Do you think you can see me?
Do you think you can see me?
I am twilight
luminosity
the song of the people and their freedom.
(…)^[1]

It may have all started when the first woman was made responsible for all the woes of the world. Pandora is brought forth as a form of punishment and, precisely because she opens a box which a male figure told her not to – how insolent she is! -, scatters all the misfortunes over the world. In fact, History is littered with numerous examples of female figures, goddesses and heroines from various mythologies, with all kinds of powers and deeds who, much like Pandora, have had their roles erased or downplayed, either by patriarchal structures or by a mere lack of knowledge/recognition. These archetypes, relating women immediately to evil, disaster or depriving them of the power and recognition they deserve, have been and still are used to impart cultural and moral values, underpinning a male chauvinist society. The stories handed down by traditional culture place men at the heart of heroic deeds and achievements, having a direct impact on the fight for gender equality today.

Francisca Aires Mateus asserts the female voice in narratives of strength and courage. 45,359kg (2024) is her most recent installation at Appleton, drawing inspiration precisely from the female warrior characters that are part of history, such as the Sphinx, Medusa and the Portuguese Baker of Aljubarrota^[2].

When we enter the exhibition and walk down the stairs, we are almost immediately enveloped by puzzling sounds – perhaps even disturbing at first – which are both unfamiliar and meaningful. It is hard to connect them to any known reference. On stepping into the Box, the pitch-black darkness enhances the unsettling atmosphere, whilst the 360-degree sound surrounds us in a sensory web of tension, anxiety and surprise. The short bursts of light, the shadows of children running about, and the utter disorientation of our position within the space led to a growing unease that soon turned into something different. The initial violence of the experience is soothed, lulling us into a new state of awareness in which we can process it differently. The sounds we found unfathomable become more familiar and we can discern a series of fragmented, choreographed moans and heavy breathing.

In reality, these sounds are made by a group of women practising Muay Thai. One can detect the impacts, punches, shoves and blows resounding through the space in a sort of staged spectacle of which we are a part. By removing Muay Thai from its context, by cutting the sound of the clashing bodies from the ring, where force and violence are real, the artist resignifies these elements. Modified and deconstructed, now shown in the artistic field, they offer an experience that, despite being free of actual violence, triggers an intrinsic discomfort tied to the sensitive domain.

Francisca Aires Mateus has been leading us into the confluence of languages and processes which impact on our imagination. She has used the visual arts and sound/music to interact with space and the audience, and 45,359kg is no exception. This exhibition goes beyond a simple subversion of traditional perceptions of combat and expression; it emphasises female action as a manifestation of physical strength and resistance, hinting at the struggle against enforced social codes and the narratives perpetuated over time. The installation is transformed into an experimental arena where power and vulnerability intersect, where the physicality of women’s bodies is audible. Sounds and flashes, reminiscent of physical intensity, friction and brutality, prompt us to consider the strength and power of female achievements, as well as the ongoing battle to assert their presence in history. Essentially, this is an invitation to challenge deep-rooted expectations and embrace new ways of perceiving and interpreting narratives.

Upstairs, in the Square room, there is a call to break down perspectives using other mechanisms and means. With the exhibition Ponto de Fuga, Linha de Fuga, Falta de Perspectiva – Modos de Usar – Todo Olhar é Político, in collaboration with Projecto Fidalga / Residência Paulo Reis^[3], Ding Musa sets out to study the construction of structures and concepts that shape the way we perceive the world so as to deconstruct them.

The works on show, the result of his well-known cross-disciplinary artistic approach, range from T-shirts, photography, video, kitchen towels and plates. By putting us face to face with familiar everyday objects, the artist teases and, at the same time, invites us to reflect and question the way we perceive our surroundings. With words such as Pergunta, Falha and Silêncio (Question, Failure and Silence) painted on glazed ceramic (Unidade de Construção – Modos de usar – pergunta / falha / silêncio, 2024), he makes us consider the more or less overt or visible forces, narratives and structures that rule us and cloud our judgement, very often starting in the private sphere.

In spite of using different techniques, his artistic output is mostly focused on photography (Unidade de Construção – Adaptação, 2024 and Unidade de Construção – mata #13, 2022). He uses the camera’s process of representation, abstraction, point of view, vanishing point and other elements of image construction to explore the aesthetic and political aspects of viewing the world and its responsibilities. He has been analysing the way man is constructed in society through a set of metaphors in which buildings, construction materials and geometric shapes often emerge. One common element, and perhaps key to this exhibition, is precisely the addition of a grid, a sort of mesh that arranges and guides the gaze, symbolising the organisations and structures that restrict both intellectual and physical experiences. Musa is critical of this type of apparatuses, of technical tools, claiming that they also represent means of ideological control^[4] that trap and condition us in space, limiting our experience, our way of thinking and understanding a world that should be constantly reinterpreted and reimagined by us.

Appleton is showing two different exhibitions, but they converge on one point – the quest for freedom. Either by seeking justice in the sharing of historical and cultural narratives, paying tribute to women and highlighting their role in culture and our history, or by referring to symbols of social structures and power regimes that rule us, appealing for their dismantling and transformation.

Both exhibitions can be visited until October 12.

^[1] TUPINAMBÁ, Renata Machado. (1989). “Matriarcal cunhã”. In: Heloisa Buarque de Hollanda (org.). (2021). As 29 poetas hoje, p. 61.
^[2] Exhibition text.
^[3] A residency in partnership with the Aomori Comtemporary Art Centre, Appleton and DIDAC, celebrating the work of curator Paulo Reis, a pioneering figure in the effort to establish bridges between Brazil, Portugal and Spain. – https://ateliefidalga.com.br/categorias/residencia-paulo-reis
^[4] Exhibition text.