The indigenous actress Zahy Tentehar arrives in Portugal this week for his debut in the country. The Gulbenkian Modern Art Center (CAM) welcomes the Brazilian artist for two presentations of the show Azira’ion February 13th and 14th, at 6:30 pm. The activity is part of the exhibition’s parallel program Brazil Complexwhich remains open until February 17th.
The multi-award winning solo is autobiographical and portrays the life of the artist’s mother, Azira’i Tentehar. Indigenous to the Tentehara Guajajara people, she was the first female shaman of the Cana Brava indigenous reserve, in Maranhão.. Azira’i Tentehar is described as “heir and guardian of the ancestral wisdom of her people and possessor of a profound knowledge of the land and forest medicine”.
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In the musical show, the actress “rescues memories in which the daughter relives her relationship with her mother, against the backdrop of the northeastern interiormarked by a strong patriarchal tradition and a culture divided between the preservation of ancestral values and the new dynamics brought by a globalized civilization”. The relationship with the mother, in this troubled context, “oscillates between affection and violence”.
Zahy gives voice to his mother when reporting the conflicts and the spirituality lived between the two, through stories and songs narrated and sung in the native language and in Portuguese. According to Gulbenkian, the presentation gains even more relevance as it takes place at a time when “nature is crying out for help; this show brings to light the importance of reconnecting with Mother Earth, just as Zahy and his mother reconnected through love, healing, forgiveness and care”.
After the presentation in Lisbon, Azira’i proceed to Coimbra, where it will be staged at Teatrão, on February 18th. Next, Rivoli, in Porto, will host two performances of the show, on the 20th and 21st of February. Tickets for the performances in Lisbon are on sale here for 15 euros.
amanda.lima@dn.pt
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