| Project Title | Euphoria |
| Location | Brazil / UK |
| Dates | February to August 2025 |
Artist Statement:
My artistic practice is deeply rooted in exploring the intricate relationship between what we see and feel through textures created from videos, photographs, collages, digital media, literature, and painting. I aim to engage not only the eyes but also the other senses, creating a multi-sensory dialogue that invites reflection and emotion. Just as certain histories and cultural expressions often lie on the margins of traditional narratives, my work is an invitation to experiment and expand the boundaries by mixing visual art and literature.
I use images not merely as tools for representation, but as material integral to the process of discovering different meanings.
By weaving together these sensory elements, my work seeks to reflect the ongoing conversation between materials, senses, and emotions. I hope to evoke a transformative process of engagement, where every encounter becomes an opportunity for personal reflection, aesthetic experience and collective connection.
Euphoria
Contextual Statement :
This research examines how artistic experimentation with photography, poetry, and sound can reveal the social, emotional, and political dimensions of Brazilian Carnival. It aims to transcend the exotic and folkloric stereotypes often associated with the event. The project results in the creation of Euphoria. This interactive art book blends visual, textual, and sonic elements to examine the memories, tensions, and expressiveness that define Carnival in Recife and Rio de Janeiro, two key centres of this cultural celebration in Brazil.
Carnival in that country is often viewed through the lens of festivity, sensuality, and leisure. While these elements exist, they can mask the deeper historical, emotional, and political dynamics involved in the festival. As Schwarcz (2019) points out, there is a tendency to oversimplify popular cultural practices, leading to narratives that lack critical depth. Euphoria employs a transdisciplinary approach that combines artistic creation with social inquiry, challenging these narrow views by highlighting the lived experiences and perspectives that shape Carnival from the inside.
The methodology blends field-based artistic research with collaborative design practices. It includes:
– Immersive documentation through photography and environmental sound recording in Carnival spaces in Recife and Rio.
– Creation of poetic texts that draw on both personal memory and voices gathered from conversations with local participants.
– Development of an interactive book that encourages multisensory engagement, where reading becomes a performative and embodied experience.
In this way, the project connects with contemporary art practices that view photography not just as a visual representation, but also as a tool for memory and social commentary (Barthes, 1981), and poetry as a medium that resonates with marginalised emotions and collective imagination (Bosi, 2003). Including sound elements—such as street sounds, chants, and rhythms—broadens the project’s narrative reach, linking it to sound studies and the idea that listening is both a political and sensory act (Voegelin, 2010).
The choice of Recife and Rio de Janeiro originates from both strategic and personal reasons. The artist lived in both cities, and her journey is closely linked to these cities and their Carnival traditions. In Recife, frevo and maracatu are prominent, while samba school parades shape the experience in Rio. Both cities illustrate Carnival as a space of Black cultural resistance, social diversity, and historical continuity (Cavalcanti, 2006; Araújo, 2001). Euphoria aims to reflect these complexities and uplift the voices of those often overlooked in mainstream narratives.
This project would not have been possible without the generous support of Zest Arts e Comunicação company, which provided crucial assistance in creative direction and production. Mirada, the editorial imprint, was responsible for the conceptual development and publication of the book-object. Alison Ferreira Design led the interactive design, ensuring a dynamic dialogue between form and content throughout the process. The book also features a photograph by Joana Poltronieri and includes the artistic collaboration of Vitório Pimentel.
Euphoria is positioned as a hybrid artistic-academic experiment that mixes the lines between documentary and expressive practices. It operates at the intersection of art, design, and social research.
The final work an online version and —a 30- hardcover copy limited-edition interactive book—aims to engage the reader’s gaze, listening, and imagination while proposing new ways of thinking about archives, memory, and cultural representation. Ultimately, the project seeks to reimagine Carnival not as a superficial spectacle but as a rich space of cultural memory, emotion, and political potential.
Documentation:
@manuepiame
Book Euphoria:
Special thanks:
Falmouth University, Zest Artes e Comunicação, Mirada, Taciana Oliveira, Josie Cockram, Vitório Pimentel, Marcella Roberto, Eduardo Duarte, Joana Poltronieri, Steve Reed, Juliana Cesário, Jussara Pimentel, Daniela Piame, Dislau Soares, Renata Visconti, Sharon Bezerra and Emoke Hevesi.