Photo by Matilde Viegas, for her project Alento
Inês Neto dos Santos
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, born in Lisbon and based in London/Brussels. I completed an MA in Visual Communication at Royal College of Art (2016) and a BA in Graphic Design and Illustration at London College of Communication (2013).
My practice moves between performance, installation and social sculpture, investigating the socio-political implications of what we eat and how we come to eat it. In my work, I create contexts and frameworks through which to explore collaboration, generosity, care and togetherness. In recent years I have delved into the practical and metaphorical dimensions of fermentation, as a gateway into our enmeshed, multispecies existence. More recently, my research has taken me into the study of beans and their soil regeneration qualities, investigating their relationship to supported sustenance and care.
Exhibiting my work often happens in participatory formats of knowledge exchange and workshops. I have been a guest lecturer at Kingston University and Westminster University.
Since March 2021, I have co-lead the online course Food Cosmogonies with artist Nora Silva at the Institute for Postnatural Studies in Madrid. The course seeks to propose food as central to the world-making process.
In 2016, I founded Mesa, a project that runs on collaborations with other artists, and results in performances, supperclubs and events which explore food as a global language, to democratise access to art and the creative practice. Through the project, I expands on my interest in how using symbols, metaphors and re-tellings can help us overcome, discuss and/or understand contemporary issues or emotional states.
PUBLISHED:
- Tender Touches (2020), co-curated/co-authored with Huma Kabakci, published by Open Space.
- Bonfim (2018), artist book, limited edition of 30 copies, riso printed, hand-bound.
Published by Illustration School. Porto, Portugal.
- Liquid Inbetweeness: Matrixiality and Water as a Metaphor (dissertation), 2017, MA Visual Communication,
Royal College of Art, London. Published by AVANCA Film Festival.
RESIDENCIES:
- Radical Residency V at Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop, August-September, London 2020
- Villa Lena Residency, Tuscany 2019
- Z.U.T. Residency, Lisbon 2018, curated by Alice Bonnot
- Illustration School Residency, Porto 2018
- Barbecho residency, Madrid, 2017
- Z.U.T. Residency, Athens 2017, curated by Alice Bonnot
Forthcoming:
- CURADURA - Teatro do Bairro Alto, Lisboa. With Parasita Associação Cultural. May 2021
- Villa Lena Residency, Tuscany. June-July 2021
- EVA - Ireland Biennial. Date TBC.
Selected exhibitions, workshops, projects:
2021
March-July
FOOD COSMOGONIES, course co-lead with Nora Silva
Institute for Postnatural Studies
Madrid, UK (online)
March
OHM
Group exhibition. FORMER project space.
Brussels, UK
January
Foresta Collective - Winter Trail (Berlin/online)
Leading workshops/online sessions
2020
December
Art Pluriverse: A Community Science Series, online project
Collaboration with SEN Heritage Looms, Greece
Biennale of the Western Balkans 2020
November
Between each forkful is a full breath
Workshop at Open School East (online)
Margate, UK
August-September
RADICAL RESIDENCY V
Group residency and exhibition
Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop
London, UK
June
Ecologies of Attention: What’s in a recipe?
Creative recipe writing workshop (on Zoom)
Berlin, Germany
June
BLOCK UNIVERSE SESSIONS:
Fermen-tour
A fermentation workshop (on Zoom)
London, UK
2019
December
AWAKEN: Community building festival, organised by En.v
Sculpture commission
Kuwait
November
WASTELANDS: Collective Stories of London
Design Museum, London
Workshop leader (Taste and fermentation as storytelling devices)
October-November
VILLA LENA RESIDENCY (invited as Creative Contributor)
Villa Lena, Tuscany, Italy.
September
IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND, YOU CAN CHANGE THE FUTURE
Porto Design Biennale, Portugal. Performative dinner in collaboration with Anna Souter.
Curated by Francisco Laranjo, commissioned by Papanek Foundation.
A SONIC YOUTH, Almada, Portugal
Galeria Municipal de Almada
Curated by Filipa Oliveira
July
EXPEDITION EMPATHY, São Miguel, Azores
Part of Island Circuit - Walk&Talk arts festival, project curated by The Decorators
May/June
TENDER TOUCHES, London
AMP Gallery, Peckham
Co-curator and participating artist. Co-curated with Huma Kabakci, organised by Open Space
May
THESE TWO EXCHANGE LIMBS, London
South London Botanical Institute
Curated by Laura Plant
March
DARLINGS OF THE UNDERGROUND, London
Subsidiary Projects
Curated by Martin Mayorga and Vanessa Murrell (DATEAGLE ART) with Anna Souter
2018
October
MITOS E VIAGENS, Porto
Oliva & Co
Performance as part of an event commissioned by Oliva & Co.
MATÉRIAS PRIMAS, Barreiro
PADA Studios
Group show curated by Diana Cerezino and Tim Ralsto
FRIEZE LUNCH, THE CULTIVIST, London
Park Village Studios
Temporary installation, commissioned by The Cultivist.
September
SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO, Madrid
Barbecho
Group show, curated by ArsCoco, as part of Hybrid Festival.
July
BORED BUT SECURED, Lisbon
Wozen Studio
Group show, as part of Z.U.T. Residency 2018, Lisbon. Curated by Alice Bonnot.
June
A TOOLKIT FOR THE FUTURE, London
Arcade East
Commissioned by Arcade East and V&A, curated by Mariana Pestana, as part of the exhibition The Future Starts Here
May
ART NIGHT PARTY, London
Phillips Auction House
Commissioned by Art Night
March
ADVENTITIOUS ENCOUNTERS - finissage, London
Whiteleys Centre
Curated by Huma Kabakci (Open Space Contemporary) and Anna Skladmann
BONFIM - ILLUSTRATION SCHOOL, Porto
10-day residency at Illustration School .
Resulting in a series of 2 dinners and a recipe book, published by Illustration School.
2017
November/October
TOMATE, MEMBRILLO Y LIMÓN, Madrid
Solo residency at Barbercho, Madrid.
September
HONEY, London
4COSE (by Dispari&Dispari projects), Vyner Street,
Performative dinner and site-specific installation, collaborating with Natasha Cox
July
A SERIES OF POCKET UTOPIAS, Athens
Snehta Residency Space and Yellowbrick
Group show, for ZUT Residency. Curated by Alice Bonnot.
TABLETOP UTOPIAS, Athens
As part of Documenta14
Collaborative dinner with Thomas Langley.
Developed during ZUT Residency in Athens, Greece. Curated by Alice Bonnot.
OPEN STUDIOS - Yellowbrick Gallery, Athens
Open dinner, site-specific installation with Thomas Langley.
Developed during ZUT Residency, in Athens, Greece. Curated by Alice Bonnot.
April
ACHIEVABLE FUTURES / APPARENT UTOPIAS, London
Diaspore Project Space
As part of Acoustic Mirrors, curated by Friche Studio
January
EUROPEAN MAP OF POST-BREXIT LUXURIES
- UNITE AGAINST DIVIDERS, London
Theatre Delicatessen, Canary Wharf
An activation weekend for the arts by Keep It Complex.
2016
December
THRESHOLD, London
Lime Wharf
Film screening dinner, in collaboration with Egle Pernare.
November
LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS, London
Peckham
Conversational and political dinner, in collaboration with Rosalie Schweiker and The - Pizza
July
SHOW16 - MA VISUAL COMMUNICATION FINAL SHOW, London
Group exhibition, Royal College of Art, Kensington Campus.
April
CONTEMPORARY RESONANCE, London
Group exhibition, Royal College of Art, Kensington Campus.
January
WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW, London
Group exhibition, Royal College of Art, Kensington Campus.
June
SEASCAPES, London
Group exhibition, Royal College of Art, Kensington Campus.