Art Building Basement Galleries
presents
YOU: Through the Valley of Shadows
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The University of Washington’s Art Building Basement Galleries presents YOU: Through the Valley of Shadows, an international group exhibition on view October 7–10, 2026. Bringing together five artists—Gabriel Siams (Brazil/Portugal), Aura (Portugal), Tivon Rice (United States), Paulo Mendes (Portugal), and Daniel Padrino (Venezuela/Portugal)—the exhibition critically examines the ideological foundations of Portugal’s twentieth-century Catholicism-based dictatorship, Estado Novo (1933–1974).
Curated by Nikoloz Nadirashvili (Georgia/United States), the exhibition is structured around the regime’s so-called “Great Certainties,” articulated by António de Oliveira Salazar in a 1937 public address:
“To spirits torn by the doubt and negativism of the age, we seek to restore the solace of the great certainties. We do not discuss God and virtue; we do not discuss the Fatherland and its history; we do not discuss Authority and its prestige; we do not discuss the Family and its morality; we do not discuss the glory and duty of Labor.”
These certainties—God, Fatherland, Authority, Family, and Labor—served as the ideological backbone of Estado Novo and provide the conceptual framework through which the participating artists examine both the historical regime and the contemporary resurgence of authoritarian politics.
Through sculpture, installation, video, photography, and sound, each artist approaches one or more of these “Great Certainties” from a distinct perspective. Gabriel Siams investigates the relationship between religious authority, sexuality, and fear, exposing how sacred narratives can become instruments of exclusion while simultaneously offering possibilities for personal liberation. Aura confronts the intertwined taboos of sexuality and death, inviting viewers to question the moral frameworks through which bodies, intimacy, and mortality have historically been regulated. Paulo Mendes presents two installations that examine distinct pillars of the regime: one reflects on the symbolic figure of the Father, while the other revisits the history of labor struggles by transforming visitors into active participants in a reenactment of historical labor struggles. Daniel Padrino translates the colonial history of the Portuguese Empire into an immersive sonic environment, enabling visitors to experience both imperial domination and anti-colonial resistance through sound. Tivon Rice contributes a newly produced three-dimensional reconstruction of a monument to António de Oliveira Salazar, tracing its remarkable journey from colonial Mozambique to the present while exploring how digital technologies reshape the preservation and political afterlives of historical monuments.
The exhibition is open daily from October 7–10, 2:00–7:00 p.m. Curator-led tours will be offered each day at 2:00, 4:00, and 6:00 p.m. To reserve a place for curator-led tours, please contact nikoln2@uw.edu.
Venue: Art Building Basement Galleries (Galleries 09 & 10), University of Washington, 4000 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105
This project is supported by a grant from 4Culture. The exhibition has also been made possible through the generous support of the faculty and staff of the University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design.
Wednesday, Oct. 7 – Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026
Basement Galleries [009, 010]
