The set Casas de pássaros It was produced by Paulo Nazareth in the context of the exhibition. ESCONJURO, As part of the renovation inaugurated in November 2024, which adopted spring as its starting point, the work was entirely produced in Inhotim by the carpentry team and installed by our studio team. The houses are the result of collaborations between the artist, the curators, and various researchers from the institution's Botanical Garden.
Migration processes and their unfolding have become a subject of interest in Paulo Nazareth's work. In addressing the colonial experience, the transits from Africa and the Americas, the circulation of goods, people, and therefore cultures, formed the basis of his investigations. In this process, the artist is also interested in the different nation-building projects that were constructed and how the notions of barbarism and civilization, backwardness and progress were mobilized. The notion of a "modern Brazil," a counterpoint to a Brazil of the past, was initially announced by public authorities through architecture; creating a Federal Capital in the interior of Brazil can be interpreted as the most radical gesture in the pursuit of modernizing the country. However, in practice, the announced progress never reached everyone. For the construction of Brasília, for example, the removal of large areas of Cerrado vegetation resulted in serious alterations to natural habitats, impacting the flora and fauna of the region. The works would also have impacted other more distant biomes, such as the Atlantic Forest, due to the high demand for wood for reinforced concrete constructions. Furthermore, the workers who migrated to Brasília, mostly from the Northeast of Brazil, had terrible working and living conditions, with the majority forced to reside on the outskirts of the city in precarious and improvised houses, reusing some of the leftover materials from construction sites.
Birds migrate in search of better living conditions, that is, a greater supply of food, shelter, and more favorable environments for reproduction. Inhotim has been part of the route for different species, and the collection Casas de pássaros The goal is to provide a welcoming environment for these traveling animals. The houses were built based on "modern" designs, meaning they draw inspiration from specific characteristics of the visual repertoire of modern Brazilian architecture.
