Lisbon 2024

belgium 2022

Book To’ To’ To’

From 27 July until 20 September 2024
Opening event: Saturday 27 July from 6 to 8 pm

At O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Atelier 2, Rua Ferreira Borges, 191 (patio), 1350-131 Lisbon (Campo de Ourique)

Opening hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 12 to 5pm or by appointment

With the two-person show “Whole Rivers of Light” featuring the works of Karishma D’Souza and Le Phi Long, O Gabinete de Madame Thao invites you to embark on a poetic journey through hidden narratives embedded in cultural landscapes and reflect on how they have shaped generations of people inhabiting them.
The exhibition brings together Long’s investigative exploration of the floating community of Kampong Luong on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake through sketches and a video of an on-site intervention, and Karishma’s intimate and metaphorically vibrant works on paper and canvas, that are memory-holders of family and texts, creating a dialogue between their distinct perspectives. Poetically unfolding collective and personal stories, both artists engage in a conversation that reveals intricate layers of meaning in landscapes.

Karishma D’Souza is a visual artist of Goan Indian origin, based in Lisbon.
Her recent solo exhibitions include ‘Can’t See the Forest’, Xippas Galerie, Geneva (2023), “Ocean in Another”, Oceans as Archives Conference, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam (2022), ‘Invocation’, Xippas Galerie, Paris (2020), “Midway mark”, Baronian-Xippas Galerie, Bruxelles (2019), and “History Routes”, Lisboa Open Studios, Atelier Concorde, Lisboa (2018). Group exhibitions include “Divination livestream/left no written account”, duo exhibition with Zoe Breszny, KAJE, New York (2024) “Endless State”, Skowhegan Alliance (2020); “Distance”, curated by Betsy Alwin and Steve Locke, Dorsky Gallery, New York (2019); “The Scape and the Scope”, curated by Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai (2016), “New Dawn”, curated by Leidy Churchman, Silberkuppe, Berlin (2014), and “Incredible Travel Experiences”, Central Museum (CBK), Drenthe (2014).
She was a resident artist at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam (2012-13) and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine (2017). She has a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Goa College of Art, and a master’s degree in printmaking from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S.University, Vadodara, Gujarat.
Her work is in the collection of the Centre National des Artes Plastiques (CNAP), Paris, France; the Chadha Art Collection (KRC), the Netherlands; and the Utrecht Centraal Museum, the Netherlands.
She is a Goa Government Scholar (2013), Ministry of Education, Government of Goa; was awarded the Inlaks Fine Arts Award 2011, and the Inlaks Take-Off Grants 2012 and 2013. In 2010, D’Souza was a visiting teacher in lithography, for the bachelor’s of visual arts program, Department of Printmaking, Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S.University, Vadodara, and the coordinator of the residency ‘Print workshop’, at the Uttarayan Art Center, Jaspur, Vadodara. In 2015-2017 she began and taught an art education program, at the Don Bosco Primary School, Odxel, Goa.

Le Phi Long (b. 1988, Vietnam) graduated from the Hue University of Fine Arts in 2012 with a major in Interior Design. His practice includes paintings, site-specific installation and conceptual objects, often based on his study of the historical and geographical origins of humans, and the effects of cultural shifts and collective pressure on the formation of a generation. Since 2016, Long has been focusing on the Dong Duong Lang Du project, examining French Indochina archives (from late 19th to the early 20th century) to dive deeper into the issue of generation transmission in Vietnam.
Le Phi Long’s solo exhibitions include “Leisure”, Vin Gallery, HCMC, 2024 and “Land of Leisure”, Manzi Art Space, Hanoi, 2019. Both exhibitions included works that are extensions of the Dong Duong Lang Du project that began in 2016. Le Phi Long has also held solo exhibitions “All Animals Are Equal #2” at A. Farm Residency, HCMC, 2020 and Manzi Art Space, Hanoi, 2020; and “Sac – Sa”t, Sao La, HCMC, 2015. His group exhibitions and program participations across the UK, USA, France, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam include the Korat Biennale for Public Art, Korat, Thailand, 2019; “Map 2018 | Visible & Invisible”, Heritage Space, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2018; “Foliage II”, Vincom Center for Contemporary Art (VCCA), Hanoi, Vietnam, 2018; “Failed Not”, Wedeman Gallery, Newton, USA, 2017; “Bất – Phân Thâ”n, Nha San Collective, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2015; Artist Fair Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, 2015; “Body Bouque”t, Welch Gallery, Atlanta, USA, 2015; “Mind, Flesh, Matter”, Sàn Art, HCMC, Vietnam, 2014; “Green People and the City”, Charlie Duttion Gallery, London, UK, 2013; and “Piece of Life”, Institut Français, Hue, Vietnam, 2010.

O Gabinete de Madame Thao
Created in 2021 by French-Vietnamese artist Sandrine Llouquet, O Gabinete de Madame Thao (OGMT) is a multi-faceted art space showcasing artworks by international and local artists. As both a community project and a full-fledged artwork examining the place of art and its contribution to society, OGMT aims at weaving a tapestry of connections and perspectives through art while providing a platform for talented contemporary artists.

Since May 2024, O Gabinete de Madame Thao has relocated to Campo de Ourique. This transition signifies a renewed focus on the art space’s role as a community project and art center. The project aims to redefine traditional notions of art consumption by blurring the boundaries between conventional categories such as “art gallery,” “artist studio,” and “artist-run space.” Through exhibitions and artistic events, talks and workshops, OGMT serves as a platform connecting people of all ages, backgrounds, and origins—both local and international, visitors and artists alike—through art.