{"id":6032,"date":"2025-09-01T17:31:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/transatlantic-connections-in-the-year-of-france-in-brazil-at-sacatar\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T09:34:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T12:34:05","slug":"transatlantic-connections-in-the-year-of-france-in-brazil-at-sacatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/transatlantic-connections-in-the-year-of-france-in-brazil-at-sacatar\/","title":{"rendered":"Transatlantic Connections in the Year of France in Brazil at Sacatar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sacatar proudly joins the Year of France in Brazil<\/strong> with a residency session fully shaped by French partnerships. Two artists\u2014Fran\u00e7ois Dufeil<\/strong> and Louise Mutrel<\/strong>\u2014participate through Sacatar\u2019s ongoing collaboration with the Fondation des Artistes<\/strong>, now in its third year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This session also marks the launch of the Bahian chapter of I Am a Black Ocean<\/em>, a multidisciplinary and transnational project conceived by Sacatar Fellow Beya Gille Gacha<\/strong> in collaboration with curator and composer Salimata Diop<\/strong>. The project brings together artists from France, Senegal, and Brazil\u2014including Aline Motta<\/strong>, Nathalie Vairac<\/strong>, and Shai Andrade<\/strong>\u2014in a shared exploration of Black identity, memory, and spiritual resistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shai Andrade<\/strong>\u2019s participation is made possible through the support of SECULT<\/strong> (Secretary of Culture of the State of Bahia), as part of its Apoio a A\u00e7\u00f5es Continuadas program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also supporting the I Am a Black Ocean<\/em> project are Piv\u00f4 Salvador<\/strong> and the Consulate of France in Recife<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These artists will be in residence at the Instituto Sacatar from September 1 to November 3, 2025<\/strong> (9 weeks)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Mar\u00edlia Camelo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aline Motta<\/strong>
Multidisciplinary Arts
Brazil<\/strong>
Year of France in Brazil \u2013 I Am a Black Ocean<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aline Motta (b. 1974, Rio de Janeiro) is a visual artist and writer whose multidisciplinary practice spans photography, video, installation, performance, and collage. Her work explores the silences and erasures within her family history caused by colonialism, combining archival research, fieldwork, and oral history with speculative and poetic approaches to reimagine lost or hidden narratives. Engaging with themes of diaspora, identity, and belonging, Motta bridges personal and collective memory, blurring the boundaries between documentary and poetic fiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has participated in major biennials and triennials, including Sharjah (2023), S\u00e3o Paulo (2023), Coimbra (2024), Stellenbosch (2025), and Trondheim (2025). Her work has been exhibited at institutions such as MoMA, the New Museum, Centre Pompidou-Metz, MASP, MALBA, Centro Cultural Kirchner, Rencontres d\u2019Arles, MAR, and MAM-Rio. Her book A \u00c1gua \u00c9 uma M\u00e1quina do Tempo<\/em> (Water is a Time Machine) was a finalist for the 2023 Jabuti Award. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in residence at Sacatar, Motta is developing scripts for the portions of Water is a Time Machine<\/em> that have not yet been adapted for film.The existing 30-minute film adaptation will be expanded into a planned 70-minute feature. Central to both the book and the film is the story of her great-great-grandmother, Ambrosina Cafezeiro, born in Bahia in 1857 and deceased in Rio de Janeiro in 1894. Archival records suggest Ambrosina may have been born in Salvador or the Rec\u00f4ncavo region, possibly in the city of Jaguaripe. The proximity of Itaparica to these locations opens up new possibilities for research and artistic development during the residency. Aline is one of the four artists in this session whose residency is made possible through Sacatar\u2019s support of the project I Am a Black Ocean<\/em>, part of the Year of France in Brazil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Water is a Time Machine”<\/em> \u2013 Aline Motta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo Credit: Salim Santa Lucia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fran\u00e7ois Dufeil<\/strong>
Visual Arts
France<\/strong>
Fondation des Artistes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fran\u00e7ois Dufeil (b. 1987) is a visual artist who creates \u201ctool-sculptures\u201d\u2014hybrid works assembled from collected industrial waste and transformed into biomorphic forms. These sculptures are activated through performances that invite collaboration: musicians, painters, ceramicists, and even cooks engage with them using their own tools and practices, turning the works into catalysts for collective creation and transmission of artisanal and other forms of knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dufeil\u2019s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Mus\u00e9e des Beaux-Arts d\u2019Angers, Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Art Contemporain de Lyon, Les Brasseurs in Li\u00e8ge, La Graineterie \u2013 Centre d\u2019Art Contemporain, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Le Carr\u00e9 \u2013 Sc\u00e8ne nationale in Ch\u00e2teau-Gontier, MAC VAL, and Gallery Chosun in Seoul. He has also participated in residencies at the Centre d\u2019Art Contemporain du Parc Saint L\u00e9ger, Moly-Sabata \/ Fondation Albert Gleizes, La Condition Publique, among others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his residency at Sacatar, Dufeil will focus on producing study drawings for sculpture-percussion instruments. His research will also explore the work of luthiers in Salvador and surrounding regions, fostering exchanges around their knowledge, techniques, and sounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fran\u00e7ois is one of two artists in this session whose residency is made possible through Sacatar\u2019s partnership with the Fondation des Artistes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Vases d\u2019expansion”<\/em> – Fran\u00e7ois Dufeil – 2021
(Tool-sculpture, percussion instruments)
Photo credit: Salim Santa Lucia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo Credit: Julie Hrncirova<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Louise Mutrel<\/strong>
Photography
France<\/strong>
Fondation des Artistes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in 1992, Louise Mutrel is a French visual artist and photographer whose work embraces a saturated, pop-inspired photographic aesthetic. While she moves beyond traditional photographic codes, she resists full reliance on digital processes, instead favoring analog and mechanical techniques. Since 2018, she has pursued ongoing research in Japan on dekotora<\/em>\u2014extravagantly decorated trucks that blend folkloric and popular aesthetics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutrel is a graduate of HEAR and the \u00c9cole Nationale Sup\u00e9rieure de la Photographie in Arles. In 2024, she was named a laureate of Villa Kujoyama. Her work has been exhibited at institutions including Frac Bretagne, Bozar in Brussels, the Triennale Art et Industrie, and Voyage \u00e0 Nantes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her residency at Sacatar, Mutrel will carry out a photographic exploration of Salvador\u2019s car and motorcycle culture, focusing on phenomena such as car gatherings, carros-pipa<\/em> (water trucks), and pared\u00f5es<\/em>\u2014vehicles equipped with massive sound systems used during street events. The city’s vibrant motorcycle scene, likewise marked by a strong local identity, is another central element of her research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Louise is one of two artists in this session whose residency is made possible through Sacatar\u2019s partnership with the Fondation des Artistes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Le Soleil et l\u2019Acier”<\/em> (The Sun and Steel) – Louise Mutrel – 2021
(Altarpiece featuring dekotoras, hybrid trucks from the Japanese tuning culture)
168 \u00d7 120cm closed, 240 x 120cm open
Risography and steel
Goudron Frais exhibition, Marseille<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nathalie Vairac<\/strong>
Multidisciplinary Arts
France<\/strong>
Year of France in Brazil \u2013 I Am a Black Ocean<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a 30-year career as an actress, French artist Nathalie Vairac\u2014of Indo-Guadeloupean heritage\u2014has recently shifted her practice toward performative gestures. She now embraces transdisciplinary installations that merge performance, ritual, and visual art, exploring her multiple heritages while activating concepts such as intimacy and the unfinished. Her work is also informed by years of training in psychoanalysis and therapeutic healing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, she founded Compagnie La Lune Nouvelle in Dakar. Vairac has performed in landmark exhibitions, including Mutikkappatata<\/em> at RAW Material Company, Dakar (2024), and Les Restes Supr\u00eames<\/em> at the Museum of Black Civilisations, Dakar (2022). She lives and works in Dakar, Senegal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her residency at Sacatar, Vairac will continue her research into the intersection of the visible and invisible as a space of resistance. Through movement, she seeks new ways of embodying ancestral memory. She also hopes to engage with Candombl\u00e9 as part of this exploration. Nathalie is one of four artists in this session whose residency is made possible through Sacatar\u2019s support of the project I Am a Black Ocean<\/em>, part of the Year of France in Brazil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cLes Restes Supr\u00eames\u201d<\/em> by Dorcy Rugamba – 2022
Photo credit: Sabine Cessou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Salimata Diop<\/strong>
Multidisciplinary Arts
Senegal<\/strong>
Year of France in Brazil \u2013 I Am a Black Ocean<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salimata Diop is a curator, art critic, and composer. Based between France and Senegal, she served as Artistic Director of the 2024 Dak\u2019Art Biennale. Career highlights include directing the first three editions of the AKAA contemporary art fair in Paris and co-founding the MuPho photography museum in Saint-Louis, Senegal. In 2024, she was named one of Jeune Afrique<\/em>\u2019s \u201c50 Champions of Culture.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her creative practice merges writing and music composition to explore the narratives and memories of African and diasporic experiences. Rooted in improvisation, her musical process evolves from solo piano sessions into collaborative dialogues with other performers and artists. These acoustic explorations often intersect with digital composition, using tools such as Ableton Live. Whether through text or sound, Diop\u2019s work seeks to create resonant spaces for encounter, reflection, and healing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her residency at Sacatar, as part of the project I Am a Black Ocean<\/em>, Diop assumes a dual role: co-curator\u2014alongside artist Beya Gille Gacha and Nathalie Vairac\u2014and composer\/pianist. As curator, she continues her long-term research on the artist\u2019s studio, developing a typology shaped by 15 years of encounters with African and Afro-diasporic creators. As a musician, she will accompany performances and rituals, weaving music into the harmonic and vibratory thread of the project\u2019s collective \u201ctemple\u201d of creation and healing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shai Andrade<\/strong>
Multidisciplinary Arts
Brazil<\/strong>
SECULT and Year of France in Brazil \u2013 I Am a Black Ocean<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shai Andrade (b. 1992) is a multidisciplinary artist from Bahia. Her practice investigates matriarchal memory, identity, and Afro-diasporic spirituality through photography, video performance, and biographical objects. Drawing on personal narratives that intersect with collective memory, she builds a body of work focused on genealogy and the reconstruction of stories\u2014exploring the relationships between the intimate, the ancestral, and the political. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrade holds a degree in Arts, with a focus in Cinema, from the Federal University of Bahia. She has participated in residencies in Mexico (through the Flotar curatorial platform) and in Luanda, where she presented her series Or\u00e1culo da Mem\u00f3ria<\/em> (Oracle of Memory). Her work has been shown in group exhibitions including Afro-brasilidade<\/em> (FGV, Rio de Janeiro, 2025) and \u00d4 Abre Alas<\/em> (Maison de la Photographie, French Guiana, 2025). In 2023, she held her first solo exhibition, Or\u00e1culo da Mem\u00f3ria<\/em>, presented at Galeria Verve (S\u00e3o Paulo, 2023) and at the Goethe-Institut Bahia (Salvador, 2024). Her film Assentamento<\/em> was selected in 2022 for the Panorama Internacional Coisa de Cinema and Encontro de Cinema Negro Z\u00f3zimo Bulbul festivals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Sacatar, Andrade seeks to reclaim and reinvent an Afro-religious heritage that has been silenced within her family. She will deepen her experimentation with clay and ceramics, creating works that combine sculpture, performance, and photography. Her goal is to explore the body, gesture, and natural elements as vehicles to access, express, and transform memory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shai Andrade\u2019s residency is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Secretary of Culture of the State of Bahia, through the Apoio a A\u00e7\u00f5es Continuadas of the Fundo de Cultura da Secretaria de Cultura do Estado da Bahia (SECULT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Quartinha Cheia”<\/em> – Shai Andrade – 2025
(Ceramic vases, gold leaf, and raw crystal.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sacatar proudly joins the Year of France in Brazil with a residency session fully shaped by French partnerships. Two artists\u2014Fran\u00e7ois […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5971,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6032"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6289,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032\/revisions\/6289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sacatar.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}