Procession – CHIJUYAA: Birds that echo their song as our tears cross valleys

On December 6, the Okinawan-Brazilian procession celebrating Mao Ishikawa CHIJUYAA: Birds that echo their song as our tears cross valleys will take place. The event runs from 11 am to 1 pm and departs from the Varanda Bienal, the outdoor area of the Pavilion.

With artistic direction by Laís Miwa Higa, Victor Kinjo, and Hiromi Toma, and production by Débora Lie Higa, Luiza Tamashiro, and Alexandre Oshiro, the program brings together traditional and contemporary dance, hajichi, karate, and music, featuring artists from Brazil’s Okinawan community. The procession is inspired by eisā, a ritual dance that honors and celebrates the ancestors, while the performance Chijuyaa evokes the wanderer who crosses oceans, connecting memories, affections, and possible futures. In this edition, the Hajichi Group performs for the first time, bringing together women and gender-dissident people who are reclaiming the ancestral Hajichi tattoo tradition in the diaspora. The activation celebrates artistic and spiritual uchinanchu practices that span generations, keeping alive the memories, resistances, and joys of the Ryūkyū peoples.

Service
Procession – CHIJUYAA: Birds that echo their song as our tears cross valleys
36th Bienal de São Paulo – Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice
Dec 6, 2025
Sat, 11 am
Varanda Bienal
Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion
Ibirapuera Park, gate 3
São Paulo, Brazil
free admission