Exhibition | PADRÃO. House-Obsession

About this event

PADRÃO. House-Obsession is an exhibition dedicated to the forms of visual representation of the monument from 1940 to the present day, seeking to present all types of objects and materials that use the Monument to the Discoveries as a reference image.

Through this dispersed collection, the exhibition attempts to show the interpretative horizon of the monument beyond conventional perspectives. There are many uses and appropriations of the Monument to the Discoveries and its visual representation, applied in diverse typologies and origins, and which also include its history as a constructed monument, and its reconstruction in 1960 during the Estado Novo (New State) regime.

The Monument is a story that never ends, to which new chapters are constantly being added, some more critical than others. These interventions, opinions, and reflections make this monument an object of constant interest and attention.

House-Obsession mirrors a living and undeniably relevant monument, challenging those who enter to traverse a staging made of multiple readings and paths.

Ellen W. Sapega is Professor Emerita of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His publications include articles and book chapters on Portuguese modernism, memory, and commemoration since the late 19th century, as well as on the contemporary Portuguese novel.