Zica Pires
Cidade Possível. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
Zica Pires is an artist and activist invested in the fight against water privatization, bringing forth international awareness and lending her voice to the ¡Água para os povos! (water for the poor!) campaign across social media platforms. Born in the quilombo Santa Rosa dos Pretos de Itapecuru- Mirim, a site founded by Black people revolting against their enslavement who were brought to plantations from Guinea Bissau, the young artist values the roots and cultures of the quilombos. In addition, she is engaged in teaching the history and culture of African and Indigenous people in primary and secondary education. Her art is a reflection of her pedagogical and activist practices, inseparable from her quilombo roots and their histories of struggle for Black liberation. The selection of illustrations, which carry titles such as Cidade Possivel (Possible City), depict goddesses or thematize the intertwining of nature and human infrastructure, proposing a future that unfolds in harmony with human and non-human life.
Works in the exhibition: Lord (2020), painting, ballpoint pen, coloured pencil on paper, 21 × 29.7 cm; Dambirãn (2022), painting, graphite, india ink, fabric paint, acryl on canvas, 30 × 23 cm; Guinça [Orientation] (2022), painting, acryl, beads, feather on canvas, 30 × 23 cm; Cidade Possível [Possible City] (2021), painting, ballpoint pen on paper, 21 × 29.7 cm; Velho do alto do mundo [Old man from the top of the world] (2023), painting, crayons on paper, 21 × 29.7 cm; Mensageiro [Messenger] (2023), painting, coloured pencils on paper, 21 × 29.7 cm; Mãe d’água [Mother of water] (2023), painting, coloured pencils on paper, 21 × 29.7 cm; Caminho de Narrativas Quilombolas [Quilombo narrative trail] (2023), drawing, graphite on paper, 21 × 29.7 cm; Zandia Ayala (2023), drawing, graphite on paper, 60 × 30 cm; Cigarra [Cicada] (2023), painting, watercolour on paper, 29.7 × 42 cm; Semente [Seed] (2023), painting, watercolour on paper, 29.7 × 42 cm. Courtesy of the artist