Galeria Municipal do Porto

Maps, charts, crosses and patterns; African masks, sculptures, drums, timbrels and mbiras; Sisal, cotton, animal skins and horns; Seeds and plant species; Brought from Angola, Guinea and Mozambique; And also peacocks in the gardens, huts on the lake island, people exhibited in a zoo-human...dehumanization, change, justice and reparation. The workshop GIFmeback# proposes a game of conversations and creation of digital images, which has its roots at the Escola Secundária Infante D.Henrique, and will extend to the gardens of the Crystal Palace and the archive of an event that took place there in 1934, the First Portuguese Colonial Exhibition. In between, some stories and research from other places and other cities, such as Maputo or Lamego will eventually meet and cross paths, here and now.

To watch the GIF results created by the students, click here and here.

Working between Portugal and Mozambique and researching national and private archives that preserve Mozambique's colonial, anti-colonial past, artist Catarina Simão questions the tutelage and dissemination of historical and political memory. Based on prolonged investigations, which often involve collective partnerships and diverse forms of presentation to the public. Strongly influenced by narratives of history and the notion of the archive, Simão has been particularly dedicated to the contemporary history of Mozambique. It is in this context that she developed projects such as the Mozambique Institute Project (Reina Sofia Museum, 2014) or the documentary Djambo (DOCTV-CPLP 2016, w/ Chico Carneiro). Working in the areas of cinema, music, theatre and visual arts programming, Simão has collaborated with the Fundação de Serralves, Porto; Manifesta 8, Murcia; Africa.cont; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut; New Museum, New York; Garage Museum, Moscow; and Galerias Municipais de Lisboa, among others.

Reproduction is one of the main features of all living organisms. In many mammals, the surface of the uterus contains the endometrium, a malleable tissue that receives the embryo and allows the formation of the placenta, providing nutrients, oxygen and all the necessary elements for the survival and development of a new life. It also redirects the DNA of the cells that interact with the embryo to form a new being. In her talk, scientist, poet and artist Patricia Saragüeta reflects on the importance of studying 3D aspects of DNA to understand and improve reproduction and conservation across humans and jaguars.

Aiming to show the northern side of Bonfim to the pings!, the Exodus route showed a neighbourhood that has become a place of residence and work for a growing number of artists. This urban flow, which crosses streets such as Alegria, Anselmo de Braamcamp or Santos Pousada, is accompanied by the opening of new independent cultural projects and spaces. The visit showed a group of creators and their projects, which materialise in different scales and structures, complementing and contributing to the neighbourhood.

Cultural producer, Pablo Berástegui is director of the documentary photography project Salut au monde!, based in Porto. He was director of the International Photography and Visual Arts Festival PhotoEspaña. He was also General Director of San Sebastián 2016 European Capital of Culture, Director of La noche en blanco de Madrid and responsible for the cultural spaces Matadero Madrid and Centro Conde Duque (2013). He currently teaches in cultural management and curatorial courses in different faculties in Spain.

The artist Samuel Wenceslau has been making incursions into the gardens of the Crystal Palace to build an architectural and poetic interpretation of the place, but also to collect plants that can germinate inside a wardiana box - an 19th century terrarium that recreates a particular ecosystem. The workshop will build micro-landscapes, enclosed by an iron and glass structure, to which participants can add images that revisit the First Portuguese Colonial Exhibition to reflect on the idea of possession and forced exposure, and also domestic objects as a metaphor for personal collections and reliquaries. What tensions will emerge from these Crystal Terrariums where the colonial domination of bodies and the idea of the beauty of natural forms cohabit?

Artist Samuel Wenceslau has a deep interest in nature, in particular Brazilian botany, exploring organic forms and lines in collages, drawings, photographs, paintings, objects and other graphic creations. As he is also artistic director and producer of the Kebraku Collective, Wenceslau created the Graphic Studiolo, a graphic inventory of natural forms from the flora of South America and, more recently, Europe. "My plates look botanical, but the classifications I used are all imagined," he says. Apart from the technical side, he distinguishes himself from traditional botany by his refusal of perfection. He doesn't look for leaves or flowers that are intact, but those that show the "interference of time and nature".

 To participate in the Visitas-Pavão, all interested groups can register through the email galeriamunicipal@agoraporto.pt.