When speaking with visual artist Mulambö, it’s not uncommon to hear him talk about the place where he was born and currently lives: Saquarema, in the Região dos Lagos (“Lake District”) of Rio de Janeiro state. He not only comments on the idyllic beaches but also on the cultural scene and, most of all, the people who shaped him. For Mulambö, Saquarema is not merely a backdrop or landscape behind moving figures. Instead, it serves as a strategy through which he constructs his own cosmology, grounded in knowledge acquired through oral culture and interactions with his elders—whether they are his kin, surfers, or fishermen.

In a solo show presented at Galeria Portas Vilaseca, Mulambö explores this conceptual understanding of Saq...