On the occasion of the exhibition Ernesto de Sousa, Exercises of Poetic Communication with Other Aesthetic Operators, curated by Lilou Vidal, Pedro Barateiro will present a performative lecture related to his work in the exhibition at Galeria Quadrum.
Following a long-standing interest in the dematerialisation of the artwork, Barateiro first encountered a copy of Ernesto de Sousa´s text “Oralidade, futuro da arte?” (Orality, the future of art?) – written in 1968 and first published in the magazine Colóquio: Artes, no. 81, June 1989 – when visiting New York´s Strand bookstore in 2011. This was the time of the demonstrations against austerity throughout Europe, after the Arab Spring, as well as the Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality. One tool for the dissemination of ideas was the “Human Microphone“, where each contribution by an individual was repeated by a chorus so that it can be understood throughout the square. More than 10 years later, a translation of Ernesto de Sousa´s text prepared by Barateiro has found its way into the Social Space of the exhibition at Galeria Quadrum. For this evening event, Barateiro has woven a network that spans collected memories, quotes from Ernesto de Sousa and images enunciating the power of the spoken word.