Projects

OPAVIVARÁ!

OPAVIVARÁ! is a collective of four contemporary Brazilian artists who use installations, performance, video and sound to encourage people to participate in social issues through art.

Arts Heritage

Brazil & Aotearoa New Zealand

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OPAVIVARÁ! Rede Social 2017 / 2019. Courtesy of the artists and A Gentil Carioca Gallery

OPAVIVARÁ! is a collective of contemporary Brazilian artists, founded in 2005 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The collective uses art installations to create safe, pleasurable environments where people can meet, raise social issues and injustices, talk with each other, and share ideas and experiences. OPAVIVARÁ! has presented its installations and performance-activated art projects at exhibitions, and festivals throughout Brazil, and at international biennials.

In 2019, OPAVIVARÁ! was invited to take part in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery International Visiting Artist programme. Supported by the gallery and the Creative NZ Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, this programme gives New Zealand audiences the chance to access high-quality contemporary art, and meet artists from around the world.

Between November 2019 and February 2020, around 88,000 New Zealanders and international visitors came to Dunedin Public Art Gallery to see OPAVIVARÁ! present two of its most recent sculptures called Rede Social and Paje Curumim. OPAVIVARÁ! also presented a new interactive sculpture called SeaSystem that it developed with Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin School of Art and local people, using materials sourced from Dunedin. All three sculptures gave visitors a different way to encounter and occupy the gallery space, and the chance to connect with other visitors. Paje Curumim is now part of Dunedin Public Art Gallery’s permanent collection.

OPAVIVARÁ!'s work is part of collections at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo; Rio de Janeiro Museum of Modern Art; Guggenheim Museum, USA; and A Gentil Carioca gallery, Rio de Janeiro.

Published 02 November 2023