E OLHAVA A MONTANHA, COMO O DORSO DE UM DRAGÃO
RITA MORAISfilm + film installation
E olhava a montanha, como o dorso de um dragão (And she stared at the mountain, as the back of a dragon) recounts the stories and myths surrounding the dragon tree, endemic to the Macaronesian islands (Cape Verde, the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands), and its sap, known as dragon’s blood. Filmed on 16mm film, the work interweaves a portrait of the plant with that of an artist who draws using the dragon’s blood sap. Stories of creation and survival are conjured up around the dragon tree, which is now at risk of extinction. Bodies and forms of knowledge historically constructed as both cure and threat — vital power and danger; creation and defiance — in a in between where practices of resistance and re-existence are re-enacted today.
The project will culminate in a single-channel film to be distributed nationally and internationally and in a solo exhibition of the artist in Porto, September 2027.
A Project by
Rita Morais
Produced by
Rita Morais, Primeira Idade and Laia co-op
Financial Support
Criatório Porto grant receiver (link)
Azores Culture Department
Support
Laboratório da Torre
Miragem - Kinematic Arts