Janaina Wagner
QUEBRANTE
Spell breaking QUEBRANTE traverses the caves, ruins and phantasmagorias of Transamazon BR230 Highway, portraying its stones and its ghosts. Set in the tiny town of Rurópolis (Pará) – the very first one to be build in the Highway to serve as a base for the workers that were building it – QUEBRANTE follows Ms. Erismar, known in the region as “The Cave Woman”. A retired elementary school teacher, Ms. Erismar was the one responsible for the discovery of the region’s caves: she would enter the dark unknown holes till their ends, with only a candle in her hands and a lighter tied to her pants – in case the flame would fade out.
A huge nationalistic propaganda part of the progress and development project of Brazil, Transamazônica Highway was implemented during the civic-military dictatorship that took place at the moment – and it is till nowadays a warm scar of the wreckage dream of the history of the country. A conversation between the moon and the stones, QUEBRANTE is freely inspired in Robert’s Smithson project THE TRULY UNDERGROUND CINEMA (1971) and in the film THE VERY EYE OF THE NIGHT (1958) by Maya Deren.
Janaina Wagner explores her research through video, drawing, photography, and installations. Her artistic endeavors aim to provide a critical perspective on how humans establish systems of order and control in their surroundings. By appropriating historical narratives conveyed through diverse media forms, Wagner delves into how concepts of progress and legacy are expressed through a blend of stories, facts, images, and memories.