This publication accompanies the solo exhibition by Catarina Botelho, which was on view at Quadrum Gallery between 6 and 17 February 2013. This exhibition was part of the Budapest Cycle, an initiative of the Lisbon City Hall in partnership with the Municipality of Budapest. Through this program, two Portuguese artists are selected to develop an artistic project during a one-month residency in Budapest and two Hungarian artists were selected to develop a project also during a one-month residency in Lisbon. This volume contains photographic documentation of the works exhibited, including installation views, and a text by José Marmeleira.
“Comprising fixed shots, the images activate a frontal, drawn-out relationship with the sediment of time. The interiors of bathrooms and buildings, the courtyard facades and the walls which surround the stairwells show the fragility of age. There are no signs of either restoration, or of ruin. Only the presence of a past which is inhabited, turned into a home. In this sense, the film reflects one of the traits of the artist’s work: a rejection of the appeal of ethnography, of a relationship influenced by ‘scientific’ protocols. Despite the sense of history that pervades the public baths and neighborhoods, Catarina Botelho only attempted to connect with the space that hosted her, a city that was strange and at the same time familiar. Hence the ambiguity that frequently characterizes the images.”
-José Marmeleira
