Bori, by Ayrson Heráclito - The Process
In the Pinacoteca's collection, the performance Bori (2008), by Ayrson Heráclito, interprets a ritual of religions of African origin in which food is offered to the spiritual head.
Bori - by Ayrson Heráclito
BORI is a ritual of the religions of African matrix. It is an important rite, in which Ori (head) will be worshiped by giving food. Thus, Ori is a divinity that resides in each being, a force connected between their orixá and the power of creation Olódùmarè (I am that which is).
Image from the performance of "Bori" by Ayrson HeráclitoPinacoteca de São Paulo
In the Bori ceremony we will greet and strengthen the head through the offering of food and flowers, in which we evoke Oxalá, and Yemonjá, a Yabá (female saint / orixá) directly related to Ori, considered the lady of all heads.
Image from the performance of "Bori" by Ayrson HeráclitoPinacoteca de São Paulo
Sacudimento
Every offering process is preceded by a cleansing and purification ritual. Smoking is done with aluminum can smokers filled with charcoal and herbs.
Leaves are also used for these processes, either in the baths, in which species such as Saint George's sword (Ogum) and Pelegum are used. Ayrson Heráclito resorts to these procedures in the performance Sacudimento, a ritual of cleansing and purification.
Ayrson Heráclito's work: Sacudimenta at the Maison des Esclave in Górée: facade II, 2015.
São Joaquim Fair
Ayrson Heráclito and Joceval Santos walk in the most traditional fair in Salvador, located in Cidade Baixa, and built in the form of a labyrinth, where you can find everything from fresh foods to products for rituals of religions of African matrix.
Trivia: The São Joaquim fair is portrayed in Jorge Amado's narrative universe. For a long time called Água dos Meninos Fair, it endured a big fire in 1964 and was then transferred to São Joaquim.
The buckets (balaios)
In the candomblé (Afro-Brazilian religion) shrines, they are often used to set up ritual tables and to hold the ingredients for offerings to the saints. In the Bori performance, these utensils of various sizes are used to place the food that will adorn the heads of the deities.
Mat
Made of straw, like the balaios, the mats are used in the obligations in the terreiro as a seat, table, where food is served to the children and gods, and also as a bed. The mat is the representation of the beginning of life and the encounter with the ancestry.
In Ayrson Heráclito's Bori, the performers use the mats as beds during the process of making the heads
Dendê oil (palm oil)
Dendê oil (palm oil, or epô in Yoruba) is the representation of vegetable blood. This element is present in cooking, and in almost all sacred rituals. The epô goes beyond blood, but represents bodily fluids, such as saliva and semen.
Ayrson Heráclito uses palm oil as material and metaphor to think about ancestral fluids.
Image from the performance of "Bori" by Ayrson HeráclitoPinacoteca de São Paulo
Click here to continue reading about Bori, The Performance.
Images by Christina Ruffato
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