O não-lugar pode ser uma encruzilhada: pintura ritualística como acolhimento de si

Abstract

This art research focuses on understanding painting as a ritualistic practice of care of the self in Brazilian Afro-diasporic cultural context, specifically in the experience as a member of the Umbanda Terreiro Instituto Afro-indígena Brasileiro Guerreiros de Aruanda – IABGA. I argue that painting can become a ritualistic healing process within the denial of belonging to a place, be it social, cultural, ethnic-racial, religious, or other collective spaces of being. I seek to investigate my artistic practices that emerge from the terreiro practices and understand how images and visualities are presented concerning the ancestral knowledge of my spirituality. The methodology comprises artistic practice in painting associated with investigating orality, objects, and narratives present in personal archives, terreiro archives, and the bibliographic review of the themes and concepts involved. I depart from intersected crossings with the idea of crossroads to experience artistic practice as an act of offering. I invite thinkers and artists to discuss the key concepts that drive the practice, among them: Pedro Ivo Cipriano, Luiz Rufino, Conceição Evaristo, Kabengele Munanga, Mestre Didi, Renata Felinto, among others. Intersecting the poetics presented, I discuss the terreiro art associated with aquilombamento strategies and writing as a decolonial healing methodology. At the end of this investigation, I conclude that painting can become a ritualistic process through the crossroads painting, celebrating and honoring the crossings that make up the individuality of being, and using this practice as an offering of oneself.