ABSTRACT
This chapter describes diaspora cultures as nomadic and migrant, products of constant movement, of living in the 'between', of seeing the world from an inside/outside perspective. Helio Oiticica's initiation into the life of Mangueira represented a unique experience in the history of Brazilian art. Oiticica's creations became increasingly interactive as he moved from object-based to body-centered works in which viewer participation was the central focus. During the 1970s while residing in New York, Oiticica adapted his architectural works to the scale of his loft, creating a constructed environment similar to Kurt Schwitters' 1925 'Merzbau' collage constructions in his apartment in Hanover. Oiticica created a web of relations around the sensual body and the many spatial forms with which it interacts. His participatory works are based on two key concepts: 'Crelazer' and 'Suprasensorial'. Symbolic thinking, expressed through popular proverbs and aphorisms, permeates the culture and especially the cult of the Orishas, the Afro-Brazilian divinities.
