TROPICAL TRAUMA MISERY TOUR
Rafael Roncato | TALK
The book is published by The PhotoBookMuseum / MASA / Lovely House / Alter Edições
This project can be seen this year at Circulation(s), which takes place from March 21 to May 17 in Paris, France. The full program is available here.
Welcome to the TROPICAL TRAUMA MISERY TOUR. I invite you to take this tour through a roofless theatre called media, the stage representing the farce and media opportunism of the Brazilian president and far-right populist, Jair Messias Bolsonaro—The Myth. In 2018, Bolsonaro was stabbed during a presidential rally campaign. Against a backdrop of polarization, micro-narratives, and misinformation, The Myth starred in an online political campaign where he had complete control over his narrative and self-presentation. This tour investigates how the ambiguity of the stabbing event exposes the network propaganda in the Brazilian political game. Through a speculative documentary photography practice, this piece overcomes the political illusions and dissemination of nonprogressive values of digital populists. The fictionalization of the real is a form of resistance toward such ideological shams and manipulations. It devolves into a meta-play, a farce within a farce.
