Ermelinda/Migas: Do passado só restam migalhas

Joana Mollet’s practice gives visual form to authentic stories, translating lived experience and collective memory into abstract paintings. Drawing from a personal archive of historical material and oral testimonies, her work explores the social, domestic and working lives of women in Portugal’s Alentejo region throughout the 20th century, revealing a world now largely disappeared. Ermelinda, whom Mollet knew in her eighties, was stooped from a lifetime of work, cooking daily over open coals on the floor. This painting evokes the traces left behind by women like her, and its title refers to the fragmented nature of the past. Working with these remnants, Mollet reassembles what endures—creating new work that sheds light on overlooked, simple and personal narratives that made up the fabric of women’s lives, connecting the essence of Alentejo to a wider audience. Joana Mollet’s work has been exhibited at Peter’s Garden, Casa Holstein, Sintra, (2024); Coastline, Community & Conservation, Bait Al Baranda Musuem, Muscat, (2024); Memories of the Wadi, Centre Fanco-Omanais, Muscat, (2024). She was nominated for The Sovereign Portuguese Art Prize in 2023 and 2024.