Maria Thereza Alves

Maria Thereza Alves, (Brazil, 1961) has participated in the Sydney Biennale, Toronto Biennale, Manifesta 12 in Palermo and 7 in Trento, Sao Paulo Biennale (2016 and 2010), Berlin Biennale 8,  Sharjah Bienale (2017) and dOCUMENTA (13) in 2012,  Taipei Biennale (2012), Guangzhou Triennale 3 and the Second Havana Biennale. She has had a solo exhibit at MUAC in Mexico City and a survey exhibit at CAAC in Seville. Alves is the recipient of the Vera List Prize for Art and Politics 2016-2018. 

 In 1978, as a member of the International Indian Treaty Council, Alves made an official presentation of human rights abuses of the indigenous population of Brazil at the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Alves was one of the founding members of the Green Party of Sao Paulo in 1987. Recent books are  Recipes for Survival published by University of Texas Press and Thieves and Murderers in Naples: A Brief History on Families, Colonization, Immense Wealth, Land Theft, Art and the Valle de Xico Community Museum in Mexico published by Di Paolo Edizioni.  www.mariatherezaalves.org

In 2018, Alves founded along with Jimmie Durham, LABINAC, a design collective, with the dual purpose of designing and making things and supporting the craft works of indigenous peoples in Latin America.