Joelington Rios

Joelington Rios is a quilombola visual artist who develops his practice between the place where he was born, Quilombo Jamary dos Pretos, in Maranhão, and Rio de Janeiro, where he currently lives. His work organizes visual and sensory signs through photography, video, performance, and installation, investigating migratory flows and the quilombola roots that structure Brazilian territory. The artist confronts the idyllic imaginary of Rio de Janeiro's landscapes with the concrete reality of the marginal systems that sustain the city. Moving through central and peripheral paths, he identifies corporealities and memories that reveal other forms of existence in areas often rendered invisible. Joelington combines different techniques to give new meaning to the experiences of his family members and his own trajectory, transforming the documentary record into a tool for Black affirmation and visibility.

His works are part of the collections of the Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), the Museu da História e da Cultura Afro-Brasileira (MUCAB), and the Instituto Inclusartiz. He has participated in the group exhibitions "Um Defeito de Cor" (MAR, Rio de Janeiro, 2022), "O que sustenta o Rio" (Paraty International Photography Festival, 2022), and "Arte como trabalho, estratégias de sobrevivência" (Museu de História e Cultura Afro-Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro, 2022). He was nominated for the PIPA Prize in 2022.