Chama Xamânica is the first extensive presentation of Otelo M. F.’s work ever to be held in Lisbon. Gathering a substantial number of drawings, objects and sculptures, this exhibition allows one to delve into a creative universe governed by notions such as animism, primitivism or shamanism. Much more than mere discursive references, these are productive contexts for a work often marked by the feeling of loss in the face of a world disconnected from the spirit of the earth and the knowledge cultivated by our ancestors. It is not surprising, therefore, that Otelo M.F. (Almancil, 1974) has in performance and in ritual the tools that allow him to conduct energies, summon presences and articulate materialities. Movement, metamorphosis, transitoriness, restoring ideas that have no body, gathering and reusing materials that are frequently treated as waste, establishing unaccustomed connections or dialogues between materials and forms, are keywords in a wide-ranging practice, underlining the principle that “artistic work serves to reclaim our spiritual existence”.

Chama Xamânica is produced in partnership with Culturgest and was presented in its exhibition spaces in Oporto between February 18 and April 15, 2017.