THE SUNSHINE (2011)

Faculdade de Belas Artes de Lisboa e Bairro da Mouraria, Lisboa, Portugal.

 

Curadoria: Carlos Alcobia

 

Performance: Máscaras de metal e madeira, tecido e palha.

Instalação: Mural - tinta latex sobre parede, Genuflexório - estrutura de metal, cimento e tinta latex.

 

Between 2005 and 2008 Stephan Doitschinoff lived in the  countryside of Bahia ( state located in the Northeast of Brazil ), in a city called Lençois, where he got deeply involved in his Temporal project, the result of a careful research about the local culture and the religious syncretism.

 

In 2011 Stephan, invited by the curator Carlos Alcobia, the performance centre C.E.M. and the city hall of Lisbon, went to Portugal in search of the origin of these traditions.

 

In Mouraria ( Lisbon old Muslim neighbourhood ) the artist built two public installations, creating open air temples. As part of the same project he travelled with Alcobia and Antonio Tiza to the region of Trás-os-Montes in the north of the country, where he got familiar with the local traditions of the Iberian masks and Caretos. He also visited various villages and workshops of master craftsmen where he learned their work methods and techniques and heard some tales of the local folklore.

 

As a result of this investigative journey of the culture and local technique, Doitschinoff created an act with characters wearing masks re-enacting a religious procession, in which the public could follow the procession through the narrow streets of Lisbon towards the installations.