Exhibitions
The Moringues and their new vision: Moringue empty no carrega só vento
The title "Empty Moringue, No Load Only Wind" invites us to look beyond the object's utilitarian function and delve into its symbolic dimension. This exhibition proposes a reinterpretation and, above all, a celebration of the moringué as a cultural and artistic piece, opening up the possibility of discovering new ways of contemplating it.
The moringues (clay pots used to store water, known as cántaros or càntirs ) gathered here do not contain water, but rather condense each artist's personal experiences, their creative language, and the dialogue between the popular and the contemporary. Each work is unique and original: based on the traditional form, it unfolds in multiple directions through the use of diverse materials and techniques, from red or white clay to porcelain, rolling, slab work, or hand-made construction methods.
By bringing the moringue into the present, the exhibition also projects it into the future. No longer as a static relic, but as a symbol of other ways of being, creating, and sharing. If these pieces don't carry water, they do contain—and convey—an idea: the possibility of renewing meaning through memory and imagination.
Curated by Felipa Almeida, the exhibition "Moringue Vazio Não Carrega Só Vento" (Empty Moringue) is presented at Plato (Évora) as a journey that invites us to rethink the function and meaning of an object deeply rooted in everyday life: the moringu. Far from being reduced to a vestige of the past, the exhibition transforms it into a starting point for contemporary creation, a living symbol capable of engaging with our memory and, at the same time, projecting itself into the future.
Until September 13, the public will be able to view a selection of 27 artists who have accepted the challenge of starting with the moringue to develop their own work. The result is a set of previously unpublished pieces that, while sharing a common reference, unfold very different aesthetic universes. Thus, more than a relic, the moringue becomes here a symbol of other ways of being and sharing, a bridge between tradition and experimentation, between the everyday and the poetic, opening a fertile space for imagination and collective reflection.
The artists present in the exhibition are: Alquimista Ceramics, Álvaro Nogueira, Ana + Betânia, Aramy Machry, Cécile Mestelan, Cláudia R. Sampaio, Daisy Eltenton, Diana Barbosa, Francisco Trêpa, Henriette Arcelin, The Hunchback Society, Joel Pereira, Malga Ceramic Design, Mantraste, Margarida Fabrica, Maria Paz Aires, Marisa Ferra, Marta Cypel, Maud Téphany, Mestre Xico Tarefa, Natasha Levytska, Pareidólia Design, Rúben Carrilo, Teresa Segurado Pavão, Tiago Guerreiro, Úrsula Cerâmica, Vitor Serrano.
