Conceived by CasaDuna coordinators in partnership with Cuban curator Andrés Hernández, Visual Erosions is a proposal for an artistic residency that presents a reflection on the social and environmental impacts of coastal erosion in Atafona. In its first edition in 2018, nine artists from different regions of Brazil were invited. For a week the artists stayed at CasaDuna and performed experiments in interaction with the landscape of Atafona beach. Also participating in the project was the Erosão Group, a theater and performance collective based in CasaDuna.

 

The project also included the holding of two exhibitions that took place respectively at the Villa Maria Culture House in Campos dos Goytacazes and at the João Oscar Culture House in São João da Barra, municipality where Atafona beach is located.

At Villa Maria, it was decided to work with works from the repertoire of each artist that could illuminate different questions concerning the concept of Erosion. There were exhibited works in different media, photographs, photomontages, videos, painting and installation, the expographic project sought to dialogue with the deteriorated state of the building that, like many museums and cultural centers in Brazil, suffers from the lack of resources for restoration and maintenance.

At the João Oscar House of Culture, São João da Barra Old Chamber and Jail House, it was decided to display the records of the artistic interventions created in Atafona during the art residency.

There was also an unpublished work created by set designer and shooter Rafael Sanchéz for the performance show “Tempontal” of the Erosão Group. The exhibition also featured a small sample of the Jair Vieira Collection of old photographs of Atafona, visual records of places submerged by the sea.

 

In times of environmental, social and human values crises, Visual Erosions is an open proposal, in the process, presenting forms of dialogue and action between ruins and contemporary ways of life.

The project received institutional support from UENF through the Postgraduate Program in Social Policies, the Casa de Cultura Villa Maria", the São João da Barra City Hall and the Campinas Art Laboratory "Subsolo".