Eliane Duarte

She achieved recognition five years later, in 1994, when she was awarded first prize at the Funarte's (the National Arts Foundation of Brazil) National Exhibition of Visual Arts, with a work entitled Veste. Duarte's works are created out of a variety of materials, from fabric, cotton, seeds, rope, to feathers, and even coins, and she uses media such as natural pigments and wax to create objets, installations and amulets. These hold a mystical significance and Duarte perceives them as entities and forces in and of themselves that are, in a sense, “prayers”. Her work is a direct legacy of the artistic practices of the women of Brazil, which continues on without truly being considered as part of the collective memory of the country, a consequence of the essentially patriarchal process that determines what is worth recognition, and what is not.

Duarte's career primarily developed in Brazil, however her work was also featured internationally. Since 2000, the Fondation Cartier has been acquiring the artist's works, and they are regularly on exhibit, both at the Paris location and as part of our international programme of exhibits.