Descripción de la Exposición
Anozero – Bienal de Coimbra is delighted to announce the presentation of The Factory of Shadows, an inter-biennial solo exhibition featuring work by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. Based in Canada, the duo is internationally celebrated for immersive multimedia sound installations and audio and video works.
From 5 April to 5 July 2025, over a dozen works will be installed in the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova in Coimbra. Curated by the Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra (Círculo), this show represents the first solo exhibition by the artists in Portugal and highlights include the much-acclaimed Forty Part Motet, while The Infinity Machine will be shown for the first time in Europe.
Artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are described by Carlos Antunes, director of Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra, as “among the most significant inheritors of a certain Wagnerian notion of the total work of art — Gesamtkunstwerk — though here stripped of any operatic visual exuberance.”
Using minimal scenic elements — tables, chairs, speakers, mirrors, books, musical instruments, vintage televisions, and other old technological devices — their work captures the attention of all the senses, particularly exploring the sculptural qualities of sound.
For Círculo director Carlos Antunes, The Factory of Shadows serves as “a trigger for revisiting individual and collective memories. We are incredibly proud to present this exhibition within the extraordinary setting of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova. This site, steeped in history and transformation, provides a resonant backdrop for Cardiff and Miller’s work, reinforcing Coimbra’s role as a key destination for contemporary art in Portugal and beyond.”
In light of the complex history and architectural significance of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova — a religious site later transformed into a military barracks and now home to Anozero — The Factory of Shadows aims to offer new interpretations of this monastic complex, reframing both the artists’ work and the space itself, while establishing the Monastery as an important venue for contemporary art in Portugal and Europe.
About the artists
In 2001, Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller represented Canada at the 49th Venice Biennale, where they received the Premio Speciale and the Benesse Prize. More recently, they have exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Monterrey, Mexico (2019); Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2018); the 21st Century Museum, Kanazawa, Japan (2017); the Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris, France (2017); the Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark (2015); the Reina Sofía Museum, Madrid, Spain (2015); the Menil Collection, Houston, USA (2015); the Sydney Biennale, Australia (2014); the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (2013); and Documenta 13, Kassel, Germany (2012). In 2011, they were awarded Germany’s Käthe Kollwitz Prize.
List of Works
The Forty Part Motet, 2001
Curtain
Imbalance.1 (Wings)
The Infinity Machine, 2015
Instrument of Troubled Dreams, 2018
Imbalance.6 (Jump), 1998
To Touch, 1993
Cabinet of Curiousness, 2010
Counting
Premio. 01 feb de 2025 - 28 feb de 2025 / Madrid, España
Exposición. 18 feb de 2025 - 15 jun de 2025 / Museo Nacional del Prado / Madrid, España
Formación. 01 oct de 2024 - 04 abr de 2025 / PHotoEspaña / Madrid, España