Côa Museum, in Foz Côa, is opening two group exhibitions on Saturday, the result of an artistic residency that began in 2022 in the region, in which the rock art of the Côa Valley is the source of inspiration.
“Faca na Pedra Olhar Solar” and ‘Formas Feitas de Nevoeiro Vivo’ are the two projects by two groups of artists, based on the region’s heritage, which will be presented simultaneously in the Côa Museum’s temporary exhibition rooms until November 10.
“One of the projects is by Rita Castro Neves and Daniel Moreira, and goes by the name of ‘Knife in Stone in the Stone Solar Look’,” Dalila Correia, head of the Côa Museum’s exhibitions section, told Lusa. The other, “Formas Feitas de Nevoeiros Vivo”, is coordinated by Samuel Ornelas, co-authored by Ana Torrie, with the participation of actress and director Sara Barros Leitão and composer and harpist Angélica Salvi.
“These exhibitions are based on engravings that draw on Paleolithic art but with a very contemporary touch,” Dalila Correia told Lusa. The artists, “after getting to know the bowels of the Côa Valley, have produced very natural and contemporary pieces in which various materials are used, with rock art as a starting point”.
“The foundation nurtures the ideas of contemporary art and emerging artists often come to us, and we are always open to discussing the connection between the ancient rock art of the Côa and contemporary art. Emerging artists are very important to us in making this connection and they end up being surprised by the intrinsic novelty of the ancient art of the Côa”, explained Dalila Correia.
She stressed that “it’s very important” to see these interpretations of Côa art reflected in the museum’s three temporary exhibition rooms, with “new projects, full of artistic irreverence”, in a large exhibition that took around ten days to put together.
The inauguration of the two exhibitions takes place as part of the 28th anniversary celebrations of the Côa Valley Archaeological Park (PAVC). The two projects are the result of proposals submitted by artists to the Côa Parque Foundation, with the support of the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGArtes).
The “Knife in the Solar Eye Stone” project focuses on studying and paying homage to a heritage that, while belonging to Humanity, also belongs to rural inland Portugal.
“Based on our fascination with the ancestral rock art representations, outdoors and mobile, of the Côa Valley, we imagined a space where humans, animals, stones, plants, watercourses and metals come together in an interspecies and transtemporal fiction,” say the authors Rita Castro Neves and Daniel Moreira, for whom ‘the Paleolithic and Iron Age engravings of the Côa are impressive’.
As they explain in the show’s introductory text, the engravings are “based on a site-specific vision of great immersiveness”, achieved “with few means”, possessing “a complex and sophisticated simplicity”, to which they wish to bring their own art.
“Superimposing engravings, using the topography and shape of the stones to give volume, depth and shadow to the animal drawings are artistic techniques that have been mastered there for 30,000 years,” they point out.
Over the course of three years of research and creation, visits to the museum and the Côa Valley, conversations with archaeologists, guides and the Park’s geologist, the two creators have deepened their reflection on a process of resilience, conservation and discovery (archaeological, historical, geographical, heritage, artistic, social) which, above all, accepts the unknown.
“We understand this well, because embracing speculation and astonishment is part of many of the technical, creative, sensitive and emotional processes of artistic creation. It’s certainly part of the open ways of doing things that we want to pursue,” says the artist duo, who in 2020 completed the project to restore the Escola da Macieira, in the Serra de São Macário, which gave rise to a residency for artists.
According to the authors, terms such as Stone Age, Iron Age and Ice Age evoke powerful transformations in the past, in a parallel with the current climate crisis: “It’s the feeling of being on top of the mountain contemplating the fall.”
Samuel Ornelas and Ana Torrie, the creators of “Formas Feitas de Nevoeiros Vivo”, explained to Lusa that this visual arts project is based above all on contemporary engraving.
“The artistic ensemble was designed for the Côa Museum’s temporary exhibition rooms, promoting an interconnection with the interior architectural space itself and the exterior landscape, based on sculptural works and large xylographic installations,” said Samuel Ornelas.
The pieces were created by Samuel Ornelas and Ana Torrie and are “linked to a work/soundtrack” made in co-creation with Angélica Salvi and Sara Barros Leitão. This ‘sonoplasty’ is the basis of the performance that will bring together the composer and the actress on the opening day of the exhibition at the museum.
At the end, on November 10, there will be a conversation open to the public with all the artists in the project.
“Faca na Pedra Olhar Solar” and ‘Formas Feitas de Nevoeiro Vivo’ succeed ‘Paula Rego – Rotura e Continuidade’, an exhibition that was on show at the Côa Museum from December 1st last year until July 28th. This exhibition, dominated by the engravings of Paula Rego (1935-2022), attracted a record number of 60,000 visitors over eight months, as the president of the Côa Parque Foundation, Aida Carvalho, told Lusa.
The Côa Museum’s most visited exhibitions also include “Dark Safari”, from the State Contemporary Art Collection, which exceeded 38,000 visitors between February 18 and July 30, 2023, and “Maps of Earth and Time”, by Graça Morais, which was seen by nearly 37,000 people between June 2022 and January 2023.
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