Hannah Santos’ artistic expression stems from an observation of, and deep curiosity for, the outer world and interconnectivity of all living-beings. Interested in media, sound and image; her body of work is inspired by ecofeminism and her select medium is film. Hannah’s practise is drawn to the key questions of existentialism but makes a point of never producing answers. The quest for truth is ongoing and the revelations of the journey will always surpass those of the destination.
STATEMENT: C I R E is an experimental collaboration between friends. It was developed after Cire got raped and I invited her to stay with me some days in Porto. We drank and celebrated life, danced the night out and filmed our small adventures. It then became obvious that our endeavours together were becoming an artistic process to deal with the trauma, the scarring which an assault leaves the victim with. The film explores Cire’s inner world, her strength and pain, the mixture of emotions that surface after. It is a journey to heal the soul, to rediscover the dignity and look back at all aggressors and hold them accountable for their actions. We stand in beauty and in this beauty we find strength.
This project was developed after my 2k20 summer rape. A lot of people asked me if it was a true story or if it was traumatic at all since I was dealing with it “so well” and talking about it with such impartiality. Answering these questions, yes, it happened and I can tell you that talking about trauma in social media is not as hard as having an intimate conversation in person. Transforming the trauma into something with an artistic expression is not the same as getting through the improvisation of personal interaction. We are hoping that this can help everyone who has been through any kind of trauma to expose it and not feel small. To talk about it and to overcome it.
