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When
5:30 – 7:30 p.m., Feb. 21, 2026
Please RSVP if you plan to attend the book release and film screening with Paulo Ramos.
About the book: Bodies of Water
Bodies of Water is a breath underwater. Bodies of Water is memory in motion, a current carrying the stories of Black women-mothers. It is the description of the poetic pluralities of Black women in their intellectualities as they experience the world, a world born from the relationships and socialities that emerge from these waters. The book Bodies of Water reveals itself through the wisdom of the mother, grandmother, aunt, and neighborhood women (mother-neighbors) of the author, who shared mothering and waters among themselves. It is these women and these waters that make us s(w)im-alk in the Black feeling-doing, rooted in an ancestry that flows from their wombs and hearts.
40 copies of the book will be available at the event for free. They will be given out on a first come, first serve basis. Additional books can be purchased at: https://tinyurl.com/BodiesofWaterBook
About the film: The sea, my mother’s body, and the salt of the tears from her eyes
The short film is presented through a poetic image produced by the body, through the performances of my mother, my grandmother, and my ancestors, taking the sea as its prism and the representation of the Black mother-woman as an atemporal symbol in the face of a Black diaspora fragmented and interrupted by anti-Blackness. The connection between waters and mothering emerges as a symbol of this ancestral bond, an experience of Blackness in becoming, in self-recognition. This short film is a metamorphosis, continuously unfolding and undergoing change.
About the presenter: Paulo Ramos is born from the womb of his mother, Terezinha Ramos de Jesus. He is an Afro-Brazilian visual artist, performer, actor, and poet whose multidisciplinary work spans video, performance, and poetry. His acclaimed poetry book, Corpos d’água, was published in 2023 in Brazil. And in 2026, the book, titled Bodies of Water, will be released in the United States, in English, by NP-PRESS and Counterpath Press. Ramos' compelling performance piece, presented at the 12th At First Sigh New Works Festival Indiana University and in venues across São Paulo and Tepoztlán, gave rise to the thought-provoking and, art installation “Bodies of Water, a way” in Center Research of Race and Ethnicity and Society Paulo Ramos is a Ph.D. in Social Science in Gender and Black Studies in PUCSP. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo,Paulo Ramos continues to explore and amplify the narratives of Afro-Brazilian identity.
Learn more about Paulo Ramos: https://www.paulo-ramos.com/
This event is sponsored by the University of Arizona LGBTQ+ Institute, the Arizona Queer Archives, and the Department of Gender and Women's Studies.
- Refreshments will be available during the event
- Parking is mostly street parking, which is free on University Avenue on the weekend. Please be mindful that some of the neighborhood parking off 5th Avenue and other areas might be resident permit only. The courtyard entrance off University is fully accessible and there is another accessible entrance off 5th Avenue that takes you through the main lobby.
- We will send you email reminders both one week before the event, as well as the day before the event.
Accessibility Information:
- Masking: We ask that all participants wear a mask to this event. Masks will be provided.
- Physical accessibility: The courtyard is all one-level and is paved flat stones that are all connected. The inside of the building has wood floors and some low-clearance rugs in certain areas. There is a ramp between the courtyard and the inside building space. There is a ramp up to the building from 5th Avenue. The entrance from the courtyard is one-level from the street. There are accessible sidewalk entrances from the street on the corner of 5th Avenue and University and 4th Avenue and University. There will be seating available.
- Restrooms: There is an all-gender restroom directly off the courtyard, but this restroom is older and has a very narrow doorway. Directly inside the building off the courtyard are all-gender, as well a binary restrooms, that have accessible doorways, handrails, and/or accessible stalls.
- Language: All language speakers are welcome to attend and engage in the space in whatever language is most comfortable for them. The book that is available has been translated into English, but originally is written in Portuguese. Most formal speakers at the event will be using English, but may also use a combination of Portuguese, Spanish, and/or Dine languages. If you have any language access needs, please reach out and we will do our best to accommodate.
- Scent: We ask that all participants please refrain from wearing scents.
If you have questions about access or to request any accommodations that will facilitate your full participation in this event, please contact Sarah Maaske at smaaske@arizona.edu or 520-626-7005.