In her artistic production, Arissana Pataxó establishes dialogues between traditional Indigenous art and what she calls “Western art”, thus reconfiguring the possibilities of contemporary art. Through her paintings, photographs and sculptures, she presents scenes of life in the Pataxó villages, in southern Bahia state, showing Indigenous people and collectives as autonomous subjects, responsible for signs, practices and values that are present in her work.
Hãhãw Pataxó: From What Place Are You Looking?, 2022, constructs a triangulation between images of the Pataxó territory, painted by Arissana, historical narratives of Europeans who visited this territory in the 18th century and the very image of the person who is looking at the work, reflected in the mirrors that serve as support for the text. The artist uses excerpts from the diary Travels in Brazil (1815-17), written by the German prince and explorer Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied and illustrated by Friedrich Sellow. The public is invited to understand themselves as part of the history of violence and resistance of the Pataxó people since Pedro Álvares Cabral sighted the Monte Pascoal mountain in 1500.