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Céu da boca cruise (Palate cruise), Brasil, 2022, video-performance, 8'30", plaster, wood and paper.

The dental arch is one of the most significant body parts that distinguish the identity of a human being, as it is the only bone in the body that resists time and can still tell a story. For archaeologists, its long-lasting unique form can reveal when that being lived, and accurate information of his/her/their life. The dental palate in Portuguese is called céu da boca (sky of the mouth).

For the artist, the representation of the dental arch is a material symbol of what is gone, and represents the sky where ancestors go on to live forever. In the performance, she uses dental moulds as a representation of her ancestors, which she manipulates, cutting and adorning to show the passing and lasting effect of time and life, as well as how the ancestors’ stories are retold, again and again, in different ways; together they form a boat, a tool for travelling the river of life. Their destiny might have been wrought by time, but their essence has been passed on to generations, orientating how one can navigate life. The lives of thousands of people have culminated in the now, into one whole integral being, in this case, the artist herself, navigating her own life.

This piece was exhibited and performed at Wie wir trauern (Grief and collective mourning), an exhibition organized by the High Brow Institute, at Garage Grande, Vienna ++
Photo courtesy by Katharina Liatskaia
Performance by Monica Hirano
Fim by Jonas Sanson ++