Anabela Veloso: Crafting a Nation
PLACE: Art House Turku, Nunnankatu 4, 2 floor, Tehdas
DATE & TIME: Fresh Start Club Night on Fri 5.9. at 20:00–00:30
DURATION: 35 min. Performance is part of the Fresh Start Club Night program, which also features performances by Anna Maskava and Hanna Ijäs. No pre-booking needed.
LANGUAGE: English
Information about accecibility here
Crafting a Nation explores how the Barcelos Rooster—a folk symbol from northern Portugal—was transformed into a national emblem during the authoritarian Estado Novo regime (1933–1974).
Veloso combines personal storytelling with historical reflection to trace how a handmade ceramic figure became tied to nationalist propaganda. The work asks how cultural symbols become vehicles for political power manipulated by authoritarian forces. Through pottery and spoken word, Veloso reflects on her own childhood memories of roosters as trophies and kitchen decorations, revealing how these symbols continue to shape everyday life, even long after their political meanings have faded.
The work has been developed as part of the FRESH START Nordic / Baltic programme in collaboration with Live Art Denmark (Copenhagen) and the Starptelpa Festival (Riga). The programme is funded by the Nordic Culture Point.
Anabela Veloso (she/her) is a Portuguese artist whose practice explores how relationships and cultural narratives shape society and politics. Working across video, installation, and participatory formats she investigates the intersections between personal stories and collective history.
Veloso focuses on how symbols become tools of power and how everyday objects are politicised through repetition and belief. She zooms in on the Estado Novo regime which used folklore, religion, and rural aesthetics to construct a national identity rooted in obedience and myth. Her previous works include “Armandina Ferreira”, a portrait of her grandmother revealing a broader narrative of women under the dictatorship, and “três bichos-da-traça”, a video-letter reflecting on her family’s knitwear factory and the emotional legacy of economic exploitation. Veloso holds an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has exhibited across Portugal, Denmark, Austria, and Sweden.