With 'The Pink Museum', Simon Starling simultaneously addresses the display of objects — in terms of how their particular staging affects their meaning — and the history of Portuguese colonialism. The installation of sixteen photographs was originally produced in 2001 for the exhibition ‘Squatters’, presented at the Serralves Villa and other different locations in the city of Porto and later that same year at the Witte de With Centre for Contemporary Art (Rotterdam). After visiting the Serralves Villa and the Combatants League Museum, which both had pink walls, Starling photographed, in a purposely-built studio, ten objects from the first and second World Wars, as well as from the Portuguese Colonial War in the collection of the latter. Along with these photographs, he also produced images of each of the three ‘pink exhibition venues’ in Porto: the Serralves Villa, the Combatants League Museum and Maus Hábitos.
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.