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Hotel Desterro
by Patrik Thomas
2014, 45”
Original Format:
Courtesy of the artist
Presented at Lo schermo dell’arte 2021 in occasion of the exhibition Directing the Real: Artists’ Film and Video in the 2010s
The film is part of VISIO – European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images – 6th edition
The film is part of VISIO – European Programme on Artists’ Moving Images – 6th edition
The documentary installation Hotel Desterro crosses different layers of narratives within the colonial memory discourse from Portugal and West Africa. It portraits a centrally located former pottery in Lisbon, that is about to be torn down in order to build a new hotel complex for tourists. In one corner of the yard, an old school bus awaits its migration to West Africa to reincarnate in the system of public transport. The work is partially a road movie, passing through Morocco, the Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal down to its final destination: Guinea-Bissau. Hotel Desterro tries to establish the utopian idea of a transcultural bridge which works beyond national states and the concept of borders.
Patrik Thomas explores hybrid forms of cinema, video art and performance, often with a collaborative work approach. He holds a BA in filmmaking and has a long work experience in computer science. Since 2012 he is enrolled at the academy of fine arts Munich with Julian Rosefeldt, Olaf Nicolai and Klaus vom Bruch, focussing on time based media, conceptual art and installations. In 2013 he initiated THE RANDOM COLLECTIVE and GATO ALEATÓRIO, fluid networks of artists, researchers and creators with hubs in Lisbon and Munich. Researching on non-competitive co-creation, applied criticism and alternative ways of education. Recent international exhibitions and awards: Talent Prize 2017, MACRO (Rome), CCA Tbilisi, Center for contemporary Art, Documenta’14 Off-Programme, HELP!, Kulturbahnhof Kassel (Kassel, Germany), Biennial Vila Nova de Cerveira, CPLP Programme (Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal), 18th Mediterranean Biennale, National Museum (Tirana).