Cintura
José Pedro Cortes
Curated by Sylvia Chivaratanond
Opening on 14th Oct at 19:00
Until 17th Dec
EA Exhibition Hall
Free Admission

The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and lasting, and therefore smarter and even more competitive.
– Paul Hawken, environmentalist and serial entrepreneur

Cintura explores the vast structures of the VCI, an intricate map of highways and circular rings that connect the bridges of downtown Porto to the city’s outskirts along the Douro River. Originating in the 1960s and expanded in 1989, the VCI is described as the city’s entry and exit arteries and has played a vital role in the formation and development of Porto. Coinciding with this growth, Cortes grew up alongside the development of the VCI and, through his lens, crafted an intimate portrait of its pulsating system.

Like all of Cortes’ work, these photos evoke intimate, mysterious, and personal moments, almost as if the VCI itself were a character. With so much movement and people passing through this system daily, it’s hard to imagine it ever slowing down.
It’s as if Cortes reminds us that humanity might be on the same trajectory – a metaphor for contemporary culture, or perhaps the lack of it.
Maybe he simply wants to highlight the transgressive acts that have occurred on these roads. In contrast to nature, the VCI is man-made and serves the needs of capitalism in terms of commerce and services.
Still, the irony is that we must get into our cars and use these roads to reach nature, or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: Adopt the pace of nature – her secret is patience. In fact, this is something we all must adopt in order to enter and exit the VCI.

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