In this dark period of ongoing war, endless waste, accelerated climate change and our loss of agency to AI, the picture is of absolute gloom and doom. To make life bearable, we need to look elsewhere to search for beauty, soothe our soul and heal our mind; to recompose our battered being.
.
To seek joy, we must go south and take solace in the joyful expressions of the master artisans from the provinces. Their narrative objects depict everyday paradise with birds, flowers and people’s portraits that suddenly become a recipe against this world’s morosity. They use carving, sculpting, painting and embroidery to express the simple splendor of their subject matter. Their obvious delight in light-heartedness, meandering reptiles, domestic animals, overgrowing plants and totemic trees, as well as an extended family of characters, recall the way we were supposed to live in the beginning; from the first day, with the gift of the earth under a cerulean sky, in a place patterned with powerful outsider art images that are born from the complex history of the people. Their traditions and stories deal with a past of slavery, an evolving diaspora and multicultural migration that has created the beautiful melting pot that is called Brazil.
.
The selection of these exotic master pieces was done with the expert eye and experience of Lili Tedde, passionate about helping others discover her beloved Brazil through multiple publications and exhibitions.
– Lidewij Edelkoort
