Exhibition “Unspeakable Gestures,” by Adriano Machado

Exhibition “Unspeakable Gestures,” by Adriano Machado, arrives at the Simões Filho Art Museum (BA)
The exhibition, winner of the 17th Funarte Marc Ferrez Photography Award, is curated by Ana Paula Lopes and is inspired by the thought of Azoilda Loretto da Trindade.

Curated by Ana Paula Lopes, the exhibition “Unspeakable Gestures,” by artist Adriano Machado, arrives in Simões Filho (BA). The exhibition is inspired by the thought of Azoilda Loretto da Trindade and is the winning project of the 17th edition of the Funarte Marc Ferrez Photography Award. After passing through Rio de Janeiro, Machado's photographs occupy the MASF, the Simões Filho Art Museum, in a project conceived by Augusto Leal, which occupies a staircase in the CIA I neighborhood. The opening takes place on November 29th, at 4 pm, with free admission for all.

In Unspeakable Gestures, the Bahian visual artist Adriano Machado conducted research across the states of Rio de Janeiro, Pará, and Bahia, analyzing everyday gestures, materialities, and ways of teaching and learning transmitted within families and communities. The exhibition is inspired by Afro-Brazilian Civilizational Values, systematized by the educator and Black intellectual Azoilda Loretto da Trindade (1957–2015), a fundamental reference in Afro-Brazilian pedagogy. Circularity, corporeality, musicality, ancestry, memory, playfulness, and axé (spiritual energy) are some of the principles that permeate Machado's work, guiding a poetics that speaks of affection, protection, mystery, and collectivity.

For the artist, the encounter with people and their daily lives is always the starting point: “In my photography, the presence of trust is essential. The people photographed need to share the narrative with me. Almost everything in the image comes from them, from their homes, from their memories, so that we can create lasting scenes,” he explains.

Unspeakable Gestures emerges from what Machado calls Afro-inventive territories, imaginary and poetic spaces that traverse daily life, ancestry, and Afro-Brazilian ways of existing. To create these works, the artist developed a method of attention to invisible knowledge, learning from capoeira angola, observing his father's welding workshop, and following the daily work of family members who sell and make food or clothing. These gestures, often subtle, become material for photographs and videos that explore wood, iron, clay, water, fire, music, and other elements, transforming the everyday into an aesthetic and political narrative.

About the artist

Adriano Machado is a Visual Artist. Originally from Feira de Santana, he lives between his hometown and Alagoinhas-BA. A doctoral candidate in Visual Arts at UFBA, he develops artistic projects in photography, video, and objects that seek to discuss issues of identity, territory, memory, fiction, and silence through relationships of trust and politics of life. His works point to the human condition within shared spaces and Afro-inventive territories. He participated in the 2022 Dakar Biennial (Senegal) with the Intervalo Collective; the 31st CCSP Exhibition Program (2021); the Valongo International Image Festival (Santos/SP, 2019); Concerto for Birds (Goethe Institut, Salvador, 2019); Panapaná “Let's Hold Hands” (João Pessoa, 2018). He received the Marc Ferrez Prize 2024; was nominated for the PIPA Prize 2021; received the Incentive Prize at the 4th SAPF (Britain, 2024); received an acquisition prize at the Latin American Art Circuit (Porto Alegre, 2022); was nominated for the PIPA Prize 2021; received the Bahia Visual Arts Salons Prize (2013) and special mentions (2014 and 2011). Funarte Award for Artistic Residencies (2019). Participated in artistic residencies in Chicago, Lisbon, and New York.

About MASF – Simões Filho Art Museum

Created in 2023, MASF – Simões Filho Art Museum is an artistic proposition that transforms a staircase on the city's main avenue into a space for the enjoyment and circulation of art. The museum promotes encounters between residents, visitors, and works by local artists and artists from other regions, expanding access to contemporary artistic production and strengthening the relationship between art and territory.

In the year of its creation, MASF was awarded the "Museum is the World" Prize, recognition that boosted its programming and presence in cultural institutions and universities in different parts of the country. Since then, the museum has been holding exhibitions, educational activities, and participating in debates and events on the impact of art on the transformation of territories, public policies, and the role of cultural institutions, consolidating itself as an innovative reference in the Brazilian art scene.

Service

Exhibition: Unspeakable Gestures - Adriano Machado

Curated by: Ana Paula Lopes

Opening to the public: November 29, 2025, at 4 PM

Address: Staircase of Av. Elmo Serejo de Farias with R. Anísio Teixeira, Cia I, Simões Filho - BA

Free admission
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