My Roots

"My Roots" poetically analyses the ways we connect and relate to food. Food, the most basic element of our existence, carves out a common identity and opens dialogues around our ancestry and our heritage — rites of passage, our spirituality, what we become, and what we cease to be.

The exhibition consists of an installation with works by Tainá Guedes and a local community, which includes students from Colégio Latino Shiga, in which Guedes' food sculpture is centered as a starting point for an investigation of the elements that constitute Guedes' search for her Japanese roots.

The root installation of Guedes is made up of three elements: a root made with lotus roots and paper symbolizes a rebirth, in which a poem written by the artist can be heard; a cloud made from her "Koseki Tohon" (Japanese family tree); and a tree branch with connecting laces and a "sacred space" where the artist serves edible art pieces.

The compilation of works produced by students of Colégio Latino Shiga during a workshop with the artist intends to study our relationship with "our roots". Each of the pieces on display is a unique work, which can also be perceived as a scathing critique of the way we deal with food in our contemporaneity.

"Food and spirituality are so intertwined that, over time and in different cultures, offerings have been made to honor ancestors, as well as a tool of communication with other worlds. It feels special to me that I can bring this into my art, and while doing so, connect to so many wonderful people. I believe that if we can feel connected and one with each other, if timeline matters, peace can be created." — Tainá Guedes

Poem by Tainá Guedes: I am here / I am there / I am invisible / But I am everywhere / I am you / I am in her / I am him / I am with them / I am the beginning / I am the end / I am a piece of all / I am history / I saw all the springs / I felt the hot summers of many years / I admired the autumn leaves dancing… and falling / At every winter, I slept / I was with you at every season / In the past and the future, I will always be with you / I gave you life / I gave you love / I gave you everything I could / Who am I? / I am your root

Team: Artist: Tainá Guedes Art Assistant, exhibition producer, voice (Japanese reading), translation invitation: Yumic Nomura Art producer: Ken Nakamori Translation event text and location producer: Tracey Cui School coordination: Yone Kami Mura School direction and logistic: Caio Kami Mura Teacher/school producer: Paula Akiyama