WORK
Clube Athletico Paulistano | Brazilian Folklore Exhibition
· Mariana Salmonson
Brazilian Folklore and Its Influences
Solo Exhibition | Clube Athletico Paulistano, São Paulo, Brazil | 2019
An exploration of the myths, spiritual traditions, and cultural symbols that shape Brazil's collective imagination.
In 2019, Brazilian artist Mari Salmonson presented Folclore Brasileiro e Suas Influências (Brazilian Folklore and Its Influences), a solo exhibition at Clube Athletico Paulistano in São Paulo. Through paintings and illustrations, the exhibition explored the many layers of Brazilian popular culture, bringing together mythological characters, religious traditions, and symbols of faith, protection, and good fortune.
The exhibition reflected the diversity of Brazil's cultural heritage, shaped by Indigenous, African, European, and other influences. By placing these different references in conversation, Mari invited visitors to discover how stories, beliefs, and symbols travel across generations and become part of everyday life.
“Folklore is born from the meeting of peoples, traditions, beliefs, and stories. It is a living expression of cultures blending, transforming, and creating something new, much like Brazil itself, a country continuously shaped by the many identities and influences that make it what it is today.”
— Mari Salmonson
Beyond Myths: The Many Faces of Brazilian Folklore
Folklore extends far beyond legendary creatures and childhood stories. It lives in the traditions we practice, the symbols we recognize, the beliefs we inherit, and the gestures we repeat, sometimes without knowing their origins.
The exhibition approached Brazilian folklore through three interconnected dimensions.
Mythological Characters & Popular Legends
Figures such as Yara, Caipora, and Saci-Pererê brought the imaginative world of Brazilian legends into the exhibition.
Rooted in oral traditions and shaped by centuries of cultural exchange, these characters embody different relationships with nature, mystery, transformation, and the supernatural.
Through her artistic interpretations, Mari explored their visual identities and cultural significance, offering contemporary perspectives on stories that remain deeply embedded in Brazilian imagination.
“Every legend carries more than a story. It holds fragments of the people who told it, the landscapes where it was born, and the imagination of those who keep it alive.”
— Mari Salmonson
Religion, Spirituality & Cultural Identity
Religion and spirituality are inseparable from many expressions of Brazilian popular culture.
The exhibition incorporated references to Catholic traditions and the Orixás, divine beings central to Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda.
These works explored how different spiritual traditions have influenced Brazil's visual culture, from religious imagery and sacred symbols to celebrations, rituals, and expressions of devotion.
By bringing these references into the exhibition, Mari highlighted the complexity and richness of Brazil's religious and cultural landscape, where different traditions coexist, interact, and retain their distinct histories and meanings.
“To explore Brazilian culture is to encounter many ways of understanding the sacred. Each tradition carries its own history, imagery, and relationship with the world, contributing to the richness of our collective identity.”
— Mari Salmonson
Symbols, Superstitions & Everyday Beliefs
Alongside mythological and religious imagery, the exhibition explored familiar objects and symbols associated with luck, protection, and popular belief.
The four-leaf clover, the figa (a protective hand-shaped amulet), and other traditional symbols offered a perspective on the small rituals and superstitions woven into Brazilian daily life.
Often passed down within families, these objects carry meanings that extend beyond their physical forms. They reflect hopes, fears, inherited beliefs, and the human desire to find protection and meaning in the world.
Through illustration and painting, Mari transformed these recognizable symbols into subjects for artistic exploration, inviting viewers to reconsider the cultural stories hidden within familiar objects.
“Sometimes our cultural heritage fits in the palm of a hand: a small amulet, a familiar gesture, a superstition passed down by a grandmother. These little things carry entire worlds of meaning.”
— Mari Salmonson
A Visual Conversation Between Cultures
At the heart of Folclore Brasileiro e Suas Influências was an interest in the cultural intersections that contribute to Brazilian identity.
By presenting folklore characters alongside religious references and popular symbols, the exhibition expanded the conventional understanding of folklore, revealing it as a living expression of collective memory.
These different elements share an important characteristic: their meanings are carried through stories, images, practices, and traditions, continuously reinterpreted by the people who encounter them.
The exhibition invited visitors to reflect on their own relationships with these references, recognizing the ways cultural heritage shapes personal memories and a sense of belonging.
An Exploration That Continues
Folclore Brasileiro e Suas Influências represents an important chapter in Mari Salmonson's artistic research and an early expression of themes that continue to shape her contemporary practice.
Her ongoing interest in Brazilian mythology, fauna and flora, cultural symbols, and inherited narratives has since expanded into new bodies of work, editorial illustrations, and public art projects in Brazil and the United States.
As a Brazilian artist now based in New York, Mari continues to revisit these references with new questions about identity, migration, and the stories we carry from one generation to another.
What began as an exploration of Brazil's folkloric imagination remains part of a broader investigation into cultural memory, transformation, and belonging.
“The stories we inherit are never realy ours, yet we make them our own. Every generation adds something, changes something, and carries them a little further. That's what makes culture alive.”
— Mari Salmonson
Exhibition Details
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Exhibition: Folclore Brasileiro e Suas Influências
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English Title: Brazilian Folklore and Its Influences
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Artist: Mari Salmonson
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Format: Solo Exhibition
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Venue: Clube Athletico Paulistano
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Location: São Paulo, Brazil
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Year: 2019
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Media: Acrylic painting on canvas, ceramics, and watercolor.
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Themes: Brazilian Folklore, Mythology, Religious Traditions, Cultural Symbols, Popular Beliefs, and Cultural Identity
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Fotos e cobertura:
