The exhibition Ossa brings together the work developed by Isabel Carvalho during her residency at the association Pó de Vir a Ser. With the initial idea of situating Évora within a repertoire of the melopoeias of stonework, the artist created, in the rhythm of her own practice, a choir of small sculptures or beings: the Osseanes.

The poem is mineral, sung to the Serra de Ossa, that oceanic vestige of the region, made manifest in the veins and in the voice of each Osseane. The fable is material, taking shape in the choir—in the collective—which invokes water as a more-than-human common, whether in the Alentejo or in another multilocal bioregion. The melopoeia of the Osseanes is itself written as a score, also presented in the exhibition, bringing writing and publishing practices into the exhibition as one of the defining components of Isabel Carvalho’s work. Likewise, and in keeping with her practice over the years, the artist sought out other discourses and collaborative interventions with editor Gonçalo Sena, poet Nuno Marques, and the artistic guidance of Pedro Fazenda and Mariana Mata-Passos throughout her residency.

The exhibition Ossa is presented as part of the residency programme The Condition of the Field. Pó de Vir a Ser is a cultural organisation funded by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts and the Municipality of Évora. It is also part of RPAC – the Portuguese Network of Contemporary Art.