«Algebra, at its core, is a method for identifying unknowns, isolating what is missing from systems of relations […] Nazareth solves equations differently. His practice operates through radical interweaving; his works cannot be perceived as autonomous objects to be contemplated or read chronologically, but rather as ritual works that activate relationships with forces that surpass any single exhibition». Fernanda Brenner

The publication, which accompanies the exhibition Algebra dedicated to the Brazilian artist Paulo Nazareth, presented at Punta della Dogana in Venice from March 29 to November 22, 2026, documents the exhibition journey by entering the heart of the artist’s practice, whose work stems from travel, encounters, and direct experience of the territories. For years, Nazareth crossed the Americas and parts of Africa on foot, ideally following the routes traveled by migrants, precarious workers, and diasporic communities. His journeys become a form of research and testimony, a way through which the artist collects stories, objects and memories that then flow into his works.

The exhibition project unflods around a symbolic and powerful gesture: a long line of rooms crosses the entire Punta della Dogana floor, drawing the silhouette of a ship. The intervention recalls the history of the building, the city’s ancient customs house, where for centuries goods from trade routes were checked and taxed. At the same time the shape of the ship evokes the Atlantic crossings during the slave trade and, closer to us, the vessels that today transport migrants and refugees to Europe.

The volume, with the graphic concept of Irma Boom Office, brings together essays by Fernanda Brenner, Gabriela de Matos, Johny Pitts, and Philippe Rekacewicz, who analyze Nazareth’s work and the historical and cultural context in which it fits from different perspectives. Alongside theoretical contributions, it presents an extensive iconographic apparatus with images of the works, views of the exhibition, documentation of the artist’s projects over the years, and a very useful glossary of key terms from his practice.