Carlos Motta: Corpo Fechado

Exposición / Galeria Av. da Índia / Avenida da Índia, 170 / Lisboa, Portugal
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Cuándo:
30 oct de 2018 - 10 feb de 2019

Inauguración:
30 oct de 2018 / 18:00

Comisariada por:
Pedro Faro, Sara Antónia Matos

Organizada por:
Galerias Municipais - Cámara Municipal de Lisboa - EGEAC - Empresa de Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural

Artistas participantes:
Carlos Motta

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Etiquetas
Fotografía  Fotografía en Lisboa 

       

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Descripción de la Exposición

Corpo Fechado—The Devil’s Work is a filmic poem that interprets the story of José Francisco Pereira, a slave who was tried by the Lisbon Inquisition for sorcery and sodomy. An adaptation of Pereira’s trial is interwoven with passages from Saint Peter Damian’s passionate 11th century condemnation of sodomy as an unrepentable sin in “Letter 31” (also known as “The Book of Gomorrah”), and Walter Benjamin’s iconic elucidations on historicism and progress in “Theses on the Philosophy of History.” The film revisits the morally and legally charged figure of the sodomite as a violent historical construction and expression of ecclesiastical, institutional, and colonial patriarchy. In 1731 José Francisco Pereira, a slave from Judá, Costa da Mina, was tried by the Lisbon Inquisition for sorcery. Pereira confessed that together with fellow slave José Francisco Pedroso, he made and distributed bolsas de mandinga, amulets to protect slaves from wounds both in Brazil and Portugal. He also confessed to have made pacts with male demons and engaged in copulation with them. Pereira was thus also charged with sodomy, exiled in the galleys as a slave rower, and forbidden to enter Lisbon forever. In 1049 Italian monk Saint Peter Damian composed “Letter 31” to Pope Leo IX condemning sodomy and all acts against nature committed to satisfy sexual pleasure beyond procreation—ike masturbation, interfemoral fornication and anal coitus—as unrepentable sins. The Saint passionately implored the Pope to eradicate this widespread sin within the clergy through legal and theological arguments, eventually describing the spiritual condition of the damned Sodomitic soul. “Letter 31” arguably established the subsequent historical position of the Catholic Church against homoerotic sexual practices by categorizing them and placing them at the bottom of the moral and legal orders. In “Theses on the Philosophy of History” (1940), Walter Benjamin critiques historicism and the notion of the past as a continuum of progress. He introduces this critique with the metaphor of the ‘angel of history,’ a figure whose face is turned towards the past, with its wings caught up in a storm, unable to look into the future. In the essay Benjamin explains the framework of modernity pointing out how society has constructed “progress,” an illusion in which old systems endure and are propelled forward by a promise of a better future. Corpo Fechado—The Devil’s Work works as a palimpsest. These three chronologically distinct accounts are layered to contest the violence exerted by the colonial Catholic Church to promote a singular theological model and the creation of forms and languages of sexual oppression and the subjectivities they perpetuate. Commissioned by EGEAC/Galerias Municipais, Lisbon for the exhibition “Carlos Motta: Corpo Fechado” at Galeria Avenida da Índia, October 2018 — February 2019. Curated by Pedro Faro and Sara Antónia Matos. CREDITS A film by Carlos Motta Written by Carlos Motta With texts by Walter Benjamin from “Theses on the Philosophy of History” (1940) Saint Peter Damian from “Letter 31: The Book of Gomorrah” (circa AD 1049) With Dario Azzellini as Saint Peter Damian’s voice Paulo Pascoal as José Francisco Pereira John Arthur Peetz as The Monk Vicente Wallenstein The Conquistador Director of Photography Mario Melo Costa Additional Camera Carlos Motta Video Editing Carlos Motta Video Editing Consultant Irit Batsry Music and Sound Design Ian Turner Co-Produced EGEAC/Galerias Municipais (Lisbon) Galeria Vermelho (São Paulo) Mor Charpentier Galerie (Paris) P.P.O.W Gallery (New York) Production Anze Persin, Stenar Projects, Lisbon João G. Rapazote, EGEAC/Galerias Municipais, Lisbon Post-Production and Color Correction Aleksander Bergan Camera Assistant Danilo Bernades de Souza Gaffer Zé Manuel Sound Recording Bernardo Theriaga Ian Turner Production Assistants Camilo Godoy Ines Lima, Stenar Projects, Lisbon Transcriptions and Translations Luísa Yokochi and Ana Yokochi, KennisTranslations, Lisbon Rafael Martins Research Assistants João Gaspar, EGEAC/Galerias Municipais Julio Rodriguez Artworks in order of appearance Nautical Chart “North and South Atlantic,” Museu de Marinha, Lisbon “Exú,” religious fetish sculpture purchased at a store in São Paulo, 2018 “Ship Santa Cruz,” Anonymous, 17th Century, Museu de Marinha, Lisbon Planisfério “Mapa-mundo,” Alberto Cutileiro, 1970, Museu de Marinha, Lisbon Chessboard, Alberto Cutileiro, 1989, Colecções Philae, Museu de Marinha, Lisbon “Process 11.774 of José Francisco Pedroso,” Lisbon Inquisition, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon Locations in order of appearance Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Cabo Espichel, Sesimbra Museu de Marinha, Lisbon Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, Lisbon Cabo Espichel, Sesimbra Equipment Rental Videocine, Lisbon Studio Digital Azul, Lisbon Institutional Acknowledgements Arquivo Nacional Torre do Tombo/Direção-Geral do Livro, dos Arquivos e das Bibliotecas: Dr. Silvestre Lacerda, Dr. José Maria Furtado, and Dr.ª Anabela Ribeiro Centro Paroquial de Bem-Estar Social do Castelo de Sesimbra: Padre Eduardo and André Brazinha Museu de Marinha Museu Nacional de Arqueologia/Direção-Geral do Património Cultural: Dr. António Carvalho Performance Studies, New York University: Malik Gaines Very Special Thanks Alex Mor Ana Maria Tavares Anze Persin Bernardo Mosqueira Eduardo Brandão Filomena Soares Jack McGrath João G. Rapazote John Arthur Peetz Juan Eyheremendy Mafalda Franco Manuel Santos Pedro Faro Penny Pilkington Philippe Charpentier Sara Antónia Matos Trey Hollis Wendy Olsoff Special Thanks Alp Klanten Cristina Motta Irit Batsry João Gaspar Linn Tonstad Malik Gaines Welket Bungué Thanks CAB A.D. Sousa Monteiro CAB M. Pereira da Fontoura Isaac Julien Studio Mark Nash SAJ A. Costa Alves Zeb Tortorici

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