New T they unveil art of presence of the Light Theatre
The exhibition celebrating the group's 40th anniversary will feature 3D projection, virtual reality, and experiences with sound and heat.
The installation “Lume Teatro – Technologies of the Body and Archives of Presence,” which will open this Saturday, December 13th, at the Itaú Cultural Institute in São Paulo, celebrates 40 years of research, creation, and pedagogy of Lume Teatro, founded at Unicamp in 1985 by Luís Otávio Burnier (1956-1995). Using 3D projection, virtual reality, and experiences with sound and body heat, the public will be able to immersively explore the trajectory of the group, which conquered the stage with its technique and inventiveness.
The exhibition, with free admission, runs until February 15th and can be visited from Tuesday to Saturday, from 11 am to 20 pm, and on Sundays and holidays, from 11 am to 19 pm.
British actress Naomi Silman, a member of the group since 1997 and one of the curators of the exhibition, explains that the exhibition, divided into six parts, originated from a collaboration between Lume and the doctoral project of Adriana Parente La Selva at the University of Ghent (Belgium), who also co-curated the exhibition. Members of the group conducted experiments there in 2024 and this year. "Adriana, an actress and researcher, gave the initial impetus to this project, as she had access to one of the largest technology laboratories working with performing arts," she says.
“The interest was in finding technologies that could be used to archive the art of the stage, the art of presence. We worked on the present moment, the ephemeral, which never repeats itself, when we perform on stage,” explains Silman. “We went to Belgium in 2024, and the first technology we tested was MoCap [Motion Capture]. We used sensors on the body that captured our movements in a three-dimensional space.”
During the work, Lume's techniques were mapped and short excerpts from his works were staged. "We also worked with a thermal camera to translate this present body. We performed scenes of great physical exertion to measure the heat in parts of our bodies," adds Silman.
“The exhibition is a journey that begins with the oldest media and progresses to high-tech ones. We don't use them just for the sake of using them, but to show how they can contribute to our craft, as they are tools that translate what we want to say about stage presence, about our work, which is handcrafted. We allow the public to enter this place that, for us, is very sacred and intimate,” he emphasizes.
“This exhibition is a celebration, as it brings together a lot of archival material from Burnier, including previously unseen images that many of us hadn't seen before. We took an emotional dive into our history and our bodies' presence over these 40 years,” he says. “At one point, we started with Burnier training alone, and at the end, we showed this year's students who went through our course.”
“Since 2023, we have had a thematic project funded by Fapesp to map the entire pedagogy of Lume, which began as a center at Unicamp and is now a benchmark, enabling our trip to Belgium. We originated at the University, and now, with the support of Itaú Cultural, we will show the culmination of research that has transformed into a product to be shared with the public. It is gratifying. We hope to bring the exhibition to Campinas, but for now, I invite everyone to go to São Paulo,” he concludes.
Six moments
The installation begins with “Sweating the Archive,” a photographic series by Bruno Freire featuring images of Lume actors captured with analog lenses during research in Belgium. Following this is “Labyrinth of Time,” by Lume videomaker Alessandro Poeta Soave, in partnership with Gabi Perissinotto, which recovers images of its performers, their bodily memories, and the techniques created by the group, such as Personal Dance and Corporeal Mimesis, as well as experiences with clowning and street theatre.
“Volumetric Island – Knossos” follows, with a 3D projection of fragments from the show. Knossos, one of Lume's most emblematic works. The piece utilizes volumetric capture technology (VolCap), which records the performer from multiple angles simultaneously, creating a kind of moving digital sculpture.
In “Extended Island,” the central focus of La Selva’s research, the artist delves deeper into the issue of body archiving using MoCap technology. Developed into an immersive extended reality (XR) experience, the work allows the audience to experience, through virtual reality glasses, the training techniques employed by the artists.
In “Thermal Island – What is your heat?” and “Run, Lume, run”, thermal cameras record the temperature variations of the performers and the audience, projecting onto the screen a chromatic geography of bodily energy in which the lighter the area, the greater the heat.
The closing piece is “Sound Island,” which is based on vocal work. The piece presents voice archives captured with an ambisonic microphone – a technology that captures sound in all directions, preserving spatiality and movement – creating the sensation that the visitor is inside a circle of actors, hearing their breathing, singing, and vocal patterns.
Events
"Lume Teatro – technologies of the body and archives of presence” – concept and curation: Itaú Cultural, Lume Teatro, Adriana Parente La Selva and Naomi Silman
Opening: December 13th (Saturday), at 11 am. Exhibition runs until February 15th, 2026. Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am to 20 pm; Sundays and holidays, 11 am to 19 pm.
Itaú Cultural – 2nd Floor – Avenida Paulista, 149, near the Brigadeiro metro station. Suitable for all ages. Free admission.
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