Catarina Botelho

For a long time, lesbian identity was virtually invisible throughout the westernised world. It was hardly ever associated with images or imaginaries, and when it was, it was mainly in the form of stereotypes created by the gaze of heterosexual men. Lesbians were particularly invisible in the public arena; they rarely, if ever, had their own places or cartographies. The occupation and appropriation of city space by an identity is essential if it is to be able to construct itself as a social and political subject, and lesbians, excluded as they have been from the public arena, have not had this possibility for a long time. The project Ghosts in the Urban Space explores the relationship between the lesbian body and the urban space of Madrid through photographic representations produced in the 80s and 90s.

BIO
Catarina Botelho, a visual artist and researcher, is interested in the relationships between spaces, places, architectures, and their uses and experiences that defy productivist logics, in the urban space. Her work has been exhibited in such different places as: MAAT, Museu de Arte, Arquitectura e Tecnologia, Lisbon (2021); FotoColectania Foundation, Barcelona (2020); Sesc Pinheiros, São Paulo (2015); Villa Iris, Botín Foundation, Santander (2014); Haus der Photographie, Hamburg (2012); Edp Foundation - Museu da Electricidade, Lisbon (2011); Elba Benitez en Kvadrat, Madrid (2012); SaNostra Cultural Centre, Palma de Mallorca (2009); Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Casa de Serralves - Fundação de Serralves, Porto (2007); La Casa Encendida, Madrid (2005). In recent years she has received grants from the " La Caixa" Foundation (2018/2019), the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (2020 and 2022), Barcelona City Council (2021) and the Gulbenkian Foundation (2017). She also organises public programming activities and other collective projects. In 2018, she completed the Independent Study Programme (PEI) at MACBA and is currently a resident at Escocesa - Fábrica de Creación in Barcelona.