Terra

This year marks the 18th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale with the central theme being Laboratory of the Future. In this talk, Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares – curators of the Brazil Pavilion – will share what it was like to think of Brazil as Terra [Earth], in the exhibition that won the Golden Lion.

In their own words, they explain that earth is “soil, fertiliser, ground and territory. But it is also earth in its global and cosmic sense, as a planet and the common home of all life, human and non-human. Earth as memory, and also as future, looking at the past and heritage to broaden the field of architecture in the face of the most pressing contemporary urban, territorial and environmental issues.”

The conversation will be moderated by Andreia Garcia, curator of Portugal’s official representation at the Venice Biennale, and will also aim to showcase other projects that Gabriela and Paulo are developing independently in Brazil.

Gabriela de Matos is an Afro-Brazilian architect and urban planner, born in Vale do Rio Doce in Minas Gerais. She creates multidisciplinary projects with the aim of promoting and highlighting Brazilian architectural and urban culture from the perspective of race and gender. She graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at PUC Minas in 2010. She currently teaches undergraduate Architecture and Urbanism at Escola da Cidade. She is the CEO of Estúdio de Arquitetura – Gabriela de Matos, created in 2014.
She was also vice-president of the São Paulo department of the Brazilian Institute of Architects (2020-2022), and is the founder of the project Arquitetas Negras, which maps the production of black Brazilian architects. De Matos researches architecture produced in Africa and its diaspora with a focus on Brazil. She proposes actions that promote the debate on gender and race in architecture as a means of bringing visibility to the issue.

Paulo Tavares explores the interfaces between architecture, visual cultures, curatorship, theory and advocacy. Operating across multiple mediums, his work opens up a collaborative arena focused on environmental justice and counter-narratives in architecture. His designs and texts have been featured in various national and international exhibitions and publications, including Harvard Design Magazine, The Architectural Review, the Oslo Architecture Triennial, the Istanbul Design Biennale, and the 32nd Bienal de São Paulo – Live Uncertainty. Tavares was co-curator of the Chicago Architecture Biennale 2019 (USA) and is currently a member of the curatorial board of the second edition of the Sharjah Architecture Triennale 2023 (UAE). He has curated several projects like the Climate Emergency > Emergence, at the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon (Portugal).
He is the author of several texts and books that question the colonial legacies of modernity, including Forest Law/Floresta Jurídica (2014), Des-Habitat (2019), Memória da terra (2019), Lúcio Costa era racista? (2020), and Derechos No-Humanos (2022). His design projects are also featured at this year’s Biennale in the Arsenal pavilion.

Andreia Garcia is a PhD architect, curator and teacher. Her interests focus on the contemporary practice of architecture in an era marked by strong technological advances and a progressive ecological crisis. She has lectured at the School of Architecture at the University of Minho and at the Architectural Association. She is a professor and vice-president of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Beira Interior. She is the founder of Architectural Affairs, the Architecture Gallery and director of the art(e)facts Biennial. She is the curator of the Portuguese representation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2023.

Fotografia: Dinis Santos