"Thinking Baroque"

An artwork of art usually gets its title after being complete or during its creation, but an exhibition instead begins with a title. The title is the subject, the colour and direction of all future production; the title significantly defines the success of the exhibition. The subject of Baroque seems like a first choice for Braga, although, it was not an easy choice from the curatorial point of view. Announcing "Thinking Baroque" as an open call for artists, felt a little like a gamble, I was excited. In "Thinking Baroque" is missing "the"; which I was aiming for, as it meant for evoking the baroque way of thinking. I was not sure what how the artists would react: will this challenge inspire some outstanding relevant proposals or will it merely attract the repetitions of the decorative elements of what is called the "Baroque style" or mannerism? My gamble paid off. The artistic works presented for the exhibition have notably little to do with historical recollection, wether it be the narrative or the technical solution; these artworks are contemporary; but still they are baroque. Therefore, there are so many ways of thinking Baroque; and agglomerating this artistic intention in Braga has its charm and sense and its shock. The shock comes from the habitual reduction of the baroque to its decorative manifestations. The city's architecture claims its full historical rights to authentic baroque heritage; introducing new interpretations, in the form of artworks, unfreezes the margins of habitual perception and promises a continuity for the great tradition. The Baroque heritage, deservingly, serves here as an aesthetic bridge between the archaic and the modern: the stories role into vital shapes and dance, the metal sings, the gold shines, it is not possible to compete with this mastery with of past architects and artists; but it is possible to engage in a dialogue.

This is an excerpt from the text of the catalog by:

Madina Zingashina, curator of the project ART-MAP Braga 2017