Between photography, writing and curatorship, her work is shaped through observation, research and the creation of connections between images, texts and people. Her practice seeks to explore what remains unseen, questioning the ways we perceive the world and construct memory.
“The common thread between photography, writing and curating is the act of selecting, editing and choosing — deciding what will be spoken, seen and shared with the world.”
Q: What common thread do you find between photography, the written word and curating?
A: Photography, writing and curating are forms of expression that I use to engage with the questions and concerns of everyday life.
Although photography can sometimes take on a more commercial dimension, and writing a more academic one, both remain creative practices through which I continue to explore ideas and experiment.
Since childhood, reading has been a place of refuge and a territory of ideas. Photography, in turn, has always encouraged me to organise the world visually — whether through an individual object or through the composition of an exhibition. Curating emerged in a similar way, following an invitation from CRU Creative Hub after several years of collaboration. Over time, I realised that, at its core, everything I do is rooted in the same gesture: editing, composing and creating connections.
The common thread between these practices is precisely the act of selecting, editing and choosing — deciding what will be spoken, seen and shared with the world.
Q: What are your main sources of inspiration?
A: I’m inspired by authors who explore the experimental possibilities of language and writing.
I’m inspired by works that inhabit the territory of the infraordinary, the marginal and the invisible, whether through the materials they use, the techniques they employ or the relationships they establish.
I’m also inspired by the generosity of the people around me, by friendship, and by the simplicity that some works achieve only after a long process of maturation.
Ultimately, I find inspiration in everything and in nothing, always on the threshold between absolute boredom and infinite curiosity.
Q: What new creative challenges would you like to embrace in the coming years?
A: I want to continue developing the project Cartography for a Biography, initiated in 2024, expanding it through artist residencies, research and collaborations.
I also intend to deepen my work in experimental writing and publishing, whether in the form of artists’ books, essays or magazines. I would also like to continue collaborating with artists from different disciplines and further develop my work in exhibition design within curatorial practice.
In my academic research, I hope to continue exploring the relationship between photography and time.
Q: Is there an object or ritual that is always part of your working day?
A: I don't have any fixed objects or rituals, because no two days are ever the same.
Even so, there is one gesture that almost always comes before work: preparing the space. Before I begin writing or imagining an image, I feel the need to tidy and reorganise my surroundings.
What usually follows is a period of wandering, some scattered reading, and a cup of coffee.
Q: What does Bombarda mean to you?
A: Bombarda embodies the living idea of community, in its broadest and deepest sense.
It is a space of sharing, encounter and constant transformation, sustained by the diversity of its members and by an ethos of openness, hospitality and vitality.
For me, Bombarda has always been a place where projects and ideas take shape, where different forms of expression, ways of living and modes of creation meet and enter into dialogue.
Portfolio
Rossana Mendes Fonseca's artistic practice brings together photography, writing, curating and research, exploring the image as a territory of thought, memory and experimentation.
Translation into Portuguese of Virginia Woolf’s original English texts — Letter to a Young Poet, Street Haunting: A London Adventure, and Craftsmanship — accompanied by images created from black-and-white Polaroid emulsion lifts.
August 2024.
Text on sketch paper, Polaroid emulsion lifts on watercolour paper, and oil-painted linen — objects from a biographical cartography, installed at Estúdio Aro from 28 June to 31 July 2024.
Artistic practice developed within the PhD in Contemporary Art at the College of Arts, University of Coimbra.
[trans]sombre, a series of four photographs created from a light choreography by Marta Cunha, featuring masks by Carmo Paulino and João Apolinário Mendes. Printed on photographic paper (70 × 100 cm) and exhibited at CRU Creative Hub from 21 March to 25 April 2015.
Cartographies of Deviations. Mapping Origins and Narratives — Group exhibition featuring works by Glorija Lizde, Izzy Benigno, Lana Stojićević, Stela Mikulin and Tanja Minarik, developed as the outcome of the Curatorial Residency at Culture Hub Croatia [PROSTOR], held from 4 August to 2 September 2024. The exhibition was on view from 28 August to 20 September 2024.
How to collaborate
Rossana Mendes Fonseca develops artistic, curatorial and editorial projects dedicated to photography, writing and visual culture. She undertakes photographic commissions, art direction, editorial projects, curatorship, residencies, workshops, teaching and consultancy in the fields of image and contemporary art.
She is available for artistic collaborations, research, cultural programming and interdisciplinary projects.
Contacts
