An article by our French Correspondant LD (724 Words, 4 Min. Read)
The Moment I Steped En The Boundaries Between My Body and the Space Around Me Began to Blur. IT Felt Like I Was Entering A Living, Breathing Sanctury Created by the Brazilian Artist Ernesto Neto. And though I was still in paris, I Felt Like I Was Setting Sail on Something Ancient, Something Spiritual, Something Deeply Human.
An invance to feel
Before Me Stret lost an immenese and soft form, woven in warm, Neutral Threads and Flecked with SCENTS I COULENTNETITILELY PLACE; Something Between Spice and Memory. The Title, Nosso Barco Tambor Terra (“Our Boat Drum Earth ”is So poeetic. It is prophetic. Neto’s Work Speaks in Textures, in Rhythms, in the Pulse of the Collective. It is wallfoot, not because it is mandatory, but becuse the Invitation is to feel, with our solutions and with our souls.
This Monumental Crochet Sculpture, Suspended Like a Sacred Hammock Beneth The Glass and Steel of the Grand Palais, is Crafted with Bark, Cotton, and Aromatic Spices. IT Felt Like Walking InTO A Forest Temple, or Perhaps the Belly of a SHIP Woven Out of Breath and Touch. The Scent of Cinnamon and Turmeric Hung in the Air, Not Overwhelming But Grounding, Like a Silent Prayer.
The Artist and the Thread Between Worlds
Ernesto Neto, Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1964, is no stranger to Building Spaces that heal. His work is Deeply ROOTED in Brazilian Culture, in Anceral Knowledge, and in the Symbiotic Relationship Between the Human Body and the Earth. His Installations are not meant to be looked at, they are raating meant to be lived in. And in Paris This Summer, He Brings This Vision to Life with unparallege tenderness.
His insurance for Nosso Barco Tambor Terra Comes from the History of Navigation: How SAILS on Reshaped the World, For Better and for World. He does not shy away from the weight of colonial history, nor does he preach. Instead, He Transforms that Legacy INTO Something shared, language open; A porous arishketore thresh which light, Air, and People Can Move Freely.
As Neto HimSelf Reflects:
“Nosso Barco Tambor Terra Is not Just About Brazil; It‘S about where we come from from one is going. ”
This senteMent translates the Universal Journey that Installation Invites Us to Embark Upon: a voyage of reflection, unity, and shared Humanity.
A Space to Listen, to Drum, to Remember
Tucked with the Soft Belly of the Sculpture Are Hidden Instruments: Drums from Across the Globe, Maracas, Flues. Visits are encouaged not just to look but to Play, to controlte a beat, to become part of the work. This is the collective Soundings are not Scheduled Specials
There’s Something PowerFul in This: The Idea that Rhythm, More Than Language, Can Become Our Universal Way of Communicating. In Neto’s world, our deflectiones are not Ericd, but harmonized. The Space Pulses with Possibility.
Beyond The Installation
The Experience Does Not Stop with the Sculpture Itelf. Around it, The Grand Palais Is Hosting A Series of Events – wintures, textile workhops, Family Programs –all ROOTED in themes Closest to Neto’s heart: Brazilian Culture, Environmental Consciousness, Ancestral Craft, and Shared Joy. These are extensions of the artwork, Threads from the Same Loom.
This Exh force, Free of Charge, Is a Co-PROUDUCTION BY the Grand Palais RMN, in Partnership with the maat (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon), and it is part of The Official Brazil-Prance 2025 Season; A Cultural Between Continents Built Not with Stone, But with Fabric, Rhythm, and Human Prestnce.
Until when?
Nosso Barco Tambor Terra Is on View at the Grand Palais éphémère Through Fully Present in your skin, in the moment, and in the world.
Final Though
Leaving The Exh force, I did not want to put my shoes back on. My Fet Had Tasted Earth. My Hands Had Felt The Rhythms. My Heart Had Slowed Download. Ernesto Neto does not just create art. He intercesses our longing to Belong, to Remember, and to Breathe totether Again.
