O Impulso Fotográfico (projeto e exposição)
Organic Unit: FCSH
Research Center: ICNOVA
Organic Unit: FCSH
Research Center: ICNOVA
ICNOVA’s Photo Impulse project gives origin to the exhibition “O Impulso Fotográfico: (des)arrumar o arquivo colonial”, at the National Museum of Natural History and Science. Here, images from expeditions (1883-1975) to territories colonized by Portugal are seen through a decolonial lens.
During 2023, the temporary exhibition “O Impulso Fotográfico: (des)arrumar o arquivo colonial” presents, at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC), a decolonial reading of the images and scientific objects from the geodesy and anthropology expeditions to the territories colonized by Portugal, in the period between 1883-1975.
Starting from the obsession with measurement and classification, the exhibition shows the “evidence” of how African territories and bodies were measured and appropriated in these markedly racist “scientific” missions. In parallel, stories (fictional or not) of resistance are presented, unveiled, and created by a participatory curatorial team of artists, researchers, and activists.
The exhibition develops in two main areas. The first one shows photographs and objects from the demarcation of the borders that constituted the territories of Angola and Mozambique. The second area displays photographs and materials from colonial anthropology missions.
This exhibition was born from ICNOVA’s Photo Impulse project, funded by FCT (PTDC/COM-JOR/29608/2017) and coordinated by Teresa Mendes Flores (ICNOVA – Culture, Mediation and Arts group). MUHNAC, the museum hosting the exhibition, was a partner in this project and holds most of the collection of images analyzed. This exhibition aims to contribute to the decolonization of museumized heritage and museums, in a proposal for a (small) gesture of historical, identity and cultural reparation.
