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"This Second Bienal das Amazônias seems to understand its contradictions without attempting to resolve them. Curated by Manuela Moscoso together with Sara Garzón, Jean da Silva, and Mónica Amieva, the biennial unfolds around the idea of verde-distância ("green distance"), a notion borrowed from Benedicto Monteiro (1924-2008)-a Brazilian writer, journalist, and politician-that gestures toward the aliveness of the forest and its reverberation across bodies, landscapes, and times."

"It is always intriguing when an institution chooses to explicitly point to its political nature, especially at a moment when governments across the globe are systematically targeting and dismantling the very infrastructure that enables such declarations-for instance, defunding cultural institutions through austerity policies that mask political antagonism as mere fiscal management. "At its core, this biennial is political," declares the curatorial statement opening the Second Bienal das Amazônias."

The Second Bienal das Amazônias centers the concept of verde-distância, asserting the forest's aliveness and its effects across bodies, landscapes, and times. The exhibition occupies all four floors of Belém's Centro Cultural Bienal das Amazônias, a department store converted into a cultural center. Seventy-four Pan-Amazonian artists from nine countries participate, including Caribbean and Afro-Amazonian territories. Curators include Manuela Moscoso, Sara Garzón, Jean da Silva, and Mónica Amieva. The biennial declares an explicitly political orientation amid global austerity and institutional defunding. Belém do Pará is presented as the gateway to the Amazon, combining colonial architecture and river-port infrastructure.

Read at Artforum