Group exhibition
15 February-1 April - Brotéria, Lisbon
Curated by Sara Castelo Branco
https://www.broteria.org/pt/programa?exposicao-hierophanies
Works by
Andreia Santana, Diana Policarpo, Harun Farocki, Hugo de Almeida Pinho, Louis Henderson, Maria Loboda, Onyeka Igwe, Riar Rizaldi
As a form of consciousness of a revelatory nature, the concept of hierophanies results from the combination of the greek words hieros (sacred) and phainein (to bring to light), signifying the enigmatic manifestation of that which does not belong to our world in objects that are part of it. Formulated by the philosopher and historian of religions Mircea Eliade (1949), the hierophany operates through a paradox: by expressing the presence of the sacred in a common object of nature, it becomes something else without ceasing to be itself. Based on the complexities involved in encountering images of the sacred and the supernatural, as well as the political and emotional reorganization of perspectives towards them, the exhibition Hierophanies consists of a series of works in which magical, mystical, and spiritual structures relate to modes of resilience and empowerment in the face of certain ecological and social crises. The project is grounded in the dynamics of “micro-history” by presenting works that give voice to communities living on the margins, while also reflecting on constructions of “macro-history” — problematizing dualistic definitions between human and non-human, science and spirituality, reason and myth, scholarly and popular. Organizing itself between the mystical manifestation of the visible and its plural expressions of meaning, the spatial configuration of Hierophanies emerges as a kind of chamber – an interior and enclosed space that is simultaneously a place of intimacy and community gathering, engaging in an exercise of subversion based on the darkness of the night to disrupt the order of time and challenge established readings of the social, political, and historical.
Photo credits: @hdap
