Noemisa [ Noemisa Batista dos Santos ]
1947, Caraí | MG - Brazil
When she was very small she learned how to model clay with her mother Joana, pot maker, who in turn introduced to Córrego Santo Antônio , Caraí, the woman water jug with three balls, that is , water jugs with a lid in the form of a woman’s head and three-foot base, with rounded ends. The water jug “with three balls for feet”, also called botija, already existed in the region for at least 200 years, but without human attributes. Unlike her mother and grandmother, Noemisa began the art of clay by modeling figures established by their mother and by Noemisa. The family, therefore, adopts its own immediately recognizable style.
Noemisa uses her work to make a real chronicle of life in the rural neighborhood where she lives, she creates her own style and themes, reproducing everyday scenes, such as christenings, weddings, young men with a watch on their wrists driving cars, or the doll maker working the clay. Her art is feminine, with delicate applications of light clay on the women’s dresses, on the decoration for the chapel architecture, and party tablecloths. Although she is one of the most original artists Brazilian ceramic art, she lives on her own and in economic hardship. Her work, today known all over the country, was presented at numerous exhibitions in Minas Gerais and other States. In 1987 her sculptures were part of the exhibition Brésil, Art Populaires (Grand Palais, Paris, 1987) and the Redescovery Exhibition (São Paulo Biennial Foundation, 2000), for example. Her art is also found in permanent collection of the Edison Carneiro Folklore Museum, in the Casa do Pontal Museum (Jacques van de Beuque collection), both in Rio de Janeiro, and in the São Paulo, Francisco Museum Brazilian Popular Art, João Pessoa, Paraíba State.
Source: Pequeno Dicionário do Povo Brasileiro, século XX | Lélia Coelho Frota – Aeroplano, 2005
Individual Exhibitions:
2017 Chroniclese of Noemisa – 50 years of Ceramic, Centro de Arte Popular Cemig, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Collective Exhibitions:
2022 Earth/ Earth – The Jequitinhonha and it Tradition, Museu da Casa do Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2022 Brazilian Collection of Alberto and Priscila Freire, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil CCBB, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
2020 Women in Folk Art, Vilma Eid e Fernanda Pitta, Galeria Estação, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2020 See you Soon, Museu da Casa do Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, brazil
2014 There are schools that are cages and there are schools that are wings –Art and Society Program from Brazil, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2009 Influences of the Art from Vale do Jequitinhonha, Museu da Casa do Pontal, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2006-2007 Cheers to the Living Culture of the Brazilian People, Afro Brazil Museum, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2000 Brasil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition Biennial Pavilion, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2001 Popular Expression, Light Cultural Center, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
1987 Brésil, Arts Populaires, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Public Collections:
Edison Carneiro Museum of Folklore, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Casa do Pontal Museum, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Museum of Brazilian Popular Art at the São Francisco Cultural Center, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
Selected Publications:
2020 Women in Folk Art, Vilma Eid e Fernanda Pitta, Lis Gráfica, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2008 In the Name of the Author - Artisans from Brazil, Proposal Publisher, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2008 Brides of the Drought: popular ceramics from Jequitinhonha, Lalada Dalglish, UNESP publisher, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2008 Paths of Popular Art - Jequitinhonha valley, Casa do Pontal Museum, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2007 Down River - the paths of ceramics in the Jequitinhonha Valley, Catalog, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
2007 Cheers to the Living Culture of the Brazilian People, Afro Brasil Museum, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2005 Small Dictionary of the Art of the Brazilian People - 20th century, Lélia Coelho Frota, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
2002 The World of Brazilian Popular Art, Casa do Pontal Museum, Ed. Maua, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
2000 Brasil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition | Popular Art, Takano Publisher, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
1994 Brazilian Popular Art: pieces from the Casa do Pontal collection, Casa do Pontal Museum, Brasiliana in Frankfurt, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
