The Portuguese artist Mónica Miranda presents her work “South Circular”, which can be seen at the idealista stand at SIMA from May 24 to 27. Awarded the Idealista 2023 Prize, Miranda’s project is a reflection on the city of Lisbon, more specifically the military defensive wall that was built in 1899 to keep the French away from the Portuguese capital and that, a century later, became in a territory inhabited by Africans from the former Portuguese colonies together with people from rural areas without the means to live in the desired prosperity.
This fortified line, called Campo de Trincheras, consists of a circular line that surrounds the north side of the Portuguese capital and runs along a large part of the south bank. In these spaces, the artist Mónica de Miranda visited ruins, and the areas newly inhabited by African communities and developed a narrative and visual framework of places and moments of historical significance, where memory, nostalgia and the vision of the modern city coexist. And its inhabitants.
The “South Circular” exhibitioncurated by Elisa Hernando and coordinated by Arte Global, consists of 3 photographs, a video and a map of the military road in the city of Lisbon that invites the viewer to reflect on the constructions of the urban landscape and the epic ruins of the city. In this new space with her own identity, Miranda introduces us to a combatant in uniform, while she listens to the news of the Angolan revolution on the radio; or the gentleman who rides his animal along the old military road, past old defense posts that now house the homeless. These are some of the characters that Miranda shows us as metaphors of opposite time and space in constant intersection.
In an interview for idealista/news, the artist pointed out that “it is a research and mapping project of the city of Lisbon, that is, of an invisible city. The city that exists in the peripheries and is linked to migratory and diaspora flows “.
reveals that it is from memories that she builds the narrative of her work and that its origin stems from what she calls “the geography of affections”. “I am interested in telling stories. Generally, the place tells me what the story is. I am interested in the stories of the places and also the relationship and the space between the borders (…) I am interested in the various stories that these places have”, it states.
Idealista/news had the opportunity to meet the Portuguese artist -in a conversation held in her Lisbon studio- and she reveals some of her “secrets” below. A “trip” that invites reflection. We leave you here the full interview.
