Maria Thereza Alves

Maria Thereza Alves (1961, São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian contemporary artist internationally recognized for her interdisciplinary practice addressing historical memory, social justice, and cultural ecologies. Since the 1980s, she has developed research-based projects that investigate the silenced histories of specific territories, connecting art, politics, and environmental concerns through critical and collaborative methodologies. Her work emerges from sustained engagement with the physical and social environments of the places where she lives or travels for exhibitions and residencies. Through in-depth research and dialogue with local communities, Alves explores the intersections between material realities, social conditions, and ecological systems. Her projects respond to local needs and evolve through relational practices grounded in horizontal collaboration and knowledge exchange. Challenging Western binaries such as nature versus culture, art versus politics, and art versus everyday life, her practice moves fluidly across disciplinary boundaries. Through installations, public interventions, and community-based projects, she addresses colonial histories, migration, collective memory, and sustainability, establishing herself as a leading figure in socially engaged contemporary art.