Ancestral Futures

Ancestral Futures
21 July 2025
Les Rencontres de la Photographie de Arles presents the exhibition Ancestral Futures – Brazilian Contemporary Scene. The Exhibition is curated by Thyago Nogueira and presents a new and generation of artists working with photography, video and collage to address contemporary Brazil society and history by reinterpreting its visual archives and traditions.
"With fierce irony and surprising beauty, these artists denounce the historical violence against Afro-Brazilian, immigrant, indigenous and LGBTQIA+ peoples by exposing the construction of stereotypes and disputing the narration of the country’s official history. Their political attitude is also expressed by challenging the integrity and the formal qualities of the photographic frame,"wrote the curador.
The title of the show echoes indigenous philosopher and activist Ailton Krenak’s book Ancestral Future, which challenges the Western idea of progress as a chronologically and linear time to propose a future that is built by looking back to essential elements of the past.
Artists: Igi Lọlá Ayedun (1990), Denilson Baniwa (1984), Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro (1996), Rafa Bqueer (1992), Yhuri Cruz (1991), Mayara Ferrão (1993), Collective Lakapoy (2022), Paulo Nazareth (1977), Melissa Oliveira (2000), Lincoln Péricles (1989), Ventura Profana (1993), Glicéria Tupinambá (1982) and Gê Viana (1986).
Les Rencontres de la Photographie de Arles
Église des Trinitaires
Arles, France
Visiting hours: 9:30 am to 7:30 pm.
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