Mónica de Miranda, Sónia Vaz Borges, Vânia Gala: Greenhouse

Greenhouse, the collective project by artist-curators Mónica de Miranda, Sónia Vaz Borges and Vânia Gala, will represent Portugal at the 60th International Venice Biennale.

The artists will create a “Creole garden” in Palazzo Franchetti, referencing private plots tended by enslaved people as acts of resistance and survival—an antithesis of the monocultural plantation. Densely planted and richly biodiverse, the “Creole garden” fosters a discursive space of liberation, possibility and multiplicity. Created by artists from different backgrounds—visual art, history, and choreography—the project will enact a philosophy of participation, collaboration and interdisciplinary solidarity.

Connecting ideas of ecology, decolonisation, diaspora and migration, the artist-curators will construct a garden of plants native to African countries, which will grow in the palace’s main hall throughout the exhibition period. The project proposes soil as a vector of decolonial and ecological engagement, capable of both sustaining growth, as well as archiving traces of historical violence, connecting past, present and future, the politics of the land, history, body and identity.

The garden will stage a sound installation, sculptures, dance/performance, workshops and participatory events. Together, these components will create a transdisciplinary space of experimentation, encounter and collective possibility. Greenhouse will be grounded in four actions: Garden (Installation, Space, Time); Living Archive (Sound, Movement, Performance), School (Education, History, Revolution); Assemblies (Public, Communities and Publication).

Greenhouse marks two celebrations: the centenary of Amílcar Cabral (1924–73), a Bissau-Guinean anticolonial leader and agronomist crucial to the country’s independence in 1973, and the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution which deposed Portugal’s dictatorship on 25 April 1974. Emphasising the composite histories and identities that emerged from colonialism and the liberation struggles, Greenhouse proposes actions that enact radical and decolonial solidarities, and challenge monocultural norms of nation, knowledge, and agriculture.

The Pavilion unfixes hierarchical conventions, encouraging fluid modes of artistic production grounded not in binaries of theory and practice, artist and curator, but in their interconnection. The project transforms the exhibition space into a space for action and dialogue. Rather than a static experience, it proposes the creation of a “living archive.” The garden will be activated across the exhibition period, becoming a place of collective action and care, of multiple possibilities and pedagogy.

Conceived for the first time by three African-Portuguese women, the Portugal Pavilion proposes the emergence of various choreographies based on encounters and collaborations between public, communities and artists, in resonance with the theme of the 2024 Venice Biennale, Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere.

Moreover, Greenhouse develops a public program of assemblies with international invited guest curators and artists.

RHIZOMES—Creating artist communities: Sunday, April 21st, 2–4pm
Talk moderated by Paul Goodwin, with Azu Nwagbogu, Hicham Khalidi, Abraham Oghobase, Manal AlDowayan, Maria Madeira, Cindy Sissokho, Molemo Moiloa

ECOLOGIES OF CARE—Curating as a form of care: Monday, April 22nd, 11am-12pm
Talk moderated by Paula Nascimento, with Anna Arabindan-Kesson and Dr. Deborah Willis

QUINTAIS—Sounds as liberation: Friday, June 14th, 2–4pm
Talk moderated by Marissa Moorman, with Ondjaki, Kalaf Epalanga and Ângela Coutinho

BIOMES—Art, Ecology and Activism: Saturday, June 15th, 2–4pm
Talk moderated by Kitty Furtado, with Denise Ferreira da Silva and Ellen Pirá Wassu

BULB—Artists as Curators: Tuesday, September 3rd, 2–4pm
Talk moderated by Melissa Rodrigues, with Ângela Ferreira, Dalton Paula, Jõao Carlos Silva, and Kiluanji Kia Henda

Resurrection/Insurrection: Tuesday, September 3rd, 5-6pm
Performance by Kiluanji Kia Henda, with Mussunda N’Zombo, and Imani Jacqueline Brown

Living Soil: Thursday, September 5th, 2–4pm
Talk moderated by Gabriela Salgado, with Dr. Vandana Shiva

The Official Portuguese Representation at the 60th International Venice Biennale is commissioned by the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES).

Press enquiries
For all international media enquiries and to RSVP for the press view please contact Emily Gates, emily.gates@reesandco.com.

For media enquiries within Portugal please contact Rita Bonifacio, greenhouse.press2024@gmail.com.