New OVR: Anthropophagy

Historically, anthropophagy was practiced among some humans during rituals as a way to absorb the qualities of the individual that was being eaten, like the bravery and courage of a defeated warrior. This idea of incorporating another’s qualities through deglutition is the foundation of Brazilian « Anthropophagy », theorized by Oswald de Andrade in the early 20th century during the construction of the country’s national identity. Through this term, de Andrade does not advocate the rejection of foreign cultures, but on the contrary the appropriation, the assimilation, the imitation of European cultures in particular.

Our latest OVR Anthropophagy questions this concept in our increasingly globalized world, exploring the ideas of «miscegenation», «cultural mixage» with the concurrent discourses surrounding «cultural appropriation», and «de-colonization» through the work of 3 international artists: Théo Mercier, Rosângela Rennó and Uriel Orlow.

Anthropophagy is now up on our website. Visit it until September 30, 2022!