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‘One of the most laborious exhibitions carried out among us, on a concept which, in a country with a colonial past, has always been difficult to deal with’, writes journalist and art critic Celso Martins in Expresso about the exhibition ‘Troubles with Primitivism – a view from Portugal’, which he selects as one of the 10 best of the year in Portugal.
Curated by IHA – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST researcher Mariana Pinto dos Santos and Marta Mestre, artistic director for the Centro Internacional das Artes José de Guimarães (CIAJG), where it was on show between May 18th and November 17th, the exhibit brought together works and an exhaustive documentary base creating a kaleidoscope that helps us understand the primitive, ‘an idea that centralises all its contradictions (from fascination to domination)’, states Celso Martins in the article titled ‘2024 na Cultura: as 10 melhores exposições do ano em Portugal.
Placed by the journalist and art critic in 5th place, ‘Troubles with Primitivism’ brought more than 400 documents, works of art and quotations to the Portuguese northern city of Guimarães to question the concept of primitivism by creating ‘short circuits between images and texts by different authors, often with contradictory positions, in a montage that shows how the production of visual culture intersects the history of modernity with colonial history’, in the words of co-curator Mariana Pinto dos Santos.
We visited the exhibition on our 1st IN2PAST Field Trip, as part of the ‘Troubles with Primitivism – a view from Portugal’ Meetings, on September 28th, organised with CIAJG and BUALA, and with the participation of several IN2PAST researchers. The Meetings further evidenced the intra- and transdisciplinary character of the exhibit, and the use of the museum as a space for questioning the past and its persistence in the present, and its vocation to reflect about difficult heritages.
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IN2PAST – Associate Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Heritage, Arts, Sustainability and Territory is funded by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P. under reference LA/P/0132/2020 (DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0132/2020)
