Religious imagery was a large part of the
break and was very powerful and particularly gruesome both in its depiction of
cruelty and excessive materiality of the trappings involved with being the
conduit of faith. Some of the best 'capes' ever - again something to return to re
science/art capes. The collection of reliquary in the Igreja de Sao Roque is one of the most comprehensive - I have
never seen part of the crib before.
There are so many elements to the trip, more will come out later but for now - some great
art - the Gulbenkian in Lisbon is always a
favourite of mine - it reminds me of inside spaces within the Barbican. The collection is housed within 2 'old school modernist' buildings
using tasteful materials set within glorious grounds. The walk taken from
Lisbon’s centre takes you past monumental landscaping with its own seemingly monolithic monuments. The new contemporary art space MAAT
with its swooping roof had two shows - digital
highway last seem badly hung at the Whitechapel - here the hang gave the
work space and a clearer reading. https://www.maat.pt/en
Tension and Conflict Video Art after
2008 was an excellent and internationally broad show of video work and had
some exceptional work. I have become interested in a concept introduced
to me by Barbara Klare, that of artist as first responder and this lemon tastes of apple by Hiwa
K is a particular version of this, after 2 months of protests in Kurdish area of Iran the
video documents a single simple act that evolves and takes on numerous roles
within the video. https://vimeo.com/52581227
And then there is the food - I ate some
of the tastiest, creative food ever - grilled octopus that was set on fire and
lamb couscous with spearmint sorbet were just two notable dishes -
recommendations - Casa dos Pecados, Carmo and Oficina do Duque.
