Paulo Nazareth
Patuá/Patois
Paulo Nazareth (b. 1977, Brazil) is an artist who creates as he walks. Known for his arte de conducta (behaviour art), his artistic practice is rooted in radical displacement and movement, such as crossing borders on foot. His work confronts the interplay of memory, language, and ritual in communities shaped by Afro-Brazilian, Indigenous, and anti-colonial struggles.
Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York
Photo credit: Bruno Leão
Courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM, São Paulo, Brussels, Paris, New York
Patuá/Patois marks the first large-scale survey of Nazareth's work in Belgium, showcasing a series of new and existing works that represent over two decades of his artistic practice. The exhibition explores two powerful symbols of survival and resilience: patois, a nonstandard dialect spoken by marginalized communities, and patuá, an Afro-Brazilian amulet symbolizing protection and remembrance. Through these symbols, he investigates how language and objects can serve as tools for survival, particularly for those displaced by colonial histories and global migration. Nazareth transforms movement into an act of resistance, bearing witness to the lives of the forgotten and the silenced. Through the artworks presented at WIELS, Nazareth critically addresses Brussels’ vanishing local dialect, its complex linguistic divides, and its fraught relationship with immigration.
As a significant act of resistance, Paulo Nazareth will not physically come to Brussels for this exhibition. He has made a personal commitment not to set foot in Europe until he has first visited all the countries in Africa, honouring the continent that has deeply influenced his work and identity. This refusal to enter Europe reflects Nazareth's critique of colonial histories and the power dynamics between the Global North and South.
Curator: Fernanda Brenner