Today, we are elated to be joined by Ancestral Artist from Brazil – Taís Bueno dos Santos, an art educator focusing one’s roots and ancestry.
Hello Taís! Please take it away!
Hi my name is Taís, I am Brazilian, I’m 30 years old, vegetarian and I have a cultural melting pot in my blood, which helps me to walk in life with more truth, love and respect for life and everything that exists in it.
I have a full degree in Visual Arts from FPA -Faculty São Paulo of Arts.
I worked in the field of visual arts for ten years in educational projects, preparation and development of educational content and delivery of creative workshops. Concurrently as an artist, with collective exhibitions in cultural centers in the city of São Paulo.
I’m also an art educator, I’ve worked in various cultural facilities in the city of São Paulo (such as Memorial da América Latina, Museum of Image and Sound and Pinacoteca from the State of São Paulo), an action that enables several meetings and reflections on art, artists, heritage and public.
I have experience in audiovisual, scripting, routine (set) of filming of short films and production, with participation as a screenwriter and production in the International Short Film Festival of São Paulo.
Currently an ancestral artist, I’m studying English, design and an MBA in Marketing for fashion professionals, and working as a visual artist and illustrator.
You mentioned that you’re currently an art educator who specialises in ancestry art? How does your occupation co-align with your interest and personal goal to pursue art as a career? Do you think that you’ll ever lose passion in art?
I research native people and people from the African matrix, I have two university extensions with this theme. This knowledge helps me to take a more generous path with myself and with others, and to understand socio-cultural phenomena.
But I prefer to refer to myself only as an artist who is a researcher about the ancestry of indigenous peoples and of African origin, and not as a specialist, is my subject of in-depth study and inspiration for artistic practice, is my theme for life and continual deepening, as I have a very respectful look towards those who have deep knowledge, but who do not have space for speech and legitimate rights. I’m constantly improving the theme and techniques.
I believe it is essential to know our roots to expand in awareness and collaborate socially with greater truth.
I use acrylic paint, watercolour, paint on raw cotton, a Canva digital platform, and different media to express what I live and think.
and those who Left a Legacy in the Form of Beauty.
Understanding my roots, my ancestry and observing how all those before me, gained profound knowledge with love, makes me have the constant desire to learn and know more about the mysteries of nature, and thus collaborate for a world with greater expansion of conscience and affection.
I want to have art by my side, as a tool so that more people have in mind and heart the respect for different ways of existing and different natures and their mysteries and knowledge.
Art is something that since I perceive myself as a person I do it with love. It is my service to the world, art is what connects me with my deepest and truest nature, despite the difficulties of the artist’s life, it is my path and I neither want nor can I leave.
I follow this personal and professional path, with an eye to the future on this path.
At the moment, I work as an artist, illustrator and educator.
Wow! That’s very inspiring! On another note, ancestral artist and art is not a common art form here (in Singapore), perhaps you’d like to explain more about your art form?
The art I make is based on research and studies I do as a person, educator and ancestral artist.
And from these researches, and from my quest to understand my roots and the roots of the Brazilian people who have indigenous and African peoples in their original legacy.
The erasure of black and indigenous identity in Brazil over time makes it difficult for a large number of people to understand the immense legacy that indigenous and African peoples have left throughout Brazil.
Preserving nature, and the greatest guardians of nature that are the original peoples, is urgent.
Respecting the African peoples, and respecting all the cultural heritage, which they also left in Brazil, and which also constitute Brazil, is urgent as well.
We are the fusion of these peoples and we must respect and preserve their legacy.
Hear the speech of Ailton Krenak, indigenous leader, environmentalist, poet, philosopher and Brazilian writer of the Crenaque indigenous ethnic group, as well as the speech of the Master and Doctor Baba King (Nigerian living in Brazil) in Sociology from the University of São Paulo (USP) acting in the transdisciplinary research group on African heritage, founder of the cultural center and editor Oduduwa, among numerous qualifications, they are two great references among others.
These references are ways of understanding life, my roots, Brazil.
The construction of knowledge and artistic work are, for me, in constant movement based on the knowledge of indigenous peoples in Brazil and the African heritage.
I share my life experiences, my researches, my observations about the mysteries of nature, what I think, study and feel in my heart is what I materialise as art, in different ways.
As an ancestral artist, why do you want to create art?
It’s because I believe that art is a tool for internal and external improvement and social expansion.
It always brings new perspectives, which can warm our hearts and lift our minds. Moreover, the more artists become aware of their role in the world, the greater the awareness and in turn, the greater will be the affection in the world.
Art is a comfort to the soul, with beauty and truth.
For me, recording and communicating the connection of diverse natures and their ancestral symbolism in imagery is an act of resistance that elucidates the strength of native peoples and of African matrix, about knowledge, memories and countless narratives that reinforce plurality, the body as a sacred space, playful and magical.
Nature as a source of life, something that I believe is extremely important to be elucidated in a highly destructive world with nature, with women, and with differences, intolerant of other forms of knowledge and knowledge, paint the integration between nature and knowledge is to resist for me and for everyone who resisted before I existed.
How do you usually integrate your individuality through your works of ancestry art?
My individuality, everything I feel is in my art. The materialisation of art, the final result is a fragment, of an entire context of experience, of the entire process that I live and research. I have just shared what I feel, observe, think, imagine and materialise in art.
We’ve seen some of your content and artistic inputs. What are your favourite designs/pieces? How long did you take to complete those pieces? Are there any significance in these art pieces?
All the favourite pieces have as a common point the fusion between different natures.
The oracle series is composed of 21 arts and other pieces loose as experimentation. Its meaning and all the conceptual and artistic work makes me reflect on how the symbiosis between different natures, animal and human, subtle and concrete, is given to the poetic fact of perceiving the female body as a great power of diverse, authentic, powerful and transforming creation .
It took me 2 months to complete (Oracle series).
Publication of the Oraculo series, for an art site whose theme is the work of women from Latin America.
Both works, entitled tea and nature fusion, reflect the body in a state of healing. This transformation of different natures is present and necessary for the emotional, physical and spiritual state to change. The different natures together create healing and inner harmony.
What’s your plan for the future? Where do you see yourself in 2 – 3 years?
In 2 to 3 years I wish to take on multiple artistic projects, with the general scopes of raising awareness, respecting different cultures, the mysteries of life and the preservation of nature.
I want to create an art that can bring reflection, affection and beauty. I want to have professional stability in the artistic field.
Do you have other mediums that you’d like to explore?
I would love to work more with ceramics, fabric art and digital creation. I would like to share my thoughts with more people, through artistic pieces or workshops, in digital format.
What’s your take on the current art scene in Brazil? Do you think that there is potential for the art industry to continue thriving?
Currently, Brazil is experiencing a serious economic and humanitarian crisis, due to the deforestation of nature and work shortages. This created a terrible scenario of hunger for thousands of people.
The economic and social insecurity is immense. With the current government, I don’t see growth prospects in the artistic scene and I don’t see social improvements.
Thanks so much for sharing about ancestry art! If you like our ancestral artist works, be sure to check out her works on her Oracle publications. Meanwhile, do stay tuned to our socials for the latest updates!
