Until November 3, the Museum of Art and Cultural History at Gottorf Castle is showing “Le Château des Valkyries”, the largest solo exhibition to date of works by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos in Germany.
“Le Château des Valkyries” (“The Castle of the Valkyries”) comprises ten large-scale installations by Joana Vasconcelos, including the “Valkyries” Marina Rinaldi, Martha and Thyra, on display on the Museum Island in Schleswig, as well as “Ostfriesland”, a wrought iron teapot 2.30 meters high and over three meters wide, on display at the Eisenkunstguss Museum Büdelsdorf.
The exhibition, writes the museum in a statement, “shows the various facets of Vasconcelos’ artistic work”, whose work is “informed by an appreciation of traditional Portuguese crafts and artisanal techniques, which she places in new contexts, reinterprets and presents to the world”.
On its official website, the museum recalls the biography of Joana Vasconcelos, born in Paris in 1971, emphasizing that her works mix art, fashion and design “with ease and in a unique and attractive way.”
“Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Palace of Versailles, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and, last but not least, her spectacular contributions to the Venice Biennales of 2005 and 2013 have made her a sought-after artist worldwide, whose sensual and theatrical works fascinate and enchant the public,” describes the Gottorf Castle Museum of Art and Cultural History.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, a source from the museum stressed their “enormous satisfaction” at being able to show “the largest exhibition of Joana Vasconcelos to date in a German museum.”
The exhibition was curated and organized by a team led by Thorsten Sadowsky, director of the Museum of Art and Cultural History at Gottorf Castle. It took around two years to plan the exhibition.
To accompany the exhibition, visitors can look forward to various parallel activities. In addition to the traditional guided tours, there will be concerts, readings, movie nights and new offers, such as yoga in the museum, a knitting meeting and patchwork.
In the exhibition’s hands-on workshop, visitors can also learn about the work of Joana Vasconcelos, touch original Valkyrie pieces in a ‘touch station’, design their own Valkyrie in a competition and crochet.
The opening of “Le Château des Valkyries” took place on Wednesday, May 1, at the Museum of Art and Cultural History at Gottorf Castle, where it can be seen from today until November 3.
The exhibition in Germany coincides in time with a new show by the Portuguese artist in Spain, opening at the Central Artística de Bueño, in Asturias, on the 7th, where she will present “Diagonals”, from the “Tetris” series, and her recent work “La Pasionaria”.
This play is a tribute to the Spanish anti-fascist fighter Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989), who made “No pasarán!” a slogan against the Falangist troops during the Civil War (1936-39). Elected to the Spanish parliament in 1977, after the democratic transition following the death of dictator Francisco Franco, La Pasionaria was honorary president of the Spanish Communist Party until her death in 1989.
