Exhibitions
Tunga brings one of its most immersive installations to Europe in the church of San Miguel de Arévalo
Collegium hosts for the first time in Europe "Me, You and the Moon ," one of the most representative installations by Brazilian artist Tunga (Antônio José de Barros Carvalho e Mello Mourão, Palmares, 1952 – Rio de Janeiro, 2016). The work, belonging to the Sarina Tang collection, arrives at the Church of San Miguel de Arévalo after its run at two important Latin American institutions, the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA) and the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM), thus beginning its exhibition tour on the European continent.
The installation unfolds a symbolic universe in which Tunga brings together stones, mirrors, glass bottles, plaster, resin, and a series of elements suspended on arches and rods to construct a sculptural landscape that invites contemplation and sensory experience. Beyond a mere composition of objects, the work proposes an immersive journey where matter, time, and perception establish a constant dialogue.
The core of the installation is a fossilized tree trunk that serves as a testament to a nature predating human presence. Becoming the conceptual axis of the work, it symbolizes the connection between heaven and earth and the transformation of plant material into mineral. Around it, a slow drip of amber essence permeates the space with a woody aroma that transforms the passage of time into a perceptual experience, merging the ephemeral with the eternal.
The installation is completed with fragments of human fingers made of patinated bronze and circular mirrors that reflect both light and the visitor's body. This duality between sky and earth, between reality and reflection, permeates the entire installation and reinforces the ritualistic and poetic nature of Tunga's creation.
The experience takes on a participatory dimension when the public sits on small tripods to look through the hollow trunk. This gesture simultaneously activates sight and smell, creating an immersive atmosphere that transforms contemplation into an intimate and sensory experience.
Curated by Aldones Nino, the exhibition establishes an intense dialogue with the sacred architecture of the Church of San Miguel, a context that enhances the artist's reflections on the relationship between the organic and the artificial, the body and matter, as well as on the links between nature, transformation and spirituality.
The exhibition will be open from March 3 to October 18, 2026, offering the European public an exceptional opportunity to discover one of Tunga's most evocative works in a space that amplifies its symbolic and contemplative dimension.
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