Alumbre na Macaia is the book of the project that intertwines spirituality, memory, and visual experimentation through the use of sacred herbs in Umbanda, the Afro-Brazilian religious practice in which I was raised. Inspired by the teachings of my grandmother and my father, and by the practices in our house, I use herbal baths to intervene directly on photographic negatives, literally immersing them before developing.

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   The book is conceived as a non-linear object: its reading begins at the center, on a page listing the herbs used in the process, and unfolds in two possible directions, at the reader’s choice. At this core, it also includes a small booklet with family archival images dating back to the 1940s, when our religious practice was still forbidden, opening a dialogue between past and present. This structure shifts away from linear narrative and turns the act of browsing into a ritual of reading.

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   Between remedy and poison, light and shadow, the images propose a territory where opposites coexist and intertwine. By rejecting visual stereotypes, the book stands as an aesthetic gesture of resistance, creating an iconography that is at once intimate, political, and ancestral.

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DETAILS 

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Hardback                                             Size: 17,5 x 23cm

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104 pages                                           100 photos

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700 copies                                           June 2025

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Languages: English and Portuguese

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SHIPPING 

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All orders are processed and dispatched from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, within 2 to 4 business days after payment has been confirmed.

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We currently deliver to: Brazil, Europe and United States

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Shipping fees are calculated automatically at checkout according to the destination and total weight of your order.

As soon as your package is on its way, you’ll receive an email with the tracking details.

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CNPJ: 30.446.567/0001-57  Rua Geraldo Martins, 155, 1204

Ian Cheibub Filmes   +55(21)989191917