A touring exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of Carnation Revolution, entitled “What ocean do we see from our language?”, will be held at Casa Garden, the Orient Foundation’s (FO) headquarters in Macau, from 12 April to 12 May, showcasing about 50 artworks in various disciplines, including photography, video, cinema, poetry, painting, sculpture and new media.
Organised by BABEL and co-organised by REDE [Network] of Residencies of Portuguese Expression Worlds, central-periférica and FO’s Macau delegation, the exhibition began in Alcobaça, Portugal, with over 1500 visitors between December 2023 and March this year, divided between the Armazém das Artes and the central periphery.
After Macau, the exhibition is scheduled to move to Fortaleza (Brazil), Mindelo (Cabo Verde), Luanda (Angola) and Maputo (Mozambique).
In Macau, the exhibition is supported by the Consulate General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong and the Portuguese Institute of the Orient, as well as sponsored by the Macau Government’s Cultural Development Fund, BNU and Vino Veritas.
The exhibition is a result of an ongoing research by curator Margarida Saraiva on contemporary artistic practices of Portuguese expression worlds. The artists involved in this exhibition include those from Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Goa and Macau.
In the local edition, visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to see artworks by Aline Motta, Ana Battaglia Abreu, Ana Jacinto Nunes and Carlos Morais José, Bianca Lei, Catarina Simão, Cecília Jorge, Eliana N’Zualo, Eric Fok, Filipa César and Sónia Vaz Borges, José Aurélio, José Drummond, José Maçãs de Carvalho, Konstantin Bessmertny, Luigi Acquisto and Bety Reis, Mónica de Miranda, Nuno Cera, Peng Yun, Rui Rasquinho, Sofia Yala, Subodh Kerkar, Thierry Ferreira, Tiago Sant’Ana and Wong Weng Io.
Artists are added whenever the exhibition crosses borders. “What ocean do we see from our language?” establishes a reflection on essential issues like memory, history, identity and freedom in a post-colonial and globalised context. The goal is not only to look at the past but also the future,” according to the exhibition’s press release.
The press release points out, “What will become of the Portuguese expression space in two or three centuries? How will freedom be in a world controlled by algorithms and obsessed with surveillance in private, public and digital spaces?”
Also known as the 25 April, the Carnation Revolution was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo government in Lisbon on 25 April 1974, which resulted in major social, economic, territorial, demographic and political changes in Portugal as well as its overseas colonies. The revolution eventually concluded with the Portuguese transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial War, according to Wikipedia.
Meanwhile, the Macau exhibition’s launch ceremony will be held at 6:30 pm on 12 April. For more information e-mail babel.culturalorganization@gmail.com/ rede.residencias.artisticas@gmail.com or contact (853) 6309 1950. (Gilbert Humphrey)
Image: BABEL
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