Umbigo #91 closes the cycle of publications planned for 2024, this time dedicated to Disappearance. What at first may seem vaguely pessimistic, it then gains another interpretation – that of resistance to forgetfulness, erasure and neglect, exploring, in this way, the fields of ontology, political history, ecosystems, ecology, post-colonial struggles and archaeology.

We highlight, Paula Nascimento’s curatorial project, Constellations of Dust, deeply rooted in archivism, the (re)construction of memory and how the retelling of History remains a fertile territory for contemporary art. Included in this exhibition are works by Aline Motta, Christian Salablanca Díaz, Dimakatho Mathopa, Tuli Mekondjo, Sabelo Mlangeni and Helena Uambembe.

Signing this issue’s covers, the Art Project by Edson Chagas, who also looks at his archive and proposes a new dialogue between the Tipo Passe and Oikonomos series, and the work of Adrian Paci, whose themes often focus on migration, exile, war, poverty, the family and everyday policies. On the back cover, a detail of the installation She Still Wears Kohl and Smells Like Roses, by Dima Srouji.

In the written essays, the Variable Name duo focuses on the Ukrainian water heritage, often forgotten in global and regional war analyses; Christiane Vollaire and Philippe Bazin propose an investigation into working-class neighbourhoods and the policies of visibility and invisibilization; using the fine and ironic humour that characterizes him, Álvaro Domingues focuses on the now more than evident problems of liberal democracies, capitalism, neoliberalism; Jonata Vieira explores the ecological catastrophe from Brazil and the Amazon; Lior Zisman Zalis analyzes some of the most striking episodes in post-colonial activism, within the museological field and the much-debated issues of historical returns and reparations; and Renny Pritikin meditates on the challenge proposed by Umbigo, using the works of Trevor Paglen, Rachel Whiteread or Lee Walton.

Regarding the visual essays, Daniel Moreira and Rita Castro Neves remember the trauma of the fields burned, in September 2024, by fire in the village of Macieira; Gabriel Ribeiro records his experiences with phytograms, presenting a series of images that are constituted through the disappearance itself; and Irineu Destourelles speculates on the propositional, critical and dissonant character of exhibition curation, taking into account the different contexts that play in favour of a post-colonial or de-colonial critique: institutions, artists, collections, etc.

In an interview with Josseline Black, Adrian Paci reflects on his work and the issues surrounding it. Kalas Liebfried talks to Patrik Thomas and Mathias Reitz Zausinger about the documentary Boalândia and community practices for viewing and making documentary films.

Francisca Carvalho is the artist responsible for the Drawing Project, supported by the Carmona e Costa Foundation; Francisca Pinto signs Dentro e Fora, in the Intercâmbios Project, with support from FLAD; and Hugo Brazão closes what will be the last Dialogues project, delving into cultural landscapes, temporal, geographic and oceanic layers, this Finisterre of imaginary beings that rushes in front of the Farol do Cabo Espichel [Cabo Espichel Lighthouse].

In the extensions, the exhibition by Noé Sendas curated by Ana Anacleto at Brotéria; the CONTEXTILE Biennial, with Susana Milão’s essay on the theme that marks this edition, TOUCH; and the curatorial program designed by Ana Rito for the Vila Franca de Xira Photography Biennial. At UmbigoLAB, the highlight is the exhibition Enquanto Isso // Meanwhile, by the students of the Master’s Degree in Curatorial Studies at the College of Arts of the University of Coimbra.

Also count on the usual Conversation Piece sections, in which curator João Silvério highlights the works of Marta Soares and João Louro on display in the PLMJ Foundation Collection; Mixed technique on paper, where Luísa Salvador approaches Richard Long’s work, A Line Made by Walking, from 1967; Deep Learning, with reading suggestions that help decode some of the materials that led to this edition; and the poem that opens the magazine, penned by Guilherme Vilhena Martins.