Enlace-42. Vasco Araújo

Inspired by the Aristophanes comedy The Birds, Augusta (2008) features a dialogue between two stone lions about the creation of a new city to oppose the oppressive regime of the old city, although the ideology of the new polis has the same imperialist characteristics as the one it is to replace.

O Percurso (2009) tells the story of a trip taken by a Gypsy man and a boy across a desert landscape in Andalusia. Along the way, the oral transmission of the story from one generation to the next is intercut with images of the Virgin Macarena, the symbol of maternity, emphasising the mysticism inherent in the journey.

O Jardim (2005) traces a tour through the Colonial Gardens in Lisbon, founded in 1906, drawing on a selection of texts from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

Vasco Araújo has participated in exhibitions at the Jeu de Paume (Paris), the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Bienal de São Paulo, Fundação Serralves (Porto) and La Biennale di Venezia, among others.

Augusta, 2008, video, colour, sound, Portuguese with Spanish subtitles, 7’23’’

O Percurso, 2009, video, colour, sound, 13’

O Jardim, 2005, video, colour, sound, Portuguese with Spanish subtitles, 9’44’’,

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía collection