EXHIBITION

The Hungry Mist (A Névoa Faminta)

Curated by Rodrigo D’Alcântara

Artists: Bento Leite, Dyó Potyguara, Simon(e) Jakiriuma Paetau

1 December 2023 – 3 February 2024

Hours of Operation: Wednesdays to Saturdays, 1:00 to 5:00 PM

Admission is free.

  Oxygen Art Centre is delighted to present the group exhibition, The Hungry Mist (A Névoa Faminta) guest curated by Rodrigo D’Alcântara (Brazil/Canada) featuring international artists Bento Leite (Brazil), Dyó Potyguara (Brazil), and Simon(e) Jakiriuma Paetau (Germany/Colombia).   Guest curator Rodrigo D’Alcântara conceived of the exhibition as a response to the global pandemic alongside the very state of collapse and acute uncertainties of life caused by the current neo-colonial system. D’Alcântara’s curatorial practice focuses on Brazilian contemporary art and Latin American futurisms and continues this research as a doctoral candidate at Concordia University (Montréal, Canada).   The Hungry Mist (A Névoa Faminta) as a concept and exhibition title draws on spiritual implications of the pandemic. It directly alludes to an Indigenous Brazilian Guarani-Nhadeva cosmology that foresaw an invisible smoke arriving to take people’s lives. At once concerning the material and ephemeral, The Hungry Mist (A Névoa Faminta) looks to repetitions of systemic colonial violence on bodies, the land, and our communities to contend with the present towards alternative futurities.   With this premise, curator Rodrigo D’Alcântara (Brazil/Canada) and international artists Bento Leite (Brazil), Dyó Potyguara (Brazil), and Simon(e) Jakiriuma Paetau (Germany/Colombia), with special guest artist Cecilia Vilca (Peru), will be immersed in the residency from 13 to 30 November 2023 producing works related to the tensions between spiritual, urban, natural, and territorial spheres in Nelson, BC.   The exhibition will be on view from December 1, 2023, to February 3, 2024. Oxygen Art Centre will be open Wednesdays to Saturdays from 1:00 to 5:00 PM throughout the exhibition run.   Exhibition didactics will be available in both Portuguese and English, translated by Lara Bourdin (Montréal, Canada). Promotional materials feature design by Keiko Lee-Hem (Nelson, Canada). An exhibition catalogue including documentation, curatorial texts and art writing responding to the project will be available shortly following the exhibition close. This project is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, and the Regional District of Central Kootenay. IMAGE: The Hungry Mist, promotional image, graphic design by Keiko Lee-Hem, 2023