The Middle Sea
2017
Video installation, double-sided single-channel video projection, color, 5min in continuous loop, 300×200 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.
The Middle Sea has been a commissioned project developed for the Mediterranea Biennale 2017. Reflecting on the Mediterranean migration crisis, this project addresses the tensions between geopolitical conflict and humanitarian crisis. The Middle Sea is composed by a video installation developed through a montage of different recordings of the Mediterranean Sea, aiming to denounce the contradiction between the soft and calm movements of the water and its turbulent and conflictive geopolitical context through a constructed sea with no direction nor flow. Within this project was developed a collaboration with migrants from different countries in the form of visual testimonials of the stories and experiences of the sea crossings.
Ana Catarina Pinho
Ana Catarina Pinho is a visual artist working across photography, moving image and installation. Her work combines documentary and fictional strategies, often examining the way reality is perceived in regard to its representation and meaning construction. Her work has been exhibited internationally in places such as Kunstlerhaus Bethanian, Berlin; Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga; Photoweek DC, Washington, USA; Nordic House, Keykjavik; Mois Européene de la Photography, Sofia; Museu da Imagem, Braga; Documentary Photo Days, Istanbul; Art Biennial of Cerveira; Colégio das Artes, Coimbra; Sala de Arte Joven, Madrid; Centro Cultural de Vila Flor, Guimarães, Mediterranea Biennale, Tirana; Arquipélago Contemporary Art Center, Azores.
In addition to her visual work, Pinho is the founder director of ARCHIVO, an independent research platform focused on photography and visual culture. She is currently a research fellow for the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, developing a PhD at the University of South Wales, in the United Kingdom, and is a member of the research groups Global Art Archive (GAA), at the Departament d’Història de l’Art, Universitat de Barcelona – Spain, and Contemporary Art Studies (CASt), at Instituto de História da Arte (IHA), NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal.