Toqui (or Toki) (Mapudungun for axe or axe-bearer) is a title conferred by the Mapuche – an indigenous Chilean and Argentinian people – on those chosen as leaders during times of war. Following this rite and challenging notions of masculinity, artist Seba Calfuqueo performs in Alka Domo, a striking video where we see them carry a heavy log – a ‘hollow’ trunk of Coihue – while wearing colourful high heels. ‘Hollow’ or ‘Hueco’ in Spanish, is the insulting term used in Chile to call identities beyond heterosexuality. The places chosen for the performance symbolize the official history of the Mapuche in Chile. Taking centrestage in the exhibition, the piece intelligently reflects on the social, sociological, cultural and political background of contemporary Chile mixing ancestral knowledge and identity politics.

It’s one of the strongest works presented in Though it’s dark, still I sing, Works from the 34th Bienal de São Paulo featured at LUMA Arles, the spectacular art campus which rejuvenates the historical and cultural city of Arles. The show is presented until 5th March 2023 and is accompanied by a collateral programme of performances and conferences.

‘‘The Bienal de São Paulo is one of the first and most historical biennials in the world and has always been at the forefront of global artistic discourses. I am excited to see the work of artists coming from different backgrounds manifested in Arles, in an exhibition that builds on our mission for openness and inclusivity, always aiming to have the most innovative artists at the center of our programs.’’ – Maja Hoffmann, Founder and President of LUMA Arles said.

The 34th Bienal de São Paulo was put together with a desire to bring diversity to the forefront, offering a plurality of cultural perspectives. This is the first time excerpts from this Biennial is presented in France.

Centred around a series of statements, Though it’s dark, still I sing, Works from the 34th Bienal de São Paulo, features fourteen artists from seven countries, bringing into dialogue political narratives, post-colonialist issues, environmental concerns and Indigenous cosmologies.

The selected artists are from seven countries such as Zózimo Bulbul, Jaider Esbell, Noa Eshkol, Naomi Rincón Gallardo, Carmela Gross, Sueli Maxakali, Gala Porras-Kim, Alice Shintani, Amie Siegel, Regina Silveira, and Daiara Tukano.

Other highlights in the show include An Opera of the World by Manthia Diawara. This is a remarkable film-essay about the tragedies of migration incorporating concepts of chaos-opera, coined by Edouard Glissant. Through interviews with African and European intellectuals, Diawara examines the reality of the cultural encounters and ideas of hybridization.

The exhibition opens with the beautiful ceramics of artists Victor Anicet. In his work, fragments of Martinican culture are reworked into ceramics that refer to both the past, in which the signs of hidden history of Amerindians and symbols of colonial oppression merge, and to the present, where they are taken up and restored. Anicet’s first contact with the ceramics of the Amerindian Arawak people was as a child while assisting the archeological excavations organized by Father Pinchon at the Adoration site in Le Marigot, in the north of Martinique. Years later, while studying in Paris, he visited the Musée de L’Homme and realized how far he and his people had distanced themselves from their history, which had remained in the hands and voices of the colonizers. Anicet returned to Martinique in 1967 and has been addressing the lack of space for exhibiting contemporary art there ever since.

The conceptual framework of the 34th Bienal de São Paulo is meant to provide multiple opportunities to encounter art “and to claim, at the same time, the right to opacity of both artistic expressions as well as identities of subjects and social groups.

It is a rare chance to engage with this wonderful exhibition in France and it shouldn’t be missed.

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Images: Works from the 34th São Paulo Bienal in LUMA Arles, ‘Though it’s dark, still I sing’. Jaider Esbell, Carta ao velho mundo (Letter to the Old World), 2021. (Image credit: © Victor & Simon / Joana Luz)

Works from the 34th São Paulo Bienal in LUMA Arles, ‘Though it’s dark, still I sing’. Carmela Gross, Boca do Inferno, 2020. Les Forges, Parc des Ateliers, LUMA Arles, France. (Image credit: © Victor & Simon / Joana Luz)