Mónica de Miranda

South Circular

Mónica de Miranda

South circular first shows us two women, in the shadow of nondescript ruins over the Tagus river in Lisbon. Three disparate elements, then — a female pair, a structure in ruins and a river surrounding Lisbon and winding through the city’s outskirts — lay the foundation for a historical inventory of a military defence line that with time assumed a different role and another meaning. This anachronous defence wall sets a paradox before our eyes — it began as a military defence complex to keep the French from the capital during the invasions at the beginning of the nineteenth century; and now, more than a century later, it’s a territory where a by-and-large African population coming from the Portuguese ex-colonies, established their communities when they found themselves with no means to live in the prosperous, much-desired capital.