Véxoa Nós Sabemos: A powerful exhibition of Brazilian Indigenous art at Tufts University Art Galleries
By Ellora Onion-De | November 17Upon entering the Tufts University Art Galleries’ (TUAG) exhibition of Véxoa: Nós Sabemos (We know) you are greeted by a vibrant variety of colors, mediums, and sounds. Véxoa, originally showcased in the Pinacoteca de São Paulo in Brazil, found its new home at Tufts this September. The exhibit, curated by Naine Terena, features the work of 22 contemporary Brazilian Indigenous artists from a wide range of regions and peoples. Terena herself is a member of the Terena people of Brazil, making Véxoa the first art exhibit in Brazil to be curated by an Indigenous person. Claudia Avolese, a senior lecturer in the Visual Media Studies department at the SMFA, has led the project through its transition from São Paulo to Medford as TUAG’s guestorganizer of Véxoa. “I moved to the US in 2019. So, when I was still in Brazil, as a professor at the University of Campinas in Sao Paulo, I was following the whole process of putting together the concept of the exhibition, the invitation to [Terena],” Avolese said. “So when I moved and was hired at Tufts, this was in my mind because Boston … is the place with the largest Brazilian community outside of Brazil.”
