OLHE BEM AS MONTANHAS (LOOK CLOSELY AT THE MOUNTAINS)

Two environments in juxtaposition: plants and animals have returned to the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais after invasive mining stopped. In the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, on the other hand, excessive natural resource extraction continues. We hear voices describing an environmental disaster that occurred as a consequence. We see cave paintings illustrating how nature and culture survive despite all this. Ana Vaz’s depiction using the visual language of a speculative, lucid dream was confronted with reality just one year later: when the Brumadinho dam burst in 2019. The disaster destroyed ecosystems and towns as well as claiming hundreds of lives.