Studies on Portuguese Ceramic. Action nº1, 2007

The construction of Western Art History, subjective and subject to mechanisms of assimilation and homogenization, left out much (or almost all) female presence and reduced many artistic areas to mere decorative activities, “hobbies”, placing them, often in a derogatory way, in the category of crafts. Ceramics was one of the most affected artistic expressions: having been, since the beginning of humanity, one of the most important artistic and craft techniques, it was reduced only to the latter (if we take into account exclusively the canon of art). Given the close relationship of ceramics with the production of objects for daily and household use, and being this an area in many women stood out in creative and technical terms, it was not only categorized as “feminine” but also parallel and consequently as “minor art”.

The emergence of feminist movements was transversal to many professional and personal areas, and had great echoes in artistic creation. The complaint of the stereotypes linked to domesticity and femininity as a major social problem and soon artistic matter of importance supported a fair recognition of the so-called minor arts, which slowly begin to occupy the space that was previously reserved only for “fine arts”. In the Portuguese case, ceramics both appear as a symbol of an artisanal “portugality” and propel a series of re-interpretations of traditions, now renewed and innovated – and so ceramics are cool again (and all tourists can buy Santos Antónios and ceramic sardines in the numerous shops that are born in the Baixa lisboeta); as in works of art recognized as such.

Still, the impact of the association of ceramics with renegade kitsch, the rejection of the traditional and the effects (collateral and direct) of the economic crisis in all production sectors in Portugal are visible in the disappearance of several factories and ceramic production companies. It was in one of these factories, closed and unused, that Rita GT occupied the ceramic manufacturing space, where they produced the popularly called “dishes” (reinforcing here the domestic and utilitarian connotation of the word), climbing with effort up a pile of abandoned remains. After conquering the top and becoming visible, it also becomes audible by throwing dishes and shards down the hill. This affirmative and divisive moment with what would be their “role” – the woman who washes the dishes, who performs the tasks in a mechanical way, organized, without complaining or delegating – could become violent if not so visible the relaxation with which GT performs this task also mechanical, almost symmetrical and at the same time totally opposite to washing the dirty dishes.

Video 13’42’’, color and sound.
Performance to video made in an abandoned ceramic factory in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.