The Green and Yellow are Ours as Well

2024

Wall vinyl (315x150cm), 2x prints (70x100cm each), 15x A4 prints, 2x banners (100x200cm and 325x100cm), 1x A0 print, 70x hand fans, 3x Brazilian football shirts, 3x prints (40x70cm each), film (9min), rainbow flag, hammock hook

Documentation photos: Nayara Leite

The Green and Yellow are Ours as Well, my solo exhibition at Visningsrommet USF, contains a continuation to my long-term research about the effects of Bolsonarismo in Brazil regarding the LGBTQ+ community. All the works – some old, some new – refer to this research, and they also bring hopes and wishes for the future of my homeland.

“The revolution is black, trans, poor, working class and peripheral”, Erika Hilton said in an interview in 2020 when she was elected councillor to the Municipal Chamber of São Paulo. She received the most votes for any councillor in the country, and she was the first black travesti to be elected for this position. Two years later, she was elected to the National Congress of Brazil. Hilton is one of the politicians who have been fighting hard against the rise of the extreme right in the country, which started when Jair Bolsonaro was elected president in 2018.

After four years with Bolsonaro as its president, Brazil is still recovering from his destructive government. He didn’t get re-elected in 2022, but his supporters are still continuing what he preached: hate speech, violent acts, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny and racism. As an example, thousands of his supporters vandalised the National Congress in January 2023 because they didn’t accept him losing the elections. In September last year, a far-right politician belonging to Bolsonaro’s party proposed a ban on same-sex marriage (it’s been allowed since 2011).

Bolsonaro left a polarised country, with the extreme right feeling more powerful than ever. Luckily, we have people like Erika Hilton who are there to fight for a better, more inclusive and tolerant Brazil.

And, who knows, maybe in a few years the revolution will finally take place and we will have a black travesti as our president.

This exhibition wouldn’t have been made possible without the incredible support of Tine Adler, Sofie Hviid Vinther, Kaeto Sweeney and Kiyoshi Yamamoto. The Green and Yellow are Ours as Well received support from Billedkunstnernes Vederlagsfond.