region (Pará), I do not know her personally, but we have a dear friend in common [...], so it would be easy to get in touch with her and get an answer as soon as possible.

I also thought about how you asked me to have São Paulo as a point of reference, but I feel that the city is not only becoming weaker, but it is also driven by the false belief of being the centre of the country, both creatively and economically, which is giving it an arrogance we do not need right now. Because the centre is more fixed than ever, while the outskirts are moving. These issues involve nature, the environment, the people outside the capitalist system of exploitation (perhaps eliminated by it, living below the poverty line – or by choice, as in the case of aboriginal people), women, black people, body|neuro-diverse people, who are all pieces of the same broken mirror, reflecting the image of this country and its iconic clichés.
I will give you some time to read these words I put together, coming from ideas that have been inhabiting me since we last spoke, among different things. I am waiting to hear from you, and I send you a big, big hug…

Rachel"