Peter was the name given to him by his enslavers on the plantation of John & Bridget Lyons in Louisiana, a working name, a record name, an inventory name. His true name, the one his mother gave him, the one that corresponded to his lineage, his people, the language in which he learned to name the world before the world decided to rename him, that name did not survive. The system took care of that too, with the same efficiency with which it took care of everything else.

Western universalism likes to present itself as a viewpoint that is none: neutral, objective, valid everywhere, a panoramic view from nowhere. But behind this elevated tone hides a simpler operation: a local perspective that of Western Europe elevated to the status of reference norm.

Rocha proclaims an “aesthetics of hunger”: rather than hiding the poverty of the Nordeste, he places it at the centre, turning it into raw material.​