NOTEBOOKS, DROPLETS AND ARROWS CROSS THE OCEAN:
A “Selvagem” Journey Through Italy
26 March 2026
In the city of Biella, artists Pedro Lago and Maya Dikstein presented a Selvagem project during their residency with the UNIDEE Residency Programs, hosted by the Fondazione Pistoletto in Italy. Built beneath a former textile factory, the Foundation—once occupied by machines—was transformed into a journey from the sun toward the forest through the experience presented by the artists.
Trechos da animação Droplet 1 - Sun traverses all exhibition
The event took place during the first week of December last year and was part of the “Language, Please” module, led by Lorenzo Sandoval and Zineb Achoubie, who explore language through visual patterns and textile practices. It was from this perspective that Pedro and Maya conceived the idea of a dialogue between the patterns of Moroccan and Berber weavings, resonating with the designs of the Huni Kuin people known as kene kuin. Weaving connections between the graphic elements and the patterns, Pedro drew from the books Antes o mundo não existia (Before the World Existed), which compiles mythical narratives of the Desana people narrated by Umúsin Panlõn Kumu and Tolamãn Kenhíri, as well as Artes Datilográficas (Typographic Arts) by Pedro Rocha, to initiate this conversation.
Faced with the challenging task of creating a brief presentation of the Selvagem universe, Pedro and Maya screened the animation Droplet 1 - Sun traverses all, whose multitude of languages and translations reflected the international character of the group, composed of about 15 people from around the world. Excerpts from Arrow 7 - The Feral and the Sphere were also part of this moment, as were the Selvagem notebooks Arrow 1 - The Serpent and the Canoe, , Arrow 4 - The Jungle and the Sap, and , The Pictorial Mythology of the Desana and Bari: Huni Kui Sun,, both in digital and printed formats, which were donated to the Foundation’s library.
People of different ages and languages gathered at the Droplet 1 - Sun traverses all exhibition
At the end, the artists led a practical exercise in listening to Huni Kuin ritual chants a moment in which visual patterns and sound became one, an experience enhanced by the sound of the river flowing nearby. This experience brought together body, listening, and landscape and was very well received by the group, who said they felt closer to nature after this moment of immersion.
The activity extended beyond expectations and led to a connection with artist Luccia Veronese and her work with plants. She became interested in the book Una Isi Kayawa – Book of Healing of the Huni Kuin People of the Jordan River, edited by Agostinho Ika Muru and Alexandre Quinet, recognizing affinities with her own investigations that combine plant species, collages, and paintings. Furthermore, conversations with Zineb Achoubie sparked new reflections on the connections between Moroccan and Berber tapestries – which represent the nomadic peoples of Atlantic and Mediterranean Africa – and the Amazonian peoples, such as the Huni Kuin and the Yawanawa.
For Pedro, who has been with Selvagem since its earliest days – from the publications with Anna Dantes to the circulation of the old Kombi bookmobile, through Nave Dantes, and later NAVEZONA – the experience was enriching and also a gesture of belonging. Recognition of this journey was reinforced by Pedro and Maya’s acceptance into another residency through the same UNIDEE program, opening new possibilities for them to continue expanding the Selvagem universe in dialogue with cultures and knowledge from around the world.
Cadernos Selvagem doados para o acervo da biblioteca da Fundação Pistoletto