Nosso Barco Tambor Terra

Ernesto Neto, one of Brazil's most international and well-known artists, presents an immersive installation that evokes the crossing of cultures between different continents.
 
Curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Nosso Barco Tambor Terra [our boat drum earth] is one of the largest sculptures Ernesto Neto has ever made. Its shape is a product of months of work, in dialogue with MAAT’s architectural space and the museum's surroundings,
 
Using images (sails) and materials (canvas and ropes) generally associated with transatlantic voyages, Ernesto Neto creates a set of unprecedented installations that occupy the venue's different dimensions. To create the work, Neto used mostly chintz, a relatively cheap cotton fabric that is extremely common in Brazil, often printed with brightly coloured flowers and plants. The work’s overall plan is developed freehand, through tests and adjustments supported by specific software that allows for precision but also sufficient malleability to adapt to the specificities of the space at the time of mounting in situ.
 
In recent years, alongside his activity as an artist, Neto has also devoted himself to percussion. Throughout the exhibition, the sculpture, which incorporates a series of instruments, will be periodically activated by a musical programme, devised by musicians and groups from various parts of the world, with particular emphasis on the rhythms of African and Asian diasporas.