Pedro Barateiro’s project, “A Viagem Invertida” (The Reverse Journey), is a performance commissioned by BoCA in 2019, which saw Pedro Barateiro working on stage at the Sala Garrett of the TNDMII. The performance was also presented in the context of the exhibition “En Caída Libre” (In Free Fall), curated by João Laia, at Caixa Forum Barcelona.
Set against the backdrop of lithium mining in Portugal, “A Viagem Invertida” is a performance inspired by the book “Queda sem fim, seguido de Descida de Maleström, de Edgar Allan Poe” (Endless Fall, followed by Descent of Maleström, by Edgar Allan Poe), written by José A. Bragança de Miranda.
“A Viagem Invertida” (The Reversed Journey) is the most complex performance and installation work that the artist has conceived to date, a work designed for the stage and constructed from text, sculptures, and a video, which continue some of the questions previously raised in Barateiro’s work. It also features performances by Pedro Barateiro himself, Lula Pena, dancer Luís Guerra, and musical composition and performance by Raw Forest (Margarida Magalhães).
Lithium is the main component in the manufacture of batteries for computers, tablets, and cell phones, but it is also used to treat depression and bipolar disorder as a mood stabilizer. Drawing on the substance and its uses, the project represents a map of the contemporary condition, illuminating how different narratives connect and countering their usual presentation as independent phenomena. Among the issues addressed are the inscription of the current economic model in the history of colonialism and the relationship of both to the past and present of material and symbolic extractivism. The way in which these dynamics contribute to the current ecological and humanitarian emergency is also examined.
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