As part of the Planetary Embassy in Belém during the UN climate summit COP30, Swissnex invites you on an immersive journey through the exhibition A River Does Not Exist Alone, presented by leading Brazilian cultural center Instituto Tomie Ohtake in the zoo and botanical park of the Goeldi Musem.
Curators Sabrina Fontenele and Vânia Leal will open the session with a dialogue on the making of the exhibition and its connection to the Amazonian landscape, where art, memory, and ecology intertwine. Set within the lush surroundings of the Goeldi Museum’s park, the exhibition unfolds in dialogue with the forest itself, each work responding to the rhythms, textures, and living presence of the site.
The conversation will be followed by a walking tour through the park, where artists Elaine Arruda and Francelino Mesquita will accompany participants to their installations, sharing the stories, ancestral ties, and environmental reflections behind their creations. Moving from one artwork to another, participants will experience how artistic practice can become a form of planetary diplomacy, inviting us to listen, observe, and connect with the multiple worlds that coexist within the forest and within ourselves.
Guests will meet at the Planetary Embassy pavilion, where they will also be able to discover Swissnex’s exhibition Imagining Planetary Diplomacy.
Bio
Sabrina Fontenele is a curator at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, as well as an architect and urban planner from Fortaleza, Ceará, currently based in São Paulo. She holds a degree in Architecture and Urbanism from the Federal University of Ceará, a master’s and a PhD from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of São Paulo, and a postdoctoral degree from the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences at the University of Campinas. She is the author of the books “Modos de morar nos apartamentos modernos: rastros de modernidade” (Ways of Living in Modern Apartments: Traces of Modernity), “Edifícios modernos e o traçado urbano no Centro de São Paulo” (Modern Buildings and Urban Design in Downtown São Paulo), and the children’s book “Jacaré Fujão no Triângulo” (The Runaway Alligator in the Triangle). From 2020 to 2022, Sabrina served as Director of Culture at the Institute of Architects of Brazil – São Paulo Department (IAB-SP) and was one of the curators of the 13th International Architecture Biennial of São Paulo – Travessias. She is also a Professor of Architectural History at Escola da Cidade.
Bio
Vânia Leal is the Director of Special Projects at the Bienal das Amazônias Cultural Center (CCBA) and a curator and researcher in the arts. Originally from Macapá, Amapá, she holds a master’s degree in Communication, Language, and Culture and has been a faculty member of the State Department of Education since 2004. Vânia has an extensive trajectory in curation and art research, having served on numerous juries for selection, awards, and exhibitions across Brazil. Her curatorial and jury experience includes the 1st Bienal das Amazônias (2023), the Residency Program Jury at Instituto Inclusartiz – Rio de Janeiro (2022), the 32nd Exhibition Program Jury at Centro Cultural São Paulo (CCSP) (2022), the Selection Committee for the 24th Anapolino Art Salon (2019), and multiple editions of Rumos Itaú Cultural (2011, 2015, 2016, 2017). In 2017, she was nominated as a curator for the PIPA Prize. Vânia has long been an interlocutor of artist Elaine Arruda’s poetics and signed the curation of the 2023–2024 edition of the Mastarel Project. She lives and works in Belém, where she plays a key role in shaping the contemporary art scene of northern Brazil.
Bio
Elaine Arruda is a visual artist from Belém, Pará, born in 1985. For over a decade, she has immersed herself in the Porto do Sal, a complex located along the Guajará Bay in the historic center of Belém. Her installation “Entoar o vento e dançar marés” (Chanting the Wind and Dancing Tides) emerges from an immersion in the Tijuquaquara River, where her maternal grandmother, Terezinha de Jesus Martins Andrade, was born. These journeys by boat represent both a return to these ancestral waters and a dive into the lineage of three generations of women — herself, her grandmother, and her mother. In this search for connection, the metaphor of the boat’s movement and the tidal cycle — high and low — becomes central, evoking the challenges, memories, encounters, and rhythms of time that shape her work. By exploring themes of family bonds, dependency, and finitude, Elaine positions herself as a guardian of women’s histories and memories.
Bio
Francelino Mesquita is a visual artist and sculptor from Belém, Pará, born in 1976. He works with natural materials such as bucha do miriti (or buriti), tala do jupati, raiz do mututi, cuia pitinga, wood, and other organic elements. His sculptures challenge perceptions of form and balance, often taking the shape of mobiles. In his work, Francelino reflects on environmental education, the climate crisis, and the extinction of ancestral artisanal techniques whose production chains rely on natural resources. His installation “Proteja-me” (Protect Me) raises awareness about the protection of nature as both a means to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis and to safeguard human existence itself. Meanwhile, “Proteção ambiental” (Environmental Protection) takes the form of an Indigenous headdress, emphasizing the importance of forest peoples’ activism in resisting the destruction of the Amazon.
Bio
As Program Lead for Arts and Creative Industries at Swissnex in Brazil, Gabriela works to integrate architecture, design, and art with innovation, technology, and science, creating possibilities for transdisciplinary projects. In parallel, she is involved in the international activities of a major art gallery. Previously, she worked as a Project Manager for the organizing committee of the Rio2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, where she gained extensive experience in the management and production of major events. Gabriela holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urbanism from ETH Zurich, and in Project Management in Art and Culture from Rome Business School.
From November 9 to 21, 2025, the Planetary Embassy comes to life in Belém, Brazil, on the margins of the UN climate summit COP30. Part of a series of pop-up experiences across the global Swissnex network, this edition is hosted in the zoobotanical gardens of the Goeldi Museum, a setting that blends the Amazon's biodiversity, science, ancestral wisdom, and Swiss legacy.
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The Planetary Embassy in presented by Swissnex in Brazil with the support of Presence Switzerland, as part of the Road to Belém program led by the Embassy of Switzerland in Brazil.
