We asked curator Sara Castelo Branco for a closer look to the works of our current Exhibition Dissident Bodies:
Part 3 / HUGO DE ALMEIDA PINHO
This work is based on research carried out in European medical museums. It critically examines the boundary between knowledge and violence, asking how scientific practices have sometimes caused harm while claiming to produce understanding.
By revisiting the imagery and displays of anatomical and pathological museums, the work questions why certain bodies were studied, classified, and exhibited. It highlights how these institutions did not simply present neutral knowledge, but helped shape ideas about which bodies were considered “normal” and which were seen as different or “other.”
Through this reflection, the work invites viewers to think about the historical role of medicine in defining and controlling bodies. It shows how systems of knowledge have contributed to creating hierarchies and forms of exclusion. This project reinforces the idea that the body is not neutral or fixed, but constructed through cultural, scientific, and political frameworks.
Hugo de Almeida Pinho is a Portuguese contemporary artist and researcher. He lives and works between Portugal and Germany. His practice spans visual art, media art, film, performance, and theoretical research.
