The sea has always been one of the greatest themes in art. But has always been a political drive for many civilizations, too. Between inspirations and contemplation, the terror and the possibility of something, the sea is a juxtaposition of histories, stories, that the art and the politics have insistently rescued from its waters. Afterall, and much more than a colour, much more than a soothing reflection of the sky, the sea is, above all, a territory subjected to borders, political laws and cultures.

Maria Trabulo swims now the liquid paths of the sea, in an inquiry and research about its meaning to present societies and to politics: from what it has of gatherer, of ruler, of decisive and disruptive. In Almost Blue, and in the curators’ words of Sara Antónia Matos and Pedro Faro, Trabulo stipulates a critical gaze “over a possibility of definition of the sea, elaborated throught political contexts as diverse as the tragic migrations at the Mediterranean, the financial crisis of the latest years in the countries of the South of Europe, or the most recent fights from activists regarding the environmental issues embedded in the oil fracking in the Portuguese maritime territory, in Aljezur”.

Almost Blue opens on 25 October and ends on 6 January 2019, at EGEAC’s Boavista Gallery, Lisbon.