Troca de Entidades (Entity Swap)
intervention / photography, 2013-ongoing
With additional photography by Marcos Serafim (Brazil), Steevens Siméon (Haiti) and Lazaros (USA).
Awards:
Elisabete Anderle Award for the Arts, Santa Catarina State, Brazil, 2014
SIMDEC Joinville Grant for the Arts, City of Joinville, Brazil, 2015
cult statue of Umbanda spirit Exú Marabô, installed at the Vodou altar of Papa-da Alphonze in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
photo by Lazaros
Troca de Entidades or Entity Swap is a transreligious exchange project in which I transport and install religious statuettes in spaces of worship of different religions. The exchanges always happen in pairs, as in two elements swapping positions in a game, and on the premise of being voluntary - that is, following a dialogue with the priests or priestesses responsible for the spaces, who must agree to take in the foreign entities I bring. Rites and prayers are exchanged with the statues so that each entity can be properly incorporated to local liturgies. These displacements and exchanges are documented in a series of photographs of the statuettes installed at their new homes.
cult statue of Vodou god Dambala, installed at the Candomblé shrine of Mãe Jacila D´Oxum in Joinville, Brazil
Troca de Entidades at the Visa Gallery in St. Catherines, Canada, 2016
In the 1st iteration I exchanged 2 deities between Brazil and Haiti from 2013 to 2014. In Brazil I purchased a statuette of Exú Marabô, a deity in Brazilian Umbanda, transported it to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and installed it at the Vodou temple Narivéh. While in Haiti I purchased a statuette of Vodou deity Dambala, transported it to Joinville, Brazil and installed it at the Candomblé temple Ilê Axé Iya Omilodê. Prayers and rituals were also exchanged. Photographs by myself and Lazaros (USA).
Cult statue of Vodou god Legba, installed at the Umbanda temple Oxóssi Pena Branca in Joinville, Brazil
photo by Marcos Serafim
The 2nd iteration received funding from the Brazilian Elisabete Anderle Award for the Arts. From 2015 to 2016 I exchanged and installed 6 deities between Brazil and Haiti. In Brazil I purchased cult statues of Umbanda deities Oxum, Nanã and Oxumaré, transported them to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and installed them at the Vodou spaces of Papada Alphonze, Richard Morse and Jean-Daniel Lafontant. While still in Haiti I purchased cult statues of Vodou deities Legba, Simbi and Erzulie Danto, transported them to Joinville, Brazil, and installed them at the Umbanda temples Oxóssi Pena Branca and Luz dos Orixás. Photographs by Steevens Siméon (Haiti) and Marcos Serafim (Brazil).
cult statue of Umbanda deity Oxumaré, installed at the Vodou temple of Jean-Daniel Lafontant in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
photo by Steevens Siméon
The 3rd iteration received funding from the Brazilian SIMDEC grant for the arts. From 2016 to 2017 I exchanged deities between Brazil and Japan. In Brazil I purchased a cult statue of Candomblé and Umbanda goddess Iemanjá and transported it to Tokyo, Japan, where I installed it at the Jyomyoin Buddhist Temple. While in Japan I purchased cult objects of Shinto deity Inari, transported them to Joinville, Brazil and installed them at the Umbanda temple Oxóssi Pena Branca. With photographs by myself and Marcos Serafim (Brazil).
Exhibitions:
XI Salão Nacional Victor Meirelles, 2017. Florianópolis, Brazil.
Visa Gallery at Brock University, Vai e vem / Back and Forth, 2016. St.Catherines, Canada.
Museu de Arte de Joinville, Vai e vem / Back and Forth, 2016. Joinville, Brazil.
5th Ghetto Biennale, 2015. Juried, group exhibition. E. Pluribus Unum Musée d’Art, PaP, Haiti.
3rd Ghetto Biennale, 2013. Juried, group exhibition. E. Pluribus Unum Musée d’Art, PaP, Haiti.