Beto Shwafaty is an artist and researcher whose practice entails installations, videos, and sculptural objects. Using a diverse array of materials and methodologies, such as curatorial thinking, institutional strategies, criticism, and archival research, his projects reflect on the notions of appropriation, dislocations, and translation, generating works that are developed over extended periods of time. In his practice, Shwafaty often focuses on the way historical episodes can leave traces on culture and be echoed in objects, spaces, and sociocultural structures, which by consequence produce publicly shared meanings and behaviours. In this sense, he has been interested in subjects concerning history, sociopolitics, architecture, and design, assuming these as narrative elements and evidence that could inform us on different aspects of our present time. 

His work has been shown at the 9th Mercosul Biennial (Porto Alegre, 2013); Mythologies, MAM SP (São Paulo, 2013); 33rd Panorama of Brazilian Art, MAM SP (São Paulo, 2013); X São Paulo Architecture Biennial (2013); Contra Escambos (Belo Horizonte and Recife, 2013); Eternal Tour, SESC (São Paulo, 2012); Mythologies, Cité des Arts (Paris, 2011); Shadowed by the future, Instituto Cervantes (São Paulo, 2010); 4th IABR – Rotterdam Architecture Biennial: Urbaninform (The Netherlands, 2009); 3rd Utrecht Manifest (The Netherlands, 2009); Public Turbulence, Isola Art Center (Milan, 2009); Utopia for Sale, Akademie der Künste (Berlin, 2009); The Building: E-flux, Berlin, 2009; Rumos Artes Visuais, Itaú Cultural (São Paulo, 2006).

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