Anabela Veloso: Multidisciplinary Contemporary Art and Performance

Anabela Veloso is a multidisciplinary artist born in Portugal and currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her creative practice is deeply rooted in the exploration of how relationships—ranging from kinship and friendship to religious communities and place-based connectedness—shape the social and political landscape. Holding an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under the School of Conceptual and Contextual Practices, and a BFA from the Oporto Faculty of Fine Arts, Anabela Veloso combines academic research with experimental artistic languages. Her work often manifests as installations, videos, performances, and participatory formats that deconstruct power symbols and historical narratives. One notable focus of her research is the Estado Novo regime in Portugal, where she investigates how folklore and rural aesthetics were utilized to build a national identity. This is exemplified in projects like Crafting a Nation, which traces the transformation of the Barcelos Rooster into a nationalist emblem. Other significant works include Armandina Ferreira, a tribute to her grandmother’s life under dictatorship, and the multimedia project três bichos-da-traça, which explores the legacy of her family's knitwear factory. Anabela Veloso has exhibited extensively across Europe, including venues such as Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Thorvaldsens Museum, the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Tanzquartier Wien. Her practice consistently invites the audience into a space of collective speculation, dialogue, and critical listening, using subjective figures to amplify community practices and individual voices within a broader historical context.