Collaborating since 2013, Bárbara Wagner and Benjamin de Burca create works in video, photography, and installation that explore contemporary histories of underground dance and musical genres. A recent acquisition and room-filling installation on view for the first time, Swinguerra (2019) focuses on disadvantaged queer communities of color in Recife, Brazil, with an emphasis on transgender and nonbinary performers. The film features three contemporary dance styles—swingueira, brega funk, and passinho da maloca—as performed by three competitive dance groups. These mixed dance styles recall Brazil’s colonial and slave trade history, where music and dance functioned as discreet methods of organizing politically under oppressive regimes.

For further information at the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston website.