Carla Santos Carvalho, aka Carla Carvalho, was born in Lisbon and lives in Porto. She is currently a PhD student in Fine Arts and FCT research fellow at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto. She is a researcher at i2ADS – Research Institute in Art, Design and Society and, since 2022, at the Centro de Estudos Arnaldo Araújo – Art and Critical Studies group. With a Master of Arts in Art Studies – Museum and Curatorial Studies – Autofiction: A heuristic tool for the production and critical reception of the work of wrt” [Distinction] and a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences also from the University of Porto, she brings a unique blend of academic knowledge and journalistic expertise to her work. Recently, Carla has been actively engaged in research and curatorial support for curatorial projects, namely for Sins and Capitals and for the Bienal de Arte Contemporânea da Maia 23 as well. Additionally, she has been moderating several cultural debates. At the end of 2023, she won 1st prize in the Video category of the “Minho Storytelling – New Perspectives on Minho” competition, with the documentary Landra: Um projeto de vida. Carla Carvalho has had a distinguished career as a journalist, primarily as a broadcast news reporter at SIC – Sociedade Independente de Comunicação from 1994 to 2020. She specialized in cultural issues, particularly in visual arts, performing arts, and literature. Throughout her professional journey, she conducted interviews with national and international visual artists, including renowned Portuguese figures like Alberto Carneiro, Cruzeiro Seixas, Eduardo Batarda, Fernanda Fragateiro, Graça Morais, Leonor Antunes, João Cutileiro, José Barrias, José de Guimarães, Júlio Pomar, Jorge Martins, Jorge Pinheiro, Julião Sarmento, Paula Rego, Pedro Cabrita Reis, and others; also the architects Álvaro Siza and Souto de Moura. Her portfolio also includes interviews with artists like Anish Kapoor, Ann Hamilton, Cildo Meireles, Julie Mehretu, Liam Gillick, Marlene Dumas, Mel Bochner, Monir S. Farmanfarmaian, Nairy Baghramian, Olafur Eliasson, Philippe Parreno, Tacita Dean, Wolfgang Tillmans, among others; as well as conversations with notable curators as Connie Butler, Delfim Sardo, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Robert Lubar Messeri, João Fernandes, Jochen Volz, Miguel von Hafe Pérez, Suzanne Cotter, Vicente Todolí, among others.

Thesis title
Visual autofiction and feminisms: On some contemporary artistic practices in the portuguese context

FCT reference
2024.00970.BD

Abstract
This research intersects different epistemological fields: critical theory, literary theory, art theory and history, and feminist art history. It aims to understand how a group of artists from different generational backgrounds and diverse artistic practices, whose works will be the object of study, have been integrating what we call visual autofiction into their praxis, a concept with roots in literary theory and whose pertinance is questioned as a tool for understanding some specificities of contemporary artistic practices. Its focus, female artistic production in the Portuguese context, aims to produce knowledge in this field and, at the same time, promote gender equality in artistic practices and critical thinking.

Supervision
Miguel Leal (supervisor) and Eduarda Neves (ESAP/CEAA, co-supervisor)

More info

• 2811-AD7A-FBC9
• 0000-0003-2595-628X