los cuerpos que despedimos, by laura san segundo

note on 11 October, there will be a conversation with Laura San Segundo and Eduardo Brito (curator of Cinex), followed by a guided tour of the exhibition by the artist.

For over a decade, Laura San Segundo has accumulated around two hundred photographs from the early 20th century showing portraits of women with their dogs. Los cuerpos que despedimos decontextualises these images to address touch, contact, loss and mourning: the intimate, but also social, way in which we say goodbye to a body.
Through the archive, the photographic and moving image, writing and performance, San Segundo reflects on how we represent animal mourning, on the bodies we say goodbye to and on the role that the image plays in this ritual. Based on this collection, the artist considers the possibility of an image as a place of affection and as a space of contact between species. At the same time, she reflects on the emotional place in which the human body is transformed into impulse, smell and touch, becoming equal to the animal. Animality, understood as a liminal zone between the human and the non-human, transcends hierarchies and can activate alternative forms of mourning: less regulated, more intuitive, physical or tactile.

Born in Madrid, Laura San Segundo is an artist, photographer, art director and educator who moves between personal projects and commissioned work for institutions in the fields of art and design. In 2023, she was nominated by PhotoEspaña – Madrid International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts to join the European photography platform FUTURES. She has been awarded several grants and residencies, including the FormARTE Photography Grant in Paris and the ITmakES Art Award, awarded by PhotoEspaña and Camera – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia.

this exhibition is part of the cinex programme of Braga 25, Portuguese Capital of Culture.

support portuguese republic – culture / general direction of the arts. rtcp – network of portuguese theaters and cinemas.