Tromba d’Água (Waterspout)

According to the Presocratic philosopher Empedocles (c. 492 – 432 B.C.), the essence of life resulted from the interaction among the four elements — water, earth, fire, air — and two forces, love and strife. When love prevails, the elements are integrated in balance. If strife settles in, chaos emerges. The very water that quenches thirst, refreshes the body, blesses, washes, irrigates food and enchants the eyes is also moody sometimes. Waterspouts, storms, floods, tsunamis, seaquakes — and others labeled by the modern science as “extreme events” — have been increasingly more often in Brazil and in the world

May Yemoja, Iara, Neptune, Our Lady of Navigators, Oshun, Sirens, Poseidon, Mother of the Waters, by shaking the waters, want nothing else than calling us out for the need to love each other, the world, ourselves and the waters. For our own sake, we need to listen to this calling. After all, our body is 70% of water, as well as the planet is 70% of oceans

If there is a call, this is because the water communicates. Its language is continuous, fluid, permeable, deep, changeable, liquid. That is precisely why, to perceive this language, a lot of attention is required. The exhibition Waterspout translates the watery language into our inattentive perception. What does it say to you?

Female Latin Artists Institute

Since 2019, Female Latin Artists Institute has aimed to strengthen the amplifying of knowledge about the production by female artists in contemporary art. Through a digital platform, it brings together hundreds of names and biographies from all regions of Latin America, promoting research exchanges and expanding the mapping of art connections between countries. The Institute's social media amplify their artworks and initiatives that bring visibility to the art production by women. This allows the Institute to have a greater presence in other locations, directly impacting twelve countries, be it through face-to-face or virtual initiatives

Furthermore, the Institute develops and disseminates diverse content that consolidates the contemporary art dialogue, offers free educational and training activities, organizes exhibition and institutional projects, provides consultancy for public and private collections, promotes participation in art fairs and facilitates courses that address the female protagonism

It is with great honor that the Female Latin Artists Institute is showing the Tromba d’Água (Waterspout ) exhibition, in its first tour, at the Museu do Amanhã (Museum of Tomorrow). First presented at Sesc São Gonçalo in 2024, the project to circulate the show begins as a desire to advance and expand the discussions that foster the role of contemporary art in thinking about ecologies and possible presents/futures. All fourteen artists invited to occupy this space translate, in their own poetic language, the direct and subjective relationship with the main source of human life as well as its main controversies and social, racial, and economic consequences

Tromba d’Água (Waterspout) 

Drop
Dripping
Rain
Rain shower 
Cascade
Waterfall
Torrent
Waterspout

Sovereign strength, current, uncontrollable intensity that breaks the water’s edges and links up the sea, the sky, and the rivers

The waters are for humankind like the sun is for the planets. Life gravitates around its contours, assembling itself in a gravitational attraction that allows survivability. Its power frames societies, gives whatever is needed to drink and to eat, generates energy, works as a means of transportation, and uncovers the naivety of whoever thinks has the power to dominate them

The waterspout phenomenon, in the oceans, links up the sea and the sky by a columnar vortex, a kind of tornado that connects the clouds to the water surface. It creates a bond, a deal, a bridge between the marine life and the celestial powers. Its image imposes the power that water as action possesses

In the rivers, its toughness can be life-threatening for the ones who are not aware of the signs from the waters that usually announce the coming of a violent current. It is also known as “cabeça d’água” [head of water], the waterspout phenomenon results from the excess of water around a headwater that intensifies the flow and drag everything in its way. Its intensity is able to break down and modify the riverbanks

The exhibition Tromba d’Água (Waterspout) gathers elaborations by fourteen Latin-American artists about the collectivity as catalyst of transformations. Artworks by Alice Yura, Azizi Cypriano, Guilhermina Augusti, Jeane Terra, Luna Bastos, Marcela Cantuária, Mariana Rocha, Marilyn Boror Bor, Natalia Forcada, Rafaela Kennedy, Roberta Holiday, Rosana Paulino, Suzana Queiroga, and Thais Iroko encompass subject matter on spirituality — in a close relationship with deities that reign the waters —, on ancestry — in a spiral and matriarchal perspective —, and on the inherent relationship between feminine and nature — in its strength to nurture and transform. Altogether, these artworks versify on how matrilineal stories, memories, and imaginations pass through the barriers imposed to women existence

In a social context that intends to suffocate, bury, and ignore the environmental drive, the waterspout phenomenon emerges as a reference to the respect that we own for having this impetuous energy. In this exhibition, the characteristics of the water create space so we can walk through new routes in order to build a society based on sensitive relationships between mankind and nature. Here, the artists present proposals which ignore the obstacles that could restrict their agency and clear the ways that had once been blocked

It is about Climate Justice

Latin America is the second global region most susceptible to climate change effects that result from the extractivist, developmental, and profit-making human action. The rainstorms, floods, and deluges are some of the common disasters in regions of tropical climate. Since the European invasion and colonization, the established concept about progress has addressed proposals of urbanization that cover with concrete what had once been natural tools of drainage spout. These proposals also construct buildings in regions where there had once been tributaries and raise vast strongholds to explore natural resources, abusing the consumption of fossil fuels

Following the news of the recent floods in Rio Grande do Sul, many people were touched by the tragic loss of life, material, and immaterial goods of the people whose homes were flooded by the water. Efforts have been made by donations, rescues organized by civil society, and raising awareness about how to help. However, at times like these, it is even more important to understand and demand from the State to ensure the safety of the people living along the water's edge

It is not possible to ignore climate justice agendas, a concept that makes it clear who are the people who suffer most violently from the consequences of disasters. The most vulnerable populations live far from the most financially privileged areas. In emergency situations, these impoverished regions will suffer the most violently from the consequences of human actions against the environment

This exhibition aims to redirect attention, highlighting the fundamental respect to the relationship with nature and, above all, the political and business instances of these relationships. There is an urgent need to prevent and mitigate future environmental disasters and their consequences. It is necessary to deter any kind of deforestation as well as restrain the actions of modernity that act strategically to destroy the ecosystem

Credits

MUSEUM OF TOMORROW

Executive Director

Cristiano Vasconcelos 

Curator

Fabio Scarano

General Content Management

Camila Oliveira

Exhibitions

Caetana Lara Resende

Ingrid Vidal

Julia Deccache

Julia Meira

Guilherme Venancio

Rafael Salimena

Nathália Simonetti

Lorena Peña

Equipe de Museologia

Tatiana Paz

Fabiana Motta

Camilla Brito

Public Service

Wagner Turques Guinesi

Alice Villa Frango

Nilson da Silva Ramos

Alessandra Batista da Conceição Penna

Brenda Pinheiro de Oliveira

Caio Correa de Sousa

Caue de Albuquerque Barroso

Douglas Porto Velho

Fernando Lopes Barbosa

Gabriel da Silva Ramos

Guilherme Augusto Gouveia

Igor Pereira Alencar

Ismael Freire de Almeida

Jose Americo da Rocha Filho

Jose Francisco de Souza

Luis Rodrigo dos Santos

Mariana Macedo do Nascimento

Matheus dos Santos Oliveira

Queren Priscila Oliveira de Souza

Rafael de Souza de Almeida

Raisa Medeiros de Oliveira

Shirlei de Oliveira Chagas

Vinicius Marcelo de Oliveira dos Santos

Vitor Santos da Silva

Yan Gomes Silveira

Museum Education

Stephanie Santana

Renan Freira

Bianca Paes Araújo

Bruno Baptista

Fernanda De Castro

Juan Barbosa

Julia Mayer

Juliana Câmara

Marcus Andrade

Maria Luiza Lopes

Nicolle Portela

Nicolle Soalheiro

Thainá Nunes

Vinicius Andrade

Vinicius Valentino

Audiovisual Installations

Luiz Lima

Ana Barth

Bruno Carreiro

Edson Castro 

Vanderson Vieira

Inovatec Soluções Audiovisuais

Electrical Installation

Francisco Galdino

Diogo Freire

Marlon Vidal

Silas Miranda 

Alexandre Souto

Jefton Elias

Ezequiel Tavares

Jose Petrucio 

Camila Fraga

WATERSPOUT EXHIBITION

Curation

Ana Carla Soler, Carolina Rodrigues e Francela Carrera 

Artists

Alice Yura, Azizi Cypriano, Guilhermina Augusti, Jeane Terra, Luna Bastos, Marcela Cantuária, Mariana Rocha, Marilyn Boror Bor, Natalia Forcada, Rafaela Kennedy, Roberta Holiday, Rosana Paulino, Suzana Queiroga e Thais Iroko

General and Artistic Direction

Paulo Farias

Production Director

Marianna Botelho

Production

Lorena Peña | Museu do Amanhã

Órbita Produções

Expographic Project

Gisele de Paula Arquitetura

Design Project

Marina Castilho

Lighting Project

Katona Design

Expography Assistants

Iolaos Coelho

Alexandra Souza

Stage technician

Cactus Produções

Graphics

Base Comunicação Visual

Fine Assembly

Kbedim 

Museology

Laura Ghelman

Débora Koury

Content Accessibility

Jéssica Valente – Intérprete De Libras

Igor Affonso – Desenvolvimento De Obras Táteis

Paju Sa Engenharia - Piso E Mapa Tátil

Attorney

Gabriel Reis

Agradecimentos

Irana Gaia, Melissa Ganaha, Cida Paulino, Lorenna Gaetti, Mendes Wood DM, Marcio Botner, Bianca Bernardo, Luiza Martelotte, A Gentil Carioca, Galeria Matias Brotas, André Stock e Roberto Calmon, Tonico Pereira, Wellington Ribeiro, Daniel Freitas, Ana Portocarrero, Fabiano Cunha, Caetana Nestorov, Julia Deccache, Ingrid Vidal, Camila Oliveira e toda equipe do Museu do Amanhã

LATIN ARTISTS INSTITUTE

President

Paulo Farias

Vice President

Marianna Botelho

Secretary

Priscila Dantas

Curatorial Council

Ana Carla Soler, Carolina Rodrigues e Francela Carrera

Architect

Gisele De Paula

Lawyers

Gabriel Reis

Haline Vaz