THE THRESHOLD TURN

We are excited to present an immersive experience during the Dokufest Film Festival with the booth "The Threshold Turn," curated by Leart Rama, featuring an exhibition by Mauro Ventura (Dj Saliva) and light therapy by Soma_Light_Therapy.

"The Threshold Turn" delves into the surreal threshold where boundaries blur and transitions unfold. The exhibition space, divided by Ventura's gate-like sculpture, offers two distinct yet interconnected experiences.

One side of the room features light therapy by Soma Light Therapy, inviting visitors to relax on a hotel room bed and experience a therapeutic journey of healing and rejuvenation. This serene environment provides a sense of calm and renewal, encouraging introspection and inner peace.

On the other side, Mauro’s gate sculpture, portal or a fence explores the dichotomy between representing a turning point after a clash and the transition to a new state of being.

"The Threshold Turn" serves as a metaphor for the passage through a threshold, embodying both opening and defending, division and connection. It invites us to contemplate the complexities of transition, the clash of dualities, and the potential for personal and collective transformation.

Mauro Ventura was born in Vila Nova de Famalicão, studied in Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade do Porto (2011) passing after by HFBK in Dresden (2014). In the city of Porto started projects like Arena Spa Superiora at Maus Hábitos - Espaço de Intervenção Cultural, moving it to Passos Manuel, originating the genesis of their work with rave culture, allowing Ventura's start through performative events with another local organization known as ACIDA, becoming associated to the iconography and aesthetics of Porto's queer nightlife, diving through art banners and poster culture. In 2018 moves to Berlin where painting, performative installations and visual identity development become priority.

Mauro's investigation asserts itself on the research of ancient languages that study the occult, proposing a hyperreality or a paralel video-game like melting pot for syncretism. This virtual realities indulge in ritualesque actions and ways of painting that question creations, with the aim to transform how we can perceive social structures. At the moment they work together with the organization and label Herrensauna participating in the group art curation and performing as a resident DJ as well.

In their practice we can find traces in the whole artistic ouvre from fabrics painted, garments, photographies and video art documentations to sculptures, graphics, candleholders and music production. By this means experimentally observing and developing a path in art rooted in provoking experiences that encapsulate time, always on the verge of showing the art behind the art.