The desire to escape arises precisely from the imagination that allows us to envision other possible realities. Manauara Clandestina, upon leaving Manaus and moving to São Paulo, recognized the power of migration as a gateway to a new world. The state of being in constant movement—whether spatial or bodily—informs Manauara’s work.
The vision of a bright, abundant future is also present in their work. In the video presented at this Bienal, trans people work in a futuristic office, preparing for the runway show that culminates in the Bienal’s opening.
Manauara also works with upcycling, the reuse of clothing pieces that can be transformed into something else. This state of material transformation can be thought of as a metaphor for the transformation of the body and of humanity: how can we better use our resources before they run out?
The artist’s space has a triangular base with a reflective surface. Two of the triangle’s surfaces feature Polaroid photos of some of the artist’s series, alongside digital images. They follow trans people over the years.
On the third surface, a TV displays the film Transclandestina 3020 (2025). The exhibition space is transformed into a runway, refuge, and shelter. Wooden structures support looks created by the artist in collaboration with various creative partners, made from repurposed clothing using upcycling techniques. Overlapping fabrics, visible stitching, and unlikely combinations of different textures and colors give rise to garments that merge fashion, performance, and ritual, each piece functioning as a trace of a passage.
The installation is accompanied by a video documenting the entire creative process of the work, marked by experimentation, encounters, dialogues, and the daily life of an artistic residency, culminating in the inaugural runway show at the Bienal’s opening. This audiovisual narrative expands the visitor’s experience, revealing the communal dimension of the project, the exchange of knowledge, and its emphasis on solidarity as a form of invention.
The work presents itself as a post-runway moment suspended in time and space: clothes and images remain as present and dissident bodies, acting as living extensions that preserve and update memories of journeys, alliances, and processes of transition.
There are also sculptures and photographs, and the clothing is suspended from orange scaffolding wires with hooks. Between performance, fashion, and installation, the work projects futures forged in precariousness transformed into political and aesthetic power.