Espelhos e Monstros — Paula Diogo / Má-Criação

Espelhos e Monstros — Paula Diogo / Má-Criação

“because the archetypal white woman, sexy but not slut, married but not meek, a good job but not so successful she upstages her husband, slim but not hung up about food, eternally youthful without needing to be hacked at by plastic surgeons, fulfilled as a mother but not overburdened by napies and homework, a talented hostess but not than a man, this blissfull white woman constantly being waved under our noses, this woman we’re supposed to strive to be like – though she seems to slog her guts out for fuck-all in return – is someone I’ve never encountered, anywhere. I suspect she doesn’t exist.” King Kong Theory, Virginie Despendes

The starting point for the work is a video filmed in 2019. In it, a woman dressed as Wonder Woman walks continuously through the inhospitable landscapes of Iceland. We don’t know exactly who she is, nor what she does, but on this journey we witness the undoing of a figure we know from fiction, a figure with super powers that have no meaning in this scenario. In this journey towards deletion, other figures appear, and transmutation assumes itself as the engine of action.

About Paula Diogo / Má-Criação

MÁ-CRIAÇÃO (Bad Creation) is a Lisbon-based company, created by the informal group of artists behind the Masako Point / Project 101 (2008) and the Learning to Swim (2010) projects.
Formalized as a Cultural Association in 2015, the structure now houses and produces the work of Paula Diogo and Alex Cassal, keeping a close relationship with a core of regular artists. The structure presents itself as a production platform for artists interested in creating bridges with projects and creators from different cultural, artistic and geographical backgrounds, with a strong authorial bent and based on research and collaboration processes.

PAULA DIOGO was born in Lisbon, in 1977. She is a performer and stage director with a particular interest in improbable ideas. With an artistic background based on collaborative processes, she has been meandering through art making and producing in recent years. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Training of Actors / Directors by the ESTC in Lisbon, and a Master’s in Performing Arts from the LHÍ (Icelandic Academy of Arts) with grants from the FCG and the GDA. She was a co-founder of Teatro Praga (1995-08), TRUTA (2003-10) and O Pato Profissional Lda (2003-10). In 2004 she was distinguished by CPAI with the Teatro na Década Award – Best Actress for the performance Private Lives, by Teatro Praga. In 2006 she received a grant from the CNC to follow the work of the Gob Squad (UK / DE) in Berlin. In 2007 she attended the Staging Course of the CCA Program at the FCG, with the british company Third Angel. In 2010 she was a resident director at the NTN in Naples, Italy, under the artistic direction of Antonio Latella. She has worked with several artists and companies over the years, such as: Lúcia Sigalho, Filipe Melo, Antonio Latella, Tiago Rodrigues, Madalena Victorino, Nuno Carinhas, João Pedro Vaz, Pedro Lacerda, Jacinto Lucas Pires, mala voadora, Cão Solteiro, Alain Fourneau, Rimini Protokoll, Philippe Quesne among others. In recent years, within Má-Criação, she has collaborated regularly with the artists Alfredo Martins (TMV), Cláudia Gaiolas (TMV), Alex Cassal (FM) and Alexander Kelly (TA), consolidating a platform that joins creators from different artistic and geographical backgrounds. She lives in Lisbon.
Paula’s work is supported by apap – FEMINIST FUTURES – a project co-funded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union.