LEVEL 1, GALLERY 2
CRISTINA DE MIDDEL
SPAIN, BORN 1975
LIVES AND WORKS IN MEXICO AND BRAZIL
BRUNO MORAIS
BRAZIL, BORN 1979
LIVES AND WORKS IN MEXICO AND BRAZIL
PROJECT
Cristina de Middel and Bruno Morais’s recent series, Midnight at the Crossroads 2018, explores the evolution of traditional West African religions, popularly referred to as ‘voodoo’, as they have been practiced over centuries by the African diaspora in South America and the Caribbean region. The photograph included in NGV Triennial, Confusion of the pipes, is an uncanny image that straddles both the narrative and documentary aspects of the duo’s practice. It is an unusual portrait with placement of smoking pipes in the subjects’ ears suggesting a baffling and unnerving ceremonial event.
Throughout their career Middel and Morais have created images that challenge clichés. Discussing this series, de Middel says: ‘I think Western understanding of African-rooted religions [were] reduced to a couple of clichés that came from Hollywood and were presented by missionaries in the beginning. On one side, African-rooted religions are profoundly linked to nature and environment and understand the forces of nature as deities, which makes them much more respectful compared to Semitic religion, where humans seem to operate at a superior level than [other] living creatures. It is also an intangible cultural patrimony that is slowly disappearing as a consequence of the advance of Protestantism in South America, the Caribbean and Africa.’
ABOUT
Cristina de Middel and Bruno Morais are collaborative artists who have been working together since 2014.
De Middel studied photography at the University of Oklahoma and the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. She has worked as a photojournalist since 2002 and began to exhibit her work in 2009, holding solo exhibitions in Europe, Africa and South America. In 2017 she joined the Magnum photo agency and the following year was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for photography.
Morais studied photography at the Escola de Fotógrafos Populares in Rio de Janeiro and in 2009 was a founding member of the photography collective, Coletivo Pandilla.
The NGV warmly thanks Triennial Supporters Janet Whiting AM & Phil Lukies & Family for their support.