Ernesto Neto’s large-scale textile works tend to take over a space, enveloping observers who then become part of the spectacle. His latest, at MAAT in Lisbon, is one of the Rio legend’s largest sculptures – part fisherman’s net, part jungle web ensnaring hundreds of years of Brazilian history.

Curated by Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Nosso Barco Tambor Terra (‘our boat drum earth’) is being installed at the riverfront museum of art, architecture and technology. The cross-cultural, cross-continental mesh behemoth consists of vibrantly printed cotton chintz, torn into strips and crocheted using the local atelienave technique, to a design tweaked with computer software. Weighted down with beans, stuffed into stocking-like sleeves, it resembles the giant nets and sails used by caravels launching from the Tagus River for the New World.

Nosso Barco Tambor Terra references percussion, popular with the Eastern and African diaspora in Latin America and a hobby of Neto’s himself. Working with ‘percussionista’ Tânia Lopes, the artist will provide musical interludes at regular points throughout the run; drawing viewers into the work with a common language will result in a truly collective work of art.

The show launches at MAAT on 2 May and runs through 7 October, 2024. See behind-the-scenes preview of the exhibition being installed ahead of its launch this week.

Read next: Eva Jospin creates a magical portal in Venice

JR smashes a tunnel through Milan’s Stazione Centrale with a new mind-bending art installation