Dissident Practices

Calirman traces six decades of work by Brazilian women artists, from established figures to newer voices, spanning the 1960s to the present. Her survey moves through several turning points: the years of military rule, the transition back to democracy around the mid-1980s, the social transformations of the 2000s, the conservative surge of the late 2010s, and the more recent emergence of openly feminist art.

These artists earned recognition as central to Brazilian art, yet many were held back by their gender. Many of the earlier generation rejected the term feminism during the 1960s and 1970s. Calirman examines with care how these artists responded to authoritarian rule, worked through the trauma that followed the dictatorship, questioned prevailing gender norms, and resisted the objectification of women.

By confronting social inequality, entrenched power, and state violence, the artists discussed here assert a form of political agency. The book situates their work in a country where women continue to face brutality and discrimination.