Mónica de Miranda
Back Pack Paradise, 2007-2008, by Mónica de Miranda
Back Pack Paradise is a self-portrait that regards the questions of identity and otherness. It also refers to the migration travels as a mythological construction of the space in search for a foreign paradise dream. Paradise is defined as the place in between the “going” and “staying”, between departures and arrivals, between reality and fiction, between “belonging” and “ being out of place”. A steady, but mobile point in the horizon, that one tries to reach, but never does.
This work is situated in between the romantic myth and a dramatic human phenomenon and recognizes the impact of globalization in the movement of people, cultures and ideas as a result of the geographic and cultural changes in the spatial organization of the world: from a “land of places” to a “flow space”.
MONICA DE MIRANDA was born in Amarante (Portugal), in 1976, and lives and works in Lisbon and London. She works with fine arts and performance, and has developed projects of public art and artistic residencies in international public institutions and art galleries. Her work is concerned with the themes of globalisation, new geographies and cultural hybridism. It is mainly composed of performative, interactive and participatory approaches. Most recent solo exhibitions include: New Geographies (198 Gallery, London, 2007; Platform Revólver, Lisbon, 2008); In Between Lines (Artery Space, London, 2004); Routes (The Red Gate Gallery, London, 2003). Her work has also been shown in group exhibitions, including: United Nations (Singapore Fringe Festival, 2007); European Workers’ Union (Liverpool and London biennials, 2006); We Are the Revolution (Elastic Gallery/Whitechapel, London, 2004); In Search of Identity – New Visions (Doncaster Museum, Doncaster, United Kingdom, 2004); Changing Channels (Backfabrik, Berlin, 2003); Memories (Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2002). She has also participated in international residences, namely: Muyehlekete/Triangle Arts (MUSART, Maputo, Mozambique, 2008); The Guru, the Tourist and Globalisation (Foundation Oriente/Tamil Nadu, India, 2007); Journeys Home (Livesey Museum, London, 2005); Imagine (Thetford, United Kingdom, 2004); Quilombos (Quilombo da Cecília, Salvador, Brazil, 2003), amongst other collaborative pedagogical projects.