Brison’s exhibition presented at the festival is a montage of drawings and texts revolving around the figure of Henry the Navigator. The work came about as a follow-up to the extensive research the artist did around the public sculptures of Lisbon, the latest materialisation of which is the online series The Adventurous Lives of Lisbon Statues. The series goes into the history of a few of the statues on Lisbon’s streets, repositioning them and reflecting on the meaning of their placement. At the time of release of the first episodes, a polemic started in Portugal around the words of a politician who seemed to advocate for the removal of an important monument to the Portuguese “Discoveries” (the and colonial exploits undertaken during the 15th and 16th centuries). Brison’s work reflects upon the range of popular feelings about Portugal’s role as coloniser of several parts of the world, but also about the monument to the Discoveries itself, as a prime example of how the mid-twentieth century Estado Novo dictatorship tried to inspire nationalistic sentiment. And the monument is sentimental: epic, grandiose, and centred on the singular character of Henry the Navigator.
Cooperativa Árvore opening hours:
Thursday: 10h00 – 13h & 14h00 – 18h30 (the 21th April we will stay open until 21h00)
Friday: 10h00 – 13h & 14h00 – 18h30
Saturday: 14h00 – 19h00
Sunday: Closed
Monday: 14h00 – 19h00
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