Luana Vitra is a visual artist, dancer, and performer from the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, an area known for its natural landscapes deeply influenced by industrial mining activities. Rooted in a family background of carpentry, from her father’s side, and a literary affinity from her mother’s, Vitra explores in her work the nuances of matter while highlighting the interplay between geological processes and emotional experiences.
Luana Vitra received the Prince Claus Seed Award (2022). Her work has been exhibited in various institutions such as MAM Rio de Janeiro, Framer Framed Amsterdam, South London Gallery, Javett Art Center, all in 2022. In 2023 she participated in the 35th Bienal de São Paulo titled Choreographies of the Impossible and Right to Form, a group exhibition at Instituto Inhotim, Belo Horizonte, both in Brazil.
The beads of my rosary are artillery bullets (2024)
Iron, iron ore stone, lapis lazuli, paper, beads, fabric and copper
Variable dimensions
Luana Vitra,The beads of my rosary are artillery bullets (2024). Photo Paulo Menezes.Luana Vitra grew up watching the hands of those in prayer move across the beads of a rosary, repeating the same prayer over and over. To her, spirituality is also a journey the hands undertake over the beads, as if these points were guiding the body into the invisible, cultivating protection and a sense of purpose. This aspect transcends cultures, connecting to the energetic properties of various metals and the historical patterns formed by beads and metals.
The commission for Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund began with a self-directed six-month residency in eThekwini (Durban), KwaZulu Natal. Luana Vitra’s interest in the physical, chemical and spiritual aspirations of matter led her to conduct research in the region popularly known as the Kingdom of the Zulus. There, she immersed herself in learning traditional wire weaving and beading techniques typical to the area. Her interest in these two techniques is connected to her understanding of stitch, line and repetition as the cradle of spirituality.
Luana Vitra’s production residency in South Africa drew on cultural traditions that have been present for centuries and therefore connected to diasporic understanding of belief systems, material cultural productions and indigenous mining traditions whose understanding is critical to the project of decolonial spiritual recovery. – Gabi Ngcobo
The beads of my rosary are artillery bullets is the result of this research residency. The work reflects on the relationship between manual work and prayer. Inspired by complex geometric forms and patterns connected to the spiritual abilities used as communicative objects to express affection, such as Zulu love letters, Vitra transformed these shapes to her own understanding of the spiritual world. The arrows and spears are symbolic of Oshosi, a powerful orisha (spirit) associated with the hunt, forests, animals, and wealth in Afro-Brazilian religious movement called Candomblé.
The diverse materials used in the work also raise political questions linked to the ongoing spiritual and historical warfare perpetuated in the artist’s native Brazil and other countries.
The work is part of the solo show Luana Vitra: The beads of my rosary are artillery bullets at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam (20 Sep. 2024 — 27 Apr. 2025)
Luana Vitra was selected by the Commissioning Committee of the Hartwig Art Production | Collection Fund to research and learn new techniques in order to produce a new work to be included in the collection. The piece will subsequently be donated to the Dutch state, becoming an integral part of the national art collection (‘Rijkscollectie’), available for institutions in the Netherlands and abroad.