Lines of Origin, by Kaya Agari

Casa de Cultura do Parque presents, from November 14, 2026, to March 7, 2027, the exhibition “Linhas de origem” (Lines of Origin) by Kaya Agari, as part of the institution’s III Exhibition Cycle. Held at Projeto 280×1020, the exhibition is curated by Claudio Cretti, the institution’s artistic director, and features a critical text by curator Paula Borghi.
In dialogue with the cycle’s proposal to revisit history, the exhibition draws on the work of Kaya Agari (Cuiabá, 1986), who grew up in Kuiakware Village, located in the Bakairi Indigenous Territory in the state of Mato Grosso, to rethink geometric abstraction and landscape within the canons of Western art. Kaya uses natural pigments, primarily genipap and annatto, to transform elements of Brazilian fauna and flora into geometric forms through traditional Kurâ-Bakairi patterns applied to fabric.
As a means of affirmation and resistance in the face of the many forms of violence inflicted by systemic colonization, these patterns – or lines of origin, the term adopted in the exhibition’s title – affirm the identity of many Indigenous peoples, including the Kurâ-Bakairi. According to Paula Borghi, this is because, when a person adorns themselves with the pattern of a particular animal, they become, in a sense, part of that animal. Kurâ-Bakairi painting draws inspiration from animals such as dragonflies, jaguars, anacondas, fish, and tortoises, whose forms are revealed through geometric compositions.
“Lines of Origin” highlights Kaya’s practice, which is rooted in knowledge passed down through generations. Just as she learned the patterns from her mother, chief Maisa Taukane, the artist teaches them to her daughters and son, keeping her people’s culture alive. “Although this is a solo exhibition, Kaya Agari will always be accompanied by her grandmother, her mother, and all her ancestral and contemporary relatives. Her artistic practice is both individual and collective, as is characteristic of the Kurâ-Bakairi people,” Paula Borghi adds in her critical text.