Lesley Wells
An exhibition of photographs by Vera Paz is being held at Casa Garden in Praça Luis de Camões titled “Shadows” from today.
The exhibition organised by the d’As Entranhas Macau Cultural Association with the support of the Orient Foundation (FO) is a selection from over 500 photographs that Paz had taken over a four-year period with an Iphone8 camera of herself as a shadow in various cities and villages in Portugal and Vietnam as well as in Macau.
The Macau Post Daily spoke to Paz in Casa Garden while she was setting up the exhibition yesterday.
“It was very difficult to decide which photographs of my collection to use in the exhibition especially as I am an actress and not a photographer”, Paz said.
Paz is an actress from Portugal who is living in Macau for the second time and set up d’As Entranhas Macau in 2017 as an extension of d’As Entranhas – Cultural Association in Portugal of which she is a co-founder.
“Entranhas” means “bowels” or “guts”.
Paz said, “These photographs are another side of my character, with the different settings, lines [and] aesthetics. I like to think that each group of photographs has a sequence, a story. I don’t see myself in the photos, I see another woman.”
Paz said as d’As Entranhas couldn’t bring any overseas artists to Macau for exhibitions, “I wondered what I could do with the material that I have during this time [of the COVID-19 pandemic]. I have been taking these photos since 2017 and have over 500, so I thought I would use them in an exhibition.”
She went on to say, “I didn’t have an idea for an exhibition when I took them, this is my first individual exhibition as before I did installations with music and videos.”
“I always see the shadows as the other side of the mirror, it is like I can see you, but you cannot see yourself”, Paz said.
Paz has also been working with Albergue SCM in the São Lázaro district as a producer.
Paz said of her first solo exhibition, “I am excited and afraid of how people will react to my work. The photos are another way of seeing another view, the other side of the mirror, away from reality. I think the photos are more like drawings, and as I cannot draw they are like a self-portrait without a face, so no emotion is shown.”
The exhibition starts today and is on until May 15 at Casa Garden every Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., closed on Mondays. As today is the opening ceremony it will open at 6:30 p.m.
Vera Paz poses for photos in Casa Garden yesterday. Photos: Lesley Wells
