Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade discusses his collaborative, research-driven practice in a studio visit feature for CULTURED magazine. He describes working with actors, cart drivers, carrier pigeon racers, and zoo employees to create installations, photographs, and films that examine the architecture, labor, and history of northeast Brazil. This month, a Vatican-commissioned video installation about Brazilian activist nuns opens at MACRO in Rome, while a series of flags developed with canoeists on the São Francisco River is on view at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. De Andrade shares his daily rituals, inspirations, and the expansive definition of his studio—a sanctuary in Recife filled with collected magazines, images, and objects.
The article matters because it offers an intimate look at how a major contemporary artist from the Global South navigates the tension between solitary studio work and deeply collaborative, community-engaged art-making. De Andrade's practice, which blends documentary, performance, and social history, has gained international recognition, with works in the Pinault Collection and exhibitions at prestigious institutions. The piece also highlights the growing visibility of Brazilian art on the world stage, as well as the Vatican's engagement with contemporary artists for the Roman Jubilee, signaling a broader institutional embrace of socially engaged art.