The propositions by Tiago Cadete in “Alla prima” come from a disquietude when facing the silence and immobility of images. The human body, the fundamental unity of image production in the West, is the focus of his research as a collector of images and also an instrument through which his own body is shown in front of the audience. His perspective is related to the construction and invention of Brazil – what would be the movements and voices of the enormous number of images that in over five centuries created certain ideas about what could be Brazil, Brazilians and brazilianness?

The term “alla prima” in painting refers to a technique in which the artist faces the canvas, directly applying ink layers without waiting for them to dry, causing a sort of overlap of both colors and images. In a dialogical way, in this case the artist’s body responds directly to a series of descriptions of what might be these “Brazilian bodies.” In addition to the Eurocentric historical narrative that created the theory of the three races in Brazil – where African, European and indigenous populations would be ingredients of this cultural melting pot – his anatomy becomes a receptacle of multiple creators, cultures, ethnicities and plastic propositions.

Through this re-enactment that takes place in a trans-historical way, between visuality and different oral / verbal descriptions, the body of Tiago Cadete ultimately designs a new choreography which is far from samba and the tropical joy commonly attributed to what might be the “Brazilian culture”. Suddenly, the tropics are sad and some of the attempts at colonizing Brazil through the image come up.

It is, therefore, important, to feel in the flesh the discomfort of these poses and to realize that, more than a geography, Brazil is a concept made from a fictitious body that aligned several quartered pieces of many lives silenced by time.

Raphael Fonseca

/ credits

creation and performance Tiago Cadete
art history consultant Raphael Fonseca
costumes Carlota Lagido
project assistant Bernardo Almeida
voiceover collaboration Priscila Maia, Raphael Fonseca, Raquel André, Sueli do Sacramento, Jonas Arrabal, Victor Dias, Laura Arbex, Felipe Abdala, Isabel Martins, Júlia Arbex, Breno de Faria, Daniela Seixas, Leandra Espirito Santo
documentation photography Víctor Dias
scene photography José Carlos Duarte
press officer Mafalda Simões
teaser Francisca Marvão e Tiago Cadete
artistic residence Centro Coreográfico do Rio de Janeiro
support Eira, Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro
Hosts Escola de Mulheres, ZDB NEGÓCIO, Mala Voadora/PORTO, Rua das Gaivotas 6
co-production TEMPS D’IMAGES ‘15