The installation Remember (what is missing) was commissioned by the MNHA from Marco Godinho as part of the 2017 European Month of Photography (Looking for the Clouds – Contemporary Photography in Times of Conflict, subtitled “Portraits under surveillance”).

A graduate of the National School of Art in Nancy, conceptual artist Marco Godinho has spent several years exploring sensitive issues such as exile, memory, geography and time. This reflection is nourished by his own experience in a multilingual and multicultural environment and influenced by literature and poetry. His works are created in situ, taking into account the economic and ecological impact of their production. They are an expression of his personal experience marked by multiculturalism.

Since 2006, Godinho has had several solo exhibitions and has taken part in numerous group exhibitions both in Luxembourg and abroad.

For the MNHA’s commission, the Luxembourg artist of Portuguese origin has developed a personal reflection around the notion of identity. The work was created from offcuts of ID photos from the Consulate General of Portugal in Luxembourg.

The work was first presented at the Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (Mudam) in 2014 in the form of a wallpaper on which these offcuts were printed. Godinho then further developed and refined the concept into a work that better suited the MNHA. The fragments of the photos are now displayed in a frame under glass, like extremely fragile objects such as insects or butterflies that must be protected. Godinho thus evokes the fragility of our plural identities.