Von Calhau! Exhibition Oximoroboro at Culturgest Lisbon Explores Shamanistic Cosmology

The exhibition Oximoroboro at Culturgest in Lisbon from 24 October to 23 December 2015 presented the work of Portuguese duo Von Calhau!, comprising Marta Ângela and João Alves. Their practice blends film, print, music, and performance through a shamanistic lens, employing analog media like 16mm film, drawings, and radiophonics. The show featured sculptural works such as Bengancho (2015), a mechanically clawing walking stick, and AVESSO (cortina) (2011), a leopard-print curtain-collage leading to a darkened room with totemic animal depictions. In another space, A Condução Cega (2012–14) projected rotating line drawings inside a cylinder, accompanied by a drumbeat soundtrack, evoking Victorian inversion illusions and prehistoric rock art. Films included Quadrologia Pentacónica (2010) and AVESSO (2011), showcasing the duo in hooded fake-fur coveralls and exploring themes of conflict and collaboration in elemental settings, with references to occultist figures like Alejandro Jodorowsky and Kenneth Anger. A room displayed graphic screenprints with visual puns and ambigrams, while the final film, Eulusionismo Antilusionistu (2015), featured a topless performer interacting with symbolic objects like a painted egg and a €2 coin. The exhibition positioned Von Calhau!'s work between illusionistic trickery and mystical transcendence, akin to Aleister Crowley's concept of magick, emphasizing their playful yet ritualistic approach to art-making.