Católica inaugurates exhibition that brings together art, memory and research

“¿De qué casa eres? Los niños de Rusia. Episodios de un cotidiano #4” is the title of the new exhibition at the Galeria Fundação Amélia de Mello, at the Católica headquarters in Lisbon. A title that unveils the theme of this display, which functions as a tribute to the artist's mother, but also as a way of understanding the past, through the eyes of the present.

The exhibition focuses on an "individual story of post-memory", according to the curator, Luísa Santos. The story is that of the Spanish children sent to the Soviet Union during the civil war, particularly that of Angela Petra, the artist's mother.

Ana Pérez-Quiroga explains to us that the title of the exhibition comes from the question "¿De qué casa eres?", in reference to the "casas" in which children were divided in the Soviet Union, away from their families, to protect themselves from the constant bombing. "It's a question we can ask ourselves," says the artist, "because it has to do with the culture of individuality; who we actually belong to."

The artist explores the idea of identity, "an identity that also has to do with the accent, and language as a factor of exclusion". These concepts are explored between art and research, as this is also a research project, which is part of Ana Pérez-Quiroga's post-doctorate.

The artist took part in the 2nd edition of the Arts Lab artistic residence, of the Católica Research Centre for Communication and Culture, in October 2022, where it was possible to explore " what it is to investigate through the arts and how art can be a research methodology", explained Luísa Santos at the exhibition's inauguration.

This show is thus part of "a programmatic cycle that the gallery usually dedicates every year to research projects", said Paulo Campos Pinto, Director of the Amélia de Mello Foundation Gallery.

Isabel Capeloa Gil, Universidade Católica Portuguesa's President, highlighted the organization of this initiative "in the scope of the Curatorship Lab, linked to one of the projects we are most enthusiastic about, the Lisbon Consortium".

For Luísa Santos, curator and researcher, "the Lisbon Consortium is a Culture Studies programme, but it is much more than that. It is an understanding of institutions as living organisms, which are in constant mutation". The Culture@Católica initiative, also created under this programme, has already held 10 exhibitions with more than three thousand visitors over its four years of activity.

It is possible to visit the exhibition "¿De qué casa eres? Los niños de Rusia. Episodios de un cotidiano #4" from Monday to Friday, from 2pm to 5pm.