The work of Angolan artist Sandra Poulson (Lisbon, Portugal, 1995) is developed through an approach that is simultaneously ethnographic, autobiographical, and archaeological. Using fabric as her primary material and sewing as her central technique, the artist combines different working practices and methodologies to reflect on Angola’s historical, political, cultural and socio-economic panorama, weaving her experiences and memories into her practice.

In her work, Angola is a case study, within which she develops a semiotic analysis of the objects that permeate local daily life — such as domestic utensils, clothes, and architectural elements, among others. Through the appropriation, deconstruction and symbolic reconstruction of these objects, the artist incorporates questions about the hierarchies of power between geographies, the legacy of historical colonial processes, Angolan subsistence economy networks and its ongoing political and cultural transformations.

Muro, 2022

Installation, cement, wire and fabric

Courtesy of the artist.

Sandra Poulson’s installation evokes a specific type of architecture. Central to the urban fabric of many cities, including Luanda, “unfinished” houses, whose façades remain unplastered, are almost always synonymous with fragile economies. Predominant on the outskirts of large cities, these buildings bear witness to a clear relationship between architecture, colonial history and globalisation.

Reproduced inside the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Nova, the installation generates conflicts in the space that surrounds it. On the one hand, as it is located in a narrow room, its position creates an obstacle in the flow of passage, forcing the public to go around it before continuing their journey through the exhibition. On the other hand, it emphasises the dissonance between the type of architecture represented in Muro and that of the Monastery, with all its historical and political implications