GUARANI PAINTINGS, IOLE DE FREITAS
AND THE COMADRE INSTITUTE AT THE 5TH EDITION OF ARPA
8 June 2026
At the invitation of the artist Iole de Freitas, the Guarani Living School took part in the 5th edition of the ArPa art fair in São Paulo last week, from 27 to 31 May, providing an opportunity to share the intersections between different territories and forms of knowledge. Forming part of the exhibition’s ‘Base Sector’, four canvases by artists from the Guarani Living School were displayed, including a large painting created especially for ArPa, alongside two previously unseen shawls produced by Iole de Freitas through dialogue with the Guarani Living School.
The inclusion of the Guarani canvases at ArPa also marked another chapter in the art of the Living Schools through the partnership with the Comadre Institute, which will now monitor the circulation of the works and their developments so that the paths of these works continue to resonate in beautiful projects within the territories, a movement that will continue in the new Living Schools exhibition at the Tomie Ohtake Institute, which will open to the public on 10 June.
Panel featuring Guarani paintings and Iole de Freitas’s cloaks at ArPa. Photo: João Cazzaniga.
Work entitled “Tatu mba’eapo” [The armadillo’s work], by Léo Wera, from the Guarani Living School. Photo: João Cazzaniga.
Iole de Freitas (Galeria Raquel Arnaud) has been a sculptor, multimedia artist and teacher since 1994; she currently teaches at the Parque Lage School of Visual Arts (EAV) in Rio de Janeiro. Iole was one of the artists selected for ArPa’s Setor Base, a space dedicated to new projects in which artists share works, processes and knowledge with a focus on educational practice, as well as inviting artistic partners to co-create works. Alongside Anna Bella Geiger, Ana Mazzei and Monica Nador, who were also selected for the sector, Iole chose to invite the art students from the Guarani Living School to take part in the fair with their paintings. In total, four Guarani canvases were exhibited, three of which were created during the Living School House artistic residency in 2025 and one of which was a new work, created especially for ArPa. The latter consists of a large painting, 3 metres high, produced over two weeks by seven artists from the Guarani Living School.
Guarani painting produced for ArPa. Photo: João Cazzaniga.
In dialogue with the themes explored by the Living School, Iole has created works that continue her research into cloaks that explore the dawn through colours and textures. For ArPa, the artist produced two further veils in which the interplay of light and shadow is expressed through sand, glue and pigments in shades of orange, coral and violet – colours that evoke the earth, but also the firmament, and which the artist had not yet worked with.
For Iole, “the most interesting thing was having the opportunity to bring the Guarani canvases and the cloaks together side by side”. In this shared process of preparation for ArPa, dawn naturally emerged as the theme of the gathering and of the great collective work by the Guarani Living School. Even without prior agreement, the joint creation took shape, making the sky and the passing of the day a common ground between the works.
Canvases from the Escola Viva Guarani and cloaks by Iole de Freitas. Photo: João Cazzaniga.
Iole’s connection with the Living Schools began through the Selvagem project in 2019 at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Gardens, when the artist also met Ailton Krenak and Carlos Papá, coordinator of the Guarani Living School. Since then, Iole, who already had an interest in working with indigenous peoples, has followed the artistic endeavours of the Living Schools, such as the first edition of the exhibition "Long Live the Living School", held at Casa Brasil between December 2023 and January 2024, and the indigenous artist residency Casa Escola Viva, held at MAM – Rio in October 2025.
Over the last few years, Iole de Freitas has been accompanying the journey of the Living Schools with an open ear, generosity and a supportive presence, fostering encounters that give rise to new creations, connections and shared experiences. Her invitation for the Guarani Living School to exhibit its work alongside hers, as well as to co-create new pieces, reflects the paths this relationship has taken.
On 28 May, she, Cristine Takuá, general coordinator of the Living Schools movement, and Carlos Papá also took part in the discussion ‘Of gestures and breaths: the encounters’, the second in the Setor Base series, moderated by Galciani Neves, during which they were able to share and explore in greater depth the creations and intersections of their work.
Cristine Takuá, Iole de Freitas and Carlos Papá at ArPa.
The inclusion of Guarani artworks at ArPa also provided a further opportunity to strengthen the knowledge and practices of the Living Schools through a partnership with the Comadre Institute, which is responsible for overseeing the artworks and ensuring that the proceeds from their sale are channelled back to the artists and projects in their communities. Selvagem’s history with the Comadre Institute began with drawings by Tõrãmu Këhírí (Luiz Lana), an artist, a Desana indigenous leader from the Upper Rio Negro region and a key figure in Selvagem’s history. This collaboration continued with the involvement of the Guarani Living School at ArPa and is also being extended through the new edition of the exhibition “Long Live the Living School”, on display from 10 June to 9 August at the Tomie Ohtake Institute.
Drawings by Luiz Lana. Photo: Thiago Barros
The Comadre Institute is a non-profit contemporary art platform dedicated to channelling the proceeds from the sale of artworks back into society, working through horizontal and collaborative approaches that transform art into a movement of exchange and learning which fosters care and social transformation. Through listening and dialogue, the Institute seeks to act collectively to understand the needs and opportunities that support social initiatives. Regarding the Living Schools, it passes on almost the entire amount raised so that it can be channelled back to the artists, their communities and their local areas.
“Selvagem is an organisation we believe in very strongly and have always wanted to collaborate with, so we are excited about this partnership,” said Gabriela Davies, one of Comadre’s founders. Maíra Marques, also a co-founder of Comadre, said she has been following and admiring Selvagem’s work since its days at Dantes Publishing House, having taken part in study cycles and other Selvagem activities in recent years. For her, this collaboration “is a very welcome partnership”, which aims to move beyond the pre-established dynamics of the art market and to build and strengthen pathways focused on other kinds of connections.
The artwork “Beija-flor” (Hummingbird), by Cristiano Wera Poty, from the Guarani Living School. Photo: João Cazzaniga.
To find out more about the work of the Guarani Living School and the other Living Schools, visit the new “Long Live the Living Schools” exhibition at the Tomie Ohtake Institute in São Paulo, opening on 10 June, and follow the latest news and the wonderful artistic journeys of the Living Schools on our website.