Until January 18, 2026, the public in São Paulo has the opportunity to visit the exhibition “The Power of My Hands,” on view at Sesc Pompeia. As part of the 2025 France-Brazil Season, the exhibition celebrates the cultural exchange and cooperation between the two countries. It takes on an even more special significance with the participation of philosopher and writer Djamila Ribeiro, who authored the introductory text for the group show.

Curated by Odile Burluraux (Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris), independent Angolan curator Suzana Sousa, and Brazilian visual artist and curator Aline Albuquerque, the exhibition features works by 25 women artists from Brazil, France, various African countries, and the African diaspora. The show offers a sensitive immersion into works that delve into the unique journeys of these women and their practices of self-representation, resistance, memory, and world-making.

In her foreword, Djamila Ribeiro highlights the exhibition’s relevance as a landmark in the bicentennial relations between Brazil and France, one that points toward a future of greater social justice and cultural richness. For the philosopher, art created by women from the Global South, especially Black women, is a tool for insurgency and reinvention of the world, one that destabilizes hegemonic narratives and opens new spaces for recognition.

Djamila’s participation reinforces the political and transformative nature of the exhibition. In her analysis, Black artistic production does not merely illustrate resistance but is, in itself, “resistance in sensory form.” As she argues, this art effectively contributes to the anti-racist struggle by creating possibilities where there was once only erasure. “By combining beauty and denunciation, ancestry and invention, Black artistic production challenges the boundaries between art and life, politics and poetry,” the writer states.

Organized into four curatorial sections – “Personal Stories,” “Histories and Fictions,” “The Personal is Political,” and “Performances” – the exhibition presents a powerful overview of contemporary art, exploring themes such as ancestry, identity, spirituality, the body, affection, and the dynamics of exclusion and belonging.

“The Power of My Hands” features works by Aléxia Ferreira, Aline Motta, Ana Pi, Ana Silva, Buhlebezwe Siwani, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro, Dhiovana Barroso, Eliana Amorim, Fabiana Ex-Souza, Gabrielle Goliath, Gê Viana, Grace Ndiritu, Kapwani Kiwanga, Jasi Pereira, Lebohang Kganye, Lerato Shadi, Lidia Lisbôa, Lucimélia Romão, Pedra Silva, Reinata Sadimba, Senzeni Marasela, soupixo, Stacey Gillian Abe, Terroristas del Amor, and Wura-Natasha Ogunji.

Information

Exhibition: “The Power of My Hands”
Dates: On view until January 18, 2026
Where: Sesc Pompeia – R. Clélia, 93 – Água Branca, São Paulo – SP

The 2025 France-Brazil Season includes many other activities. The full schedule can be found at: sescsp.org.br/francabrasil2025