We Do Not Work Alone

On 30 November 2019, we saluted the walls that protected the Fiorucci Art Trust for the past three years. Artist Joana Escoval led us through this transition with a performance that celebrated the end of her one-year residency within the same walls. As part of her residency, Joana realised a meditative installation – a sort of anti-Wunderkammer collection of ethnological memorabilia – which propagated energy into the space. The ethereal sculptures, dispersed in the room, acted like a protecting membrane – a formless architectural skin for the Trust.

Joana has been researching different cultural traditions around the world and investigating how the natural environment becomes part of a cultural heritage. According to the artist, this connection between nature and tradition creates a spiritual bond which defines who we are, like a “ethno-medicine” that is engraved in the cells of our bodies. Each piece in the exhibition echoes a specific cultural heritage, focusing on the shepherd populations in Northern Portugal.

Joana obtained her sculpture by melting and repurposing metallic materials. The output was both delicate and raw. Lightweight sculptures reminiscent of energy conductors formed a web of subtle connections in which atmospheric webs and flows transformed restlessly in contact with the energies of the visitors.