Passages
Ulrike Ottinger. Books of Images
OCT 20 to NOV 14 / Museu do Oriente
In the early 1970s, Ottinger started her cinematic journey, always treading hand in hand with photography. She travels the world in the following decades, interpreting it through her lenses, in a synthesis of mythology, illusion and realism. In her travels, she makes ‘books’ that collect visual material and texts, and act as guides for the shootings; tools that help her explain her perspective to those she films. Still or moving, Ottinger’s images are a dialogue through languages and cultures. Concurrently to the full retrospective of her cinematic work, Doclisboa, in the context of this year’s edition of the Festival and in collaboration with Museu do Oriente, presents Ottinger as the guest artist of the Passages section. This exhibition features a series of photographs that were for the most part created alongside the production of her films. They range from surrealist theatrical compositions to ethnographic portraits, inhabiting the liminal space between fiction and documentary. There are several portrayed territories, but a special connection with China and Mongolia, countries where Ottinger made several incursions, based on which she created a vast film and photo work. In close relation with some of those photographs, the films Taiga (1991–92) and China. The Arts – the People (1985) will be screened at Museu do Oriente.