A photo exhibition titled “My Body” by Portuguese artist Maria João Pereira has recently opened at CREATIVE MACAU, presenting 42 evocative self-portraits captured over five years that explore the private and performative dimensions of the artist’s body within the domestic space.
Pereira has been an artist and actress at Lisbon-based Companhia d’As Entranhas (“Company of the Entrails”) since 1999 and has worked with multiple Portuguese directors, including José Wallenstein, Nuno Carinhas, José Luis Vieira, João Perry, Miguel Moreira, Raul Atalaia, Jorge Fraga, João Brites and Susana Vidal, a recent CREATIVE MACAU statement noted.
Organised by d’As Entranhas Macau – Cultural Association and CREATIVE MACAU, My Body showcases 42 photographs taken by Pereira between 2019 and 2024 using a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G. According to the statement, the exhibition “aims to interrogate the memory of the present time”, blending elements of fiction and reality through what the statement described as “an imagined performance.”
Captured within the private confines of the artist’s home, the works reflect her evolving relationship with her own body. The statement noted that the exhibition was initiated by an invitation from d’As Entranhas Macau to Pereira, whose photographic work has gained attention through social media platforms. The images, the statement highlighted, are not simply self-portraits but “multifaceted representations” of the artist’s body in various emotional and physical states.
During the opening ceremony last Thursday, Pereira also delivered a performance, further extending the interplay between static image and embodied experience, the statement said.
The statement pointed out that the performance element ties directly into the exhibition’s central question: how the body occupies – and transforms – the domestic space through presence and imagination.
The exhibits for “My Body” are on display at CREATIVE MACAU on the ground floor of the Cultural Centre (CCM) until August 2, with free admission from Monday to Saturday, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
This poster and close-up photo recently provided by CREATIVE MACAU (CCI) promotes the exhibition “My Body”.
Photos of the exhibits taken yesterday at CREATIVE MACAU by Khalel Vallo
