Mordomas

by Cristina Rodrigues


11 June – 30 September,
at Caminha Municipal Museum
 
Art installation comprising 16 sculptures of the human figure in iron, with 2.10 meters high. Each sculpture is dressed in a textile skirt measuring 1.20 meters in diameter.

A journey from 
north to south

Mateo Feijóo

Curator

During the second week of April, a series of cold snaps and squalls sweep the Iberian Peninsula. On the 11th of April I trace a triangle that takes me from Galicia to Madrid and on to Extremadura. The rain accompanies me throughout this long day of travelling. I arrive in Fuentes de León by nightfall, a small town in the mountains of Extremadura. The winds howls and the rain continues to pour as I step out of the car to check in at the hotel, a converted convent. Fuentes de León is the midway point Cristina Rodrigues chose as our base. Strategically located at equal distances from Cumbres Mayores, Fregenal de la Sierra, Encinasola and Hinojales. Cristina Rodrigues will soon cast an artistic eye over these four villages. A clean, fresh gaze, full of attention to detail and enthusiasm for discovering new points of connection with Caminha, in northern Portugal.

 

During the year 2021, as part of the Xacobeo Holy Year celebrations, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) is launching a project entitled Camino Xacobeo 2021: Una ruta por los territorios de nuestro imaginario (“Camino Xacobeo 2021: A journey across the realms of our imaginations”), in the aim of creating a cultural programme specially curated for the occasion of Xacobeo 2021, to accompany the other upcoming events. This art and research project will focus on Intangible Cultural Heritage, forging connections between the trails of the Camino de Santiago that cross the Peninsula.

This project involves two areas of action: the scientific aspect, which will involve the identification and study of the various types of intangible cultural heritage and the artistic aspect, which will work towards the creation of an artistic project based on the observation and discovery of an activity chosen from this intangible heritage. Our work will focus on the ritual dances of Cumbres Mayores, Fregenal de la Sierra, Encinasola and Hinojales.

 

As I start to delve into anthropological sources and watch various videos on ritual dances to try and decide which artist to invite to help make this artistic project a reality, Cristina Rodrigues and her inspiring, creative gaze quickly come to mind. I call her to tell her about the project and to my great surprise, she informs me that she is working on a project on the ritual dances of Caminha, in northern Portugal. It’s full speed ahead – we quickly start exchanging ideas and possibilities remotely and sketch out a work plan for a period in April in which we will cover all the towns selected from the regions of Huelva and Extremadura.

 

Cristina Rodrigues immediately draws a connection between the dances of Caminha in the north and those chosen from the south of Spain. She applies her imagination to tradition, attentively listening to the dancers’ stories of spirituality, their reasons for practicing ritual dance, and how they feel and experience this activity that stays with them all year round but only takes centre stage during the Fiesta de la Virgen or the Fiesta del Santísimo.

Cristina takes a close look at these foreign spaces without invading them, in the aim of shining a light on a world unknown to us, helping us to discover it through the use of emotion, colour, form, simplicity, and purity of image. Cristina Rodrigues rejects all forms of artifice, presenting us with a dignified portrait of each interviewee. Each person associated with this dance tradition explains the reasons behind their involvement, with many telling us how their lives have been touched by this strong dedication to the ritual of dance and all that it entails, and the creation of a community that unites them.

 

In my opinion, this collaboration with Cristina Rodrigues was essential, as I feel that she is capable of awakening a sense of the fantastical within us, elevating the project to a place of reflection. Cristina is able to create images from experiences. Using repetition as a kind of mantra, she weaves them together in her compositions, her skilled hands building structures in time to fill space with colour.

 

The work of Cristina Rodrigues connects and stimulates us through the feelings and emotions it manages to transmit. Perhaps this is because her sculptures construct a new space, one that is shared by all. Cristina succeeds in transforming spaces with care, always keeping the idea of community at the heart of her work.

 

During this journey I have come to realise that Cristina Rodrigues does not attempt to replace anyone, but instead pools together the skills and emotions of everyone who has participated in this project over time, creating conditions in which empathy and emotion can thrive. The result: an endless variety of perceptive worlds.

Mordomas – Documentary

Biographical Note

Portuguese artist Cristina Rodrigues was born in 1980 in Porto, where she studied and began her professional career as an architect, later moving to Lisbon and then the Algarve. In 2009 she moved to Manchester, United Kingdom, where she lectured at university, developed her doctoral research and started her career as an artist, which would later return her to her home country.

 

Cristina holds a PhD in Art & Design from Manchester School of Art (2016), a Master’s Degree in Medieval and Renaissance History from the University of Porto (2007) and a Honours Degree in Architecture from Lusíada University (2004).

 

Her art work has been exhibited internationally, in Europe, Asia and South America, with several solo exhibitions. These include Cry of the High Tide  (2021), at the Gardens of the National Archaeology Museum – Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon; at the Wharf of the Royal Customs, Vila do Conde; at the vineyard of the Monastery of Santo de Ancede, Baião; and outside the Ermesinde Cultural Forum; Crossing (2020), at Centro de Cultura Contemporânea, Castelo Branco, Portugal; Home is the Cathedral of Life (2019), at Naves Matadero, Madrid, Spain; The Horizon (2019), at Quinta da Cruz – Centro de Arte Comtemporânea, Viseu, Portugal;  Echoes of the Sea (2018), at The Hillside Forum, Tokyo, Japan; The Shroud (2017/2018), at Naves Matadero, Madrid, Spain; The Kingdom of Heaven (2017), at Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, United Kingdom; A Retrospective (2017), at Centro de Cultura Contemporânea, Castelo Branco, Portugal; The Shroud, at Colombo Art Biennale 2016, in the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour, Colombo, Sri Lanka; and La Pasión (2016), a monumental exhibition installed at 5 of the most iconic monuments in the city of Seville, Spain: Fundación Valentín de Madariaga y Oya, Portuguese Pavilion, Universidad de Sevilla, Casa de la Provincia and Real Alcázar de Sevilla.

 

Several of Cristina’s works have been acquired for the art collections of museums and public entities, namely Manchester Cathedral, UK; Cheshire East Council, UK; Municipal Museum Amadeo Souza-Cardoso, Portugal; Castelo Branco Municipality; Viseu Municipality; Vila do Conde Municipality; Baião Municipality and the Portuguese State. More recently, Memories of the Sea, comprising three installations suspended from the ceiling, was commissioned by the Dutch group VIA Outlets and is on permanent display at Vila do Conde Porto Fashion Outlet since April 2021.

 

Through her art, Cristina draws imaginary narratives linking her personal journey as a Portuguese woman in a global context to a fantastic world of symbolisms. Each of her art installations is locally inspired yet universal in meaning. As to her audiences, Cristina’s creations can take an international contemporary spectator into a transcultural and transtemporal journey.

Biographical Note

Portuguese artist Cristina Rodrigues was born in 1980 in Porto, where she studied and began her professional career as an architect, later moving to Lisbon and then the Algarve. In 2009 she moved to Manchester, United Kingdom, where she lectured at university, developed her doctoral research and started her career as an artist, which would later return her to her home country.

 

Cristina holds a PhD in Art & Design from Manchester School of Art (2016), a Master’s Degree in Medieval and Renaissance History from the University of Porto (2007) and a Honours Degree in Architecture from Lusíada University (2004).

 

Her art work has been exhibited internationally, in Europe, Asia and South America, with several solo exhibitions. These include Cry of the High Tide  (2021), at the Gardens of the National Archaeology Museum – Jerónimos Monastery, Lisbon; at the Wharf of the Royal Customs, Vila do Conde; at the vineyard of the Monastery of Santo de Ancede, Baião; and outside the Ermesinde Cultural Forum; Crossing (2020), at Centro de Cultura Contemporânea, Castelo Branco, Portugal; Home is the Cathedral of Life (2019), at Naves Matadero, Madrid, Spain; The Horizon (2019), at Quinta da Cruz – Centro de Arte Comtemporânea, Viseu, Portugal;  Echoes of the Sea (2018), at The Hillside Forum, Tokyo, Japan; The Shroud (2017/2018), at Naves Matadero, Madrid, Spain; The Kingdom of Heaven (2017), at Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, United Kingdom; A Retrospective (2017), at Centro de Cultura Contemporânea, Castelo Branco, Portugal; The Shroud, at Colombo Art Biennale 2016, in the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour, Colombo, Sri Lanka; and La Pasión (2016), a monumental exhibition installed at 5 of the most iconic monuments in the city of Seville, Spain: Fundación Valentín de Madariaga y Oya, Portuguese Pavilion, Universidad de Sevilla, Casa de la Provincia and Real Alcázar de Sevilla.

 

Several of Cristina’s works have been acquired for the art collections of museums and public entities, namely Manchester Cathedral, UK; Cheshire East Council, UK; Municipal Museum Amadeo Souza-Cardoso, Portugal; Castelo Branco Municipality; Viseu Municipality; Vila do Conde Municipality; Baião Municipality and the Portuguese State. More recently, Memories of the Sea, comprising three installations suspended from the ceiling, was commissioned by the Dutch group VIA Outlets and is on permanent display at Vila do Conde Porto Fashion Outlet since April 2021.

 

Through her art, Cristina draws imaginary narratives linking her personal journey as a Portuguese woman in a global context to a fantastic world of symbolisms. Each of her art installations is locally inspired yet universal in meaning. As to her audiences, Cristina’s creations can take an international contemporary spectator into a transcultural and transtemporal journey.

Location

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