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Nova Lima, a wealthy satellite city of Belo Horizonte shaped by centuries of gold and iron mining, also reflects Brazil’s deep social inequalities, with large areas of low‑income housing. In this context, the indigenous collective MAHKU (Movimento dos Artistas Huni Kuin), founded about fifteen years ago by Huni Kuin artists from Acre, has created CURA Macro, now the largest mural in Brazil. Covering more than 100 homes and 9,000 square meters, the project transforms the neighborhoods of Vila São Luís, Monte Castelo, Vila Marise, Morro das Pedrinhas, Cascalho, and Montividiu into a single monumental artwork visible from afar.

According to CURA Institute founder and curator Janaina Macruz, the project marks CURA’s evolution from a festival into a broader public art movement with social, economic, and tourism impact. Bringing MAHKU to Nova Lima fosters a dialogue between ancestral indigenous visual culture and contemporary urban space.

MAHKU’s work translates huni meka, the Huni Kuin healing songs, into painted form. Coordinator Ibã Sales Hunikuin describes the mural as a spiritual intervention meant to protect and strengthen the community. Executed with Carmo Johnson Projects, the initiative involved more than 500 residents, painters, and local producers, treating each house as a unique artwork and improving building structures in the process. It stands as CURA’s largest undertaking to date, adding to its legacy of large-scale public murals since 2017.

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