The exhibition "Que mar se vê afinal da minha língua?" opened in Armazém das Artes and Central-Periférica in Alcobaça on December 16, 2023, and will tour various cities in the Portuguese-speaking world. It's a mutant exhibition that brings together half a hundred works by more than 20 artists from different Portuguese-speaking countries and territories. After Alcobaça, where it will be on show until March 3, 2024, the exhibition will move on to Fortaleza, Mindelo, Luanda, Maputo and Macau.
This project is the result of an ongoing research process by curator Margarida Saraiva into contemporary artistic practices in the Portuguese-speaking world. It brings together dozens of works by various artists and disciplines such as photography, video, cinema, poetry, painting, sculpture and new media.
The thematic approach of this project is based on crucial issues such as memory and history, colonization and decolonization, identities and globalization half a century after the 25th of April 1974, without ceasing to question the future: what will become of the Portuguese-speaking world in two or three centuries' time? What will become of freedom in a world run by algorithms and obsessed with surveillance in private, public and digital spaces?
"Que mar se vê afinal da minha língua?" has the support of the Macao SAR Government's Culture Development Fund, Alcobaça City Council, the Portuguese Institute of the Orient and the Orient Foundation; and media partners O Alcoa, Jornal das Caldas, Comunidade Cultura e Arte, Plataforma Macau, Hoje Macau, Ponto Final and Macau Closer.
The exhibition is sponsored by Babel Associação Cultural and is co-organized by Armazém das Artes, Central-Periférica and REDE de Residências Artísticas dos Mundos de Expressão Portuguesa. Babel is also a member of the Anna Lindh Foundation's Portuguese Network and its mission is to create research and learning opportunities in the fields of contemporary art, architecture and the environment.
Babel is conceived as a museum without walls and aims to work across cultures and disciplines. To achieve its objectives, it establishes regional and international partnerships with institutions of recognized educational and cultural merit. Thus, a spirit of collaboration and synergy is essential to fulfilling its mission. Founded in Macau in 2013, BABEL also established itself in Alcobaça in 2022, where it has supported artists at risk, particularly those fleeing war or oppression.
