Mano Penalva (b. 1976, Salvador, Brazil) is a contemporary Brazilian artist known for his evocative works that explore memory, displacement, cultural identity, and the narratives embedded within everyday objects. Working across sculpture, installation, photography, drawing, and mixed media, Penalva transforms found materials and personal artifacts into poetic investigations of human experience and cultural exchange.A graduate of the School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Bahia, Penalva draws inspiration from travel, collecting, and encounters with diverse communities. His practice often incorporates textiles, maps, luggage, furniture, and handcrafted objects, reflecting the movement of people, histories, and traditions across geographical and cultural boundaries. Through these carefully assembled works, he examines how objects serve as vessels of memory, carrying stories that connect individual lives to broader social and historical contexts.Penalva has exhibited extensively throughout Brazil and internationally, participating in major exhibitions, biennials, and museum programs. His work is included in important public and private collections and is recognized for its ability to bridge personal narratives with universal themes of belonging, migration, and cultural heritage.Through a thoughtful and deeply human approach to materiality, Mano Penalva continues to create works that invite reflection on the interconnected nature of history, identity, and the objects that accompany us through life.