Portugal

Portugal

Metabolisms of Repair

‘Metabolisms of Repair’ presented by the Portugal pavilion, is an exhibition that proposes an optimistic, critical engagement with the planetary consequences of extractive and technocratic systems. Moving beyond apocalyptic narratives, it explores regenerative strategies that place full ecosystems—rather than human centrality—at the core of future-making.

In the face of accelerating environmental collapse, it is no longer sufficient to reflect on isolated ecologies. The climate crisis is the convergence of dispersed micro-phenomena, rooted in biological, ecological, and geological processes. The exhibition invites us to consider the planet as a living metabolism—complex, entangled, and in urgent need of care.

Rather than offering solutions, ‘Metabolisms of Repair’ opens space for reimagining the questions we ask of the Earth. It frames repair not as restoration of a prior state, but as a forward-looking, relational act grounded in interdependence, material histories, and expanded ecological perception. Two distinct artistic practices ground these ideas in specific territories and materials. Chemical Affinities by Miguel Teodoro (8'51'') investigates the use of ammonia fertilisers in Portugal’s Alentejo region, tracing the chemical, visual, and territorial effects of agricultural modernisation through high-resolution images and ammonia-processed Super 8 film. DOIS TONS DE CINZA by A Recoletora (Alexandre Delmar and Maria Ruivo) (18') blends documentary and fiction to explore forms of pastoral communication in the highlands of Madeira, interweaving cries, fires, volcanic stone, and the animal voice as forms of ecological memory.

Together, these works imagine repair as a practice of resistance, reconnection, and transformation—beyond human scales, and beyond the crisis.

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Credits

Chemical Affinities 

Miguel Teodoro

DOIS TONS DE CINZA 

A Recoletora

2025 Pavilions