Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller bring "The Factory of Shadows" to Coimbra
The Anozero Biennial brings the Canadian artists to the 'Solo Show 25' at the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova.
Coimbra is set to host The Shadow Factory, an exhibition by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, as part of Solo Show '25 of the Anozero Biennial of Contemporary Art. Opening on 5 April and running until 5 July at the Santa Clara-a-Nova Monastery, the exhibition will feature 12 works by Canadian artists, including The Infinity Machine, shown outside the United States for the first time, alongside the acclaimed sound installation Forty Part Motet.
Carlos Antunes, director of the Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra (CAPC) and the Anozero Biennial, highlights the conceptual continuity between the biennial and the solo show. "A biennial is not always an echo of the previous one, but there is a certain logic of continuity. After Ragnar Kjartansson's solo show, it didn't seem easy to find someone who could not only follow up on that extraordinary exhibition but also conceptually echo what had been done. And Janet and George's groundbreaking work, Forty Part Motet, was precisely the catalyst for this exhibition," he explains.
The choice of the Santa Clara-a-Nova Monastery is no coincidence. The space, which has undergone several transformations throughout its history—from convent to military barracks and, most recently, home to the Anozero Biennial—offers a unique context for the artists' work. "The great thing about holding an exhibition here is that we never start with a clean slate. We always begin with a building full of history, which we then add to with the history that the artists bring," adds Antunes.
George Bures Miller highlights the importance of the relationship between the space and the works chosen for the exhibition: "After seeing this space, we thought of pieces that would fit in well here, because it's a unique place. The building is impressive. And you have to find—and we hope we did—the right pieces to enhance the environment in a way that doesn’t compete with it but integrates well within it."
Janet Cardiff reinforces this connection between art and context: "We've exhibited some different works in different places. For example, Forty Part Motet was shown in the Cloisters of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, which is essentially an old Spanish church. It's somewhat similar. This one is a truly impressive space."
The Vice-Rector of the University of Coimbra for Culture, Communication, and Open Science, Delfim Leão, emphasises the importance of this connection between history and the contemporary: "Culture is in the DNA of the University of Coimbra. The opportunity to be associated with the Biennial and the Solo Show is unique because it allows us to find a synthesis and a balance between a historic university and contemporary art," he says.
For the Mayor of Coimbra, José Manuel Silva, "Coimbra is a city of art and culture, and the biennial has projected Coimbra's name around the world. This year, we have two great artists presenting an extraordinary solo show, which we have no doubt will attract thousands of visitors," he adds.
The opening of The Shadow Factory will be marked by a communal dinner, followed by a tour led by the artists themselves and a musical performance. For three months, the Solo Show programme will include tours, workshops, and talks, offering an immersive experience of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's work and the history of the Monastery.
Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, internationally renowned for their immersive sound installations, bring a unique sensory experience to Coimbra. The Shadow Factory promises to be an invitation to revisit both individual and collective memories, establishing the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova as one of the contemporary art centres in Portugal and Europe.
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Detalhes da programação:
O programa de ativação realizado por artistas convidados, que conduzem com o público o percurso da exposição.
18 de abril: Isabel Baraona
2 de maio: Jorge Cabrera
16 de maio: Inês Moura
30 de maio: José Maçãs de Carvalho
13 de junho: Luísa Sequeira
4 de julho: Ricardo Correia
A partir de 12 de abril e em todos os sábados até ao encerramento, realizar-se-ão visitas mediadas (sem precisar de agendamento prévio) entre as 16h00 e as 17h30.
O Anozero disponibiliza ainda, como tem sido habitual, um programa muito especial de formação em arte contemporânea, que combina conteúdos teóricos com experiências de criação. Propõem-se temas transversais que dizem respeito a artistas contemporâneos que trabalham com comunidades e públicos, de forma multidisciplinar.
12 de abril: Poesias sonoras, com Tiago Schwäbl
26 de abril: Percursos como construção em arte, com Sónia Salcedo del Castillo
10 de maio: Artistas, coletivos e territórios, com Marco Paiva, do Coletivo Terra Amarela
24 de maio: Corpo território e cartografias, com Dori Nigro
7 de junho: Repensar o limite da obra, com Ângela Berlindes
21 de junho: Práticas sociais e comunitárias em arte, com Adriana Campos
28 de junho: Fronteiras permeáveis: corpo-objeto-lugar, com Noeli Kikuchi
Estes workshops e experiências criativas acontecem sempre entre as 14:30 e as 17:30 e têm uma lotação limitada a 20 participantes (curso de 5 euros). As inscrições estão abertas através do preenchimento deste formulário.
Conversas e partilhas
Haverá ainda espaço para conversas e partilhas com convidados que, num ambiente participativo, tratam conteúdos que se cruzam na obra de Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller.
11 de abril: 18h00, Importância do lugar na criação artística, com José António Bandeirinha
25 de abril: 18h00, Projetos e comunidades: arte comprometida com o social, com Cláudia Pato de Carvalho
4 de maio: 17h00–18h00, Happening, com Teatrão
9 de maio: 18h00, Poesia sonora e outros sons, com Luís Pedro Madeira
23 de maio: 18h00, Artistas que coletam objetos para criação, com Filipe Feijão e Bárbara Fonte
31 de maio: 18h00, Apresentação da Residência Artística com Coletivos Mediadores – «arte contemporânea e outras transdisciplinares», com Cristina Janicas, Jorge Cabrera e Maria Jorge Ferro
6 de junho: 18h00, Inconsciente e sonhos na obra de artistas contemporâneos, com Margarida Pedrosa de Lima
20 de junho: 18h00, O lugar do público, com Fernando Matos Oliveira e Ricardo Seiça
27 de junho: 18h00, Literatura e outras artes, com Manuel Portela
27 de junho: 18h00–19h00, Coro das Mulheres da Fábrica