Cairo, 2013
Cairo, 2013
Inventário is a collaboration with Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) about the museum collections and its ongoing renovation process.
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in collaboration with MHNC-UP/Colectivo, June 2016
Inventário is a collaboration with Museu de História Natural e da Ciência da Universidade do Porto (MHNC-UP) about the museum collections and its ongoing renovation process.
—
in collaboration with MHNC-UP/Colectivo, June 2016
Portugal, 2013–
Portugal, 2013–
The birth of science was the death of superstition.
—Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s bulldog).
We always searched for answers.
Throughout history, through the ages, we have been continuously looking for ways to justify our existence, reasons to justify what our minds could not. Since ancient times, the idea of cosmos responded to the human need to rely on the order of nature and the world, that can link and put things in order. However, this concept evolved through different civilisations and eras, the dawn of monotheism gave ground to the divine.
Healers, men and women of faith, said to hold the cure for all ills, to have the answers to all concerns. Bearers of wisdom that ordinary mortals could envision without ever understanding. Today, they seem to have disappeared, driven into obscurity by the impetus of scientific progress, remain there, hidden from the gaze of modern world.
Behind the Hill documents the healer’s practice and its deep connection to the native landscapes and plants of northeastern Portugal. In the physical and mystical realm, scenes often relate to nature and superstition. Proença catalogues rituals, artefacts, and performances linked to the land—overlooked by the western cumulative model of resource exploitation. The project points to the ongoing tension between technology and the natural world, it also explores humanity’s enduring quest for answers beyond purely an empirical framework.
—
The series was exhibited during The New Talent (TNT 2019) at The Photographers’ Gallery.
2011–2019
The birth of science was the death of superstition.
—Thomas Huxley (Darwin’s bulldog).
We always searched for answers.
Throughout history, through the ages, we have been continuously looking for ways to justify our existence, reasons to justify what our minds could not. Since ancient times, the idea of cosmos responded to the human need to rely on the order of nature and the world, that can link and put things in order. However, this concept evolved through different civilisations and eras, the dawn of monotheism gave ground to the divine.
Healers, men and women of faith, said to hold the cure for all ills, to have the answers to all concerns. Bearers of wisdom that ordinary mortals could envision without ever understanding. Today, they seem to have disappeared, driven into obscurity by the impetus of scientific progress, remain there, hidden from the gaze of modern world.
Behind the Hill documents the healer’s practice and its deep connection to the native landscapes and plants of northeastern Portugal. In the physical and mystical realm, scenes often relate to nature and superstition. Proença catalogues rituals, artefacts, and performances linked to the land—overlooked by the western cumulative model of resource exploitation. The project points to the ongoing tension between technology and the natural world, it also explores humanity’s enduring quest for answers beyond purely an empirical framework.
—
The series was exhibited during The New Talent (TNT 2019) at The Photographers’ Gallery.
2011-2019
There is a bear in the woods.
For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don’t see it at all.
Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it’s vicious and dangerous.
Since no one can really be sure who’s right,
isn’t it smart to be as strong as the bear?
If there is a bear.
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© National Archives of Estonia – Rahvusarhiiv for some archival images
In 2019 the dummy was shortlisted for the MACK First Book Award, Unseen Dummy Award and Fiebre Dummy Award, being exhibited at Photo London, Unseen Amsterdam and Fiebre Photobook Festival.
2015–2019
There is a bear in the woods.
For some people, the bear is easy to see.
Others don’t see it at all.
Some people say the bear is tame.
Others say it’s vicious and dangerous.
Since no one can really be sure who’s right,
isn’t it smart to be as strong as the bear?
If there is a bear.
—
© National Archives of Estonia – Rahvusarhiiv for some archival images
The dummy was shortlisted for the Unseen Dummy Award, Fiebre Dummy Award and MACK First Book Award in 2019, and exhibited at Unseen Amsterdam, Fiebre Madrid and Photo London.
2015–2019
Porto, 2019–
Porto, 2019—