Shinji Nagabe

Republica das Bananas is a series of color photographs in which Shinji Nagabe creates mise-en-scènes where the banana fruit appears as the protagonist of unlikely situations, always related to violent contexts. The series is a satirical portrait of a state called the “Banana Republic” and under the yoke of a populist dictator. As explained by curator Felipe Abreu, the banana is used both as a tool to blind and censor and as an element to create bombs and weapons by guerrilla groups. The series is a metaphorical allusion to the current situation in so many countries in Latin America and beyond.