Eustáquio Neves

Cartas ao Mar [Letters to the Sea] presents more than one dozen large dimensions images created with experimental photographic procedures on cotton paper by Eustáquio Neves (b. 1955, Juatuba, Brazil). The show recovers memories (sometimes authobiographical, others collective ones) that represent the formation of Brazil and its heritage.

To create his works, the artist researched documents, archives and testimonies of residents and shop owners of the port area known as Valongo, in Rio de Janeiro. This location has been used, from the 17th to the 19th centuries, as the entrance port for more than half of the African slaves that entered Brazil after being kidnapped from their homes. The history of this place, marked by violence and oblivion, has been recovered by many researchers that identify the region not only as the point of entrance for slaves, but also as a cemetery for those who arrived ill or dead due to the insalubrious conditions of the slave ships.

This show, along the other two exhibitions that open on October 23rd, celebrates the museum’s 11th anniversary.