Framework: Off-Line / Triangle Arts-Xerem Association
Funding: Prince Klaus Foundation
Exhibition Space: Hospital do Destierro, Lissabon, PT.
Materials: Installation, Materials: earth, healing herbs, light bulbs, photography, video, honey, objects, glass, jutte.
Maëlle Galerie, Paris, FR (2018)
The Hospital of Exile I explores the complex processes of metamorphosis and skinning in the context of migration. The piece was developed in situ, drawing on stories collected around the former Hospital do Desterro in Lisbon, Portugal. The building still retains much of its original atmosphere. In earlier times, it served as a hospital specializing in skin diseases, particularly in isolating patients with leprosy. It also included a psychiatric ward for mental disorders related to the skin.
The installation incorporated objects left behind in the hospital, healing herbs recommended by former doctors, interviews with neighbors about the smells and sensations associated with the building, photographs revealing the building’s different layers, and other elements. A significant component was a video piece on Morgellons (an informal term for a self-diagnosed and scientifically unsubstantiated skin condition in which individuals believe their sores contain living organisms, though they typically contain fibrous material).
The work’s obscure atmosphere was closely linked to a recurring memory shared by many neighbors: the smell of Thursdays, when patients’ bandages for skin diseases were burned. They recalled the dramatic and unsettling mixture of burning textiles, fat, and skin that would permeate the area. This collective sensory memory became central to the installation’s exploration of psychological disturbances related to the skin and the act of shedding it.
The entire installation revolved around these intertwined physical and psychological dimensions of the body.
