Tabita Rezaire

Tabita Rezaire is one of the nine participants of the Onassis AiR Emergency Fellowships program for the 2020-21 season.

These fellowships are designed to be highly responsive to address volatile situations around the world or in Greece, or time-sensitive artistic research, or unanticipated professional needs.

Artistic Research

Forest wisdom

I have recently embarked on a journey into the wisdom of the land. I live in the Amazonian forest near Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, and I am being called into land stewardship. To learn from the forest. To grow with the forest. To retrieve our ancestral connections to the forest, our sacred understanding of its rhythms, our respect of its needs, our interdependency. Human wellbeing is deeply connected to the life of forests, among which the Amazonian ecosystem is a mother to us all, as a crucial biome for climate regulation, carbon absorption, and exuberant biodiversity, as well as a depth of wisdom. To live with the forest. To live for the forest. So the forest can thrive when we transition into the realm of the ancestors. So all those who will walk the earth after us, can experience the blessings and abundance of the Amazonian forest. This is our collective responsibility. To become the forest.

Cacao wisdom

I am currently studying agriculture to become a cacao farmer. This may seem far from art, but I believe both worlds embody in their essence the power of creation. Whether you cultivate creative energy to give birth to an artwork or grow trees, both demand the same attention and devotion to the process of becoming. As a future cacao producer, it is essential for me to dive into the multifaceted dimensions of cacao —from an agricultural, historical, scientific, political and spiritual perspective. ‘The food of the gods’ has throughout times played a central role in socio-economical-mystical dynamics. Whether it inspired mythologies, economical disasters, exploitative labors, botanical trades or culinary experience, the history and industry of cacao is as fascinating as complex. This research-path is the work I’m devoted to do, as a daughter of the Amazonian forest.

As I journey into the art of nourishment —of soil, river, and forest, as well as of peοple and spirit— I call in abundance and support to guide me into creating an intimate and divine relationship with cacao.