Transnômades [Transnomad], 2016

OPAVIVARÁ!
Created in 2005, Brazil. Based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

OPAVIVARÁ! is an artist collective that makes use of everyday elements to modify the dynamic of the spaces in which they are found. They intervene in objects and habits, altering their functions and proposing other mechanisms whose use requires us to unlearn that which we take for granted, reaffirming pleasure and affection as political values. These objects and habits take on new meaning when they are brought to the public and inhabited by participants, yielding situations, encounters and experiences that aim to short-circuit the values and protocols of the systems in which they operate, be they a city square or a museum. For the 32nd Bienal, the collective presents Transnômades [Transnomads] (2016), a set of mobile devices that interact with the public, circulating inside the exhibition, the park and specific spots in the city, seeking to dialogue with the forms of expression of street commerce. OPAVIVARÁ! redefines the manpowered carts, conferring upon them uses related to the vendors and cart operators’ work breaks, transforming these devices into a bed, a cabin, a library and a sound system. This reflects on the conditions of the city’s nomads, whether camelôs (street vendors) or trash collectors: their situation sits somewhere between law and improvisation, makeshift resourcefulness as livelihood and their permanent state of migration.