"How much of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is fictional, and has it become dangerously close to reality. Can we love oppression? Could we give away control and move further from humanity?
In the perfect universe of BNW, there is no place for art or culture. The societal structure that creates art and literature is considered dangerous.
Manuela Dos Campos has been recording the art scene and nightlife in Porto with her hand camera for over 20 years, her extensive archive goes back to 1997, and includes gallery and museum openings, mythical and underground parties, bars and clubs. In her films, we are invited to participate in her voyeuristic character, finding ourselves being the eyes of the artist. (...)
Xavier Almeida is interventive to say the least, he invades the city, taking over the public space with his trade mark of random blobs, often a black lagoon shaped graffiti, covering something or opening a portal to another dimension. He is combative, fighting forms of expression with his own, defying morality whether he is using graffiti or text in his comic strips and publications. Xavier is constantly raising questions, he is restless. Artistic expression is often the exploration of anxiety, it is risk taking.
Both Manuela and Xavier explore the fine line between independence and restraint, they muscle themselves around restriction. Can they do what they do without consent? Paint on private property or film and store thousands of hours of anonymous people indulging themselves? What is private and what is personal?"

Excerpt of the exhibition text