The Kite Ballet is a multidisciplinary series comprising the homonymous film, alongside photography and sculpture. The work reflects on territoriality, community, joy, and degrowth, while advocating for play in adulthood as a revolutionary act.
The Kite Ballet by Thaís Muniz intertwines poetic and mythical elements with political, historical, and symbolic themes, amplifying the voices of local activists from the Itapuã area in Salvador, Brazil. The film portrays a group of kite runners in their weekly communal ritual, highlighting the threat of private development and ecological displacement of Afro-Indigenous sacred territory, where joy and spiritual practices have thrived for centuries. The film advocates for play and negotiation with nature as revolutionary acts.
Thaís Muniz is a Brazilian-Irish visual artist and researcher working across multiple mediums to explore the intersections of inherited and acquired identities, memory, transit, and inward love. Her community-oriented practice unfolds through intimate communal learning processes, including workshop, performance, installation, sculpture, and film. Her work also spans photography, celebrations, and activations, often incorporating archives, personal memorabilia, and symbology.
Muniz’s practice engages with the reimagination of realities through mechanisms of refusal, dreaming, and personal magic, challenging and expanding canonical systems of representation, building connections, and opening conversations. A central aspect of her work involves activating spaces through presence and critically engaging with the geopolitics of place.