Newcity Brazil

Visual Art Culture of São Paulo and Beyond

Cosmovision Connections: Gallerist Nara Roesler Speaks about Bahia’s Vibrant Cultural Icon Alberto Pitta

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by Cynthia Garcia
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Alberto Pitta, “Amalá,” 2021, detail, print on paper, unique edition, 83.1″ x 60.2″/Photo: Flavio Freire. Courtesy Galeria Nara Roesler

Alberto Pitta, a well-known artist with strong ties to the carnival of Salvador, shows his first solo show at Rio’s Galeria Nara Roesler, curated by his longtime friend Vik Muniz. Pitta’s artistic output includes painting and sculpture; however, the core of his production is textile print and serigraphy or silk-screen works based on symbols of the Yoruba tradition brought to Bahia during West Africa’s transatlantic diaspora that exported slave workhands during Brazil’s colonial days. The original slave population grew into today’s large Afro-Brazilian population of Bahia by strengthening its role in the local community and reinventing new ways of living based on ancient African wisdom, which resulted in Bahia’s singular, vibrant cultural character.

Artist Alberto Pitta, and Vik Muniz, who curated Pitta’s solo exhibition/Photo: Flavio Freire. Courtesy Galeria Nara Roesler

Born in 1961, in the capital city of Bahia, Pitta has exhibited in art galleries since 1989. He participated in the 2023 edition of the Biennale of Sydney, Australia. The same year, he presented “O Quilombismo,” at Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt. In 2022, he showed at the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia, Salvador (MAM) and Rio’s MAR Museum. His works are in the collections of the MAM Bahia and MAM Rio, and at the Instituto Inhotim, Minas state.

We interviewed the gallery’s founder, one of Brazil’s grand dames of the arts, Nara Roesler.

Alberto Pitta at work in his studio, Salvador, Bahia, 2024/Photo: Flavio Freire. Courtesy Galeria Nara Roesler

How did you get to know Alberto Pitta’s work?

Pitta and Vik Muniz have been friends since 2000, and Vik and I are close friends, too. With his enthusiastic personality, generosity and eye for art, Vik told me about Pitta’s work these past four decades and that he’s exhibited in places like Germany and Australia. I was convinced on the spot.

Alberto Pitta at a carnival bloco with his creations, Salvador, Bahia, 1990s/Photo: personal archive

Now, tell us about Pitta.

He is the son of Mãe Santinha (mother), one of the foremost ialorixás (Afro-Brazilian candomblé priestess) of Salvador. When she passed away at age ninety, the governor at the time pronounced: “The culture of Bahia has lost one of its main symbols and icons for the fight for freedom.” Mãe Santinha raised all her ten kids by working as an embroiderer specializing in the difficult art of Richelieu lace. I love Richelieu lace! It is originally a French lace-making technique that honors Cardinal Richelieu, prime minister of Louis XIII, from the seventeenth century, that landed on our shores brought by the Portuguese caravels from our colonial days. In Brazil, it was crafted by gifted slave women from the African diaspora and passed down from mothers to daughters. Watching his mother work day in, day out on embroidery, Pitta grew passionate about the universe of the textile arts.

Alberto Pitta and his installation for the Biennale of Sydney, Australia, 2023. Courtesy of the artist

When did he begin to work on serigraphy, commonly known as screen printing?

In the late 1970s, he began in serigraphy art by appropriating symbols and signs from the candomblé, Brazilian Indian and Yoruba cultures, which are firmly planted at the roots of Bahia’s Afro-Brazilian culture, designing costumes for Zâmbia Pombo and Oba Layê, two small carnival blocos (groups) of São Caetano, the neighborhood where he lived, and one of the largest, poor neighborhoods in the capital city of Salvador. Ten years later, he was designing the costumes and creating the prints for important blocos such as Badauê, Ara Ketu and Timbalada. From 1984 to 1997, he was named artistic director of the famous bloco Olodum. In 1990, Paul Simon recorded the music video hit “Obvious Child” in the streets of Salvador’s historic center with Olodum’s powerful drums, Afro dance choreography, colorful costumes and characteristic Bahia joyfulness. Five years later, Michael Jackson followed with his hit “They Don’t Care About Us” filmed in a Salvador slum with Olodum’s percussion. Then came Jamaican reggae musician Julian Marley and others, including Brazilian music stars Gal Costa, Caetano Veloso, Ivete Sangalo, Cidade Negra, Tim Maia, Jorge Ben, Elba Ramalho, Daniela Mercury, Carlinhos Brown etc.

Alberto Pitta, “Untitled,” 2020, paint and print on canvas, unique edition, 102.4″ x 57.1″/Photo: Flavio Freire. Courtesy Galeria Nara Roesler

How does Pitta view his serigraphy art?

For Pitta, cloth and clothes are not mere utilitarian elements of dress. He sees them through the teachings of African cosmovision, an ancient wisdom that views the textile arts as fundamental tools to connect humans with their environment and ancestors. His work evokes traditional African and Afro-diasporic elements from West Africa’s Yoruba mythology.

Alberto Pitta, “Namorados,” 2020, paint and print on canvas, unique edition, 61.4″ x 67.3″/Photo: Flavio Freire. Courtesy Galeria Nara Roesler

How is he seen in his native state of Bahia?

Pitta is widely known in Bahia for his work and his contributions to numerous popular festivities. The music videos with major artists, Salvador’s carnival and the fact he designs for the city’s top blocos, Olodum and Filhos de Gandhy, turned him into a major figure of Afro-Brazilian culture in his beloved Bahia. He now even has his own bloco, Cortejo Afro. Pitta has a saying: “I enjoy provoking an ‘encounter of illiterate people,’ meaning those who did not have the opportunity to study, and academics who know nothing about African religious symbols.”

To wrap up, anything else you would like to add?

Just a typical salute from the Yoruba tradition meaning positive energies: “Axé!” And a big hug, “Aquele abraço!”

Alberto Pitta: Outros Carnavais (Other Carnivals)
Through August 10, 2024
Curated by Vik Muniz
Galeria Nara Roesler, Rua Redentor 241, Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
Instagram: @galerianararoesler