Kaaysá is a residency for artists, writers and other creators who wish to develop their poetics from intimate contact with the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, the sea and community of fishermen, “caiçaras”and natives that inhabit their environment. We are an autonomous organization that contributes to artistic development through the construction of a creative and collaborative network.
Programs include experiences, expeditions, interdisciplinary exchanges, rituals, integrative practices, approaches to the local community and follow-up of projects by mediators. Residents are invited to leave their footprint, in order to provoke reflections, changes in the landscape and social counterparts.
“A space that is both inspirational and inspiring. It was very productive to follow the action and the ideas of good artists, to feel moved to write. Discovering other horizons - throwing myself into the sea with the fishermen and seeking to learn something of their patient insistence.”
ART | NATURE | COMMUNITY
Immersion in nature and displacement impose challenges that allow , for realignment of body and mind that that stimulates resolutions and experiments that would not be possible in the quotidian of the city. Founded and managed by women — Lourdina Rabieh and Tony Jean Rabai— Kaaysá Art Residency focuses on the hybridism of languages and interdisciplinarity. The programs seek the decolonization of the look, the rescue of the wild body, the enchantment as language and coexistence, as the founding principle of non-hierarchical relations. We welcome creative professionals from different languages, as well as agents and other professionals who believe in the potential of culture and nature.
“I found a very special and feminine environment. Highly qualified artists. The nature of the Atlantic Forest and some concepts of candomblé ended up influencing and adding new layers to my work.”
INTEGRATION
The objective is to interweave processes of different natures that will have dialogic, thematic, biographical or gestural synergies. Concepts such as participation, exchange, and collective life are key pieces of experience that suggest a collaboration with the local artistic scene and the formation of the public, thinking art as a means of circulating information, critical reflection and instruments of transformation.
The Residency is also intended to integrate the north coast of São Paulo into the cultural circuit and transform the city of Boiçucanga into a local point of creation and collaboration between creators of different nationalities, using its proximity to the city of São Paulo as support, but seeking creative freshness, new forms of production and circulation of contemporary art / literature.
NATURE AROUND
The Atlantic Forest is known worldwide as the most biodiverse forest in Brazil, but its also known as one of the most threatened biomes environment on the planet, with only 8.5% of its original forests, 7% in Serra do Mar, where the Residency is located. Their protection is the only guarantee for the geological stability of these areas, and, therefore, to prevent catastrophes that have previously destroyed the forest.
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Boiçucanga is the commercial center of the beaches of the north coast, which has a community of active fishermen who build their own boats and work daily with tourism and sustainable fishing.
Most of the indigenous groups that inhabited the region at the time of colonization have already been decimated, and the remaining native groups are in a precarious situation on lands threatened by diverse interests. Aldeia do Rio Silveira is located on Boraceia beach and houses 60 families of Tupi-Guarani Indians who participate in the Kaaysá Residency Program through debates, rituals, and experiences in the village.
The Ribeirao do Itú Trail, part of the Serra do Mar State Park, is a 10-minute walk from where the Residency is located. You access 5 different waterfalls and to see an exotic range of animals, trees, butterflies and native plants. As part of the program the artist will be accompanied by an ecologist / biologist, to broaden his/her vision of the biome.
Praia Brava is another ecological paradise, located an hour and a half walk from the Residency. During the walk you will find a wide variety of species of fauna and flora. The trail is steep, requiring residents' attention and discipline. Upon arriving at the destination, the reward is a beach of wild beauty.
The islands are a 20-minute boat ride from Boicucanga Beach. After chatting with the local fishermen in Praça da Mentira on the way to the Islands, you can watch in silence, the moment when the fishing nets, left the day before, are pulled in.
