artnexus #123

Throughout his extensive body of work, Ayrson Heráclito [born in 1968, in Macaúbas, a district of Salvador de Bahia, in Brazil] has sustained one main concern: to analyze the complex relations between Africa and Brazil. Salvador de Bahia, where he lives and works, is a privileged place to pursue these explorations. In his opinion, “European colonialism invented the myth of superior beings and the very idea of civilization, subjugating all the people it conquered worldwide [...] That is why I seek the wisdom of pre-colonial Africa [...] Its rites are my weapons to fight against the harmful consequences of slavery and colonialism.” *

One must never forget the intensive commerce of enslaved Africans in Brazil, who eventually far outnumbered the population of Portuguese origin. The early presence of Africans and their descendants strongly influenced the country’s popular culture, which constitutes a central reference in the art of Heráclito.

With an array of resources drawn from the mediums of photography, video, performance, and installation art, the artist seeks to establish a dialogue between popular cultural spaces and contemporary artistic practices.

Our cover features a photograph taken during the enactment of Bóri ** at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo in 2022. The image also refers to Irawo Bori – oferenda para a cabeça cósmica (Irawo Bori – Offering to the Cosmic Head), Lula Buarque de Hollanda’s experimental film based on this performance. Inspired by an Afro-Brazilian religious food-offering ceremony, Heráclito created a symbol for the twelve main orixás, spirits venerated in the Candomblé religion. An underlying principle of this ceremony is that to “feed the head” helps nourish the soul and brings divine protection to attain peace, health, prosperity, and love, among other blessings.

For Heráclito, it is possible to establish a connection between art and certain traditional matrices that seek to help people learn about themselves and their own culture.

* Margarita Sánchez Prieto (2018), “Entrevista a Ayrson Heráclito, artista, curador, docente y sacerdote candomblé” in Artishock, August 20, 2018. https://artishockrevista.com/2018/08/20/entrevista-a-ayrson-heraclito-artista-curador-docente-y-sacerdote-candomble/

** In the Yoruba religion, bóri—bór means ‘offering’ and ori means ‘head’—literally translates as ‘an offering to the head.’

IVONNE PINI