Kingdom of Heaven [in english]
Text for Berlin 2006 exhibition
Claudia Saldanha Kingdom of Heaven was produced in the span of many years, from 2000 on. It was prompted by the death of a childhood friend of Marcia’s, whose family parted away from her belongings by giving them to her closest friends. Marcia chose a collection of small boxes found in the friend’s apartment, some of which were already familiar to her. Some others were completely unknown, like one made of aluminum with a star relief on top. In examining the boxes and their contents - button, combs, collars and rings - Marcia became aware of a new, unknown dimension of her friend’s personal life and personality.  |  | Paço Imperial, 2005 |
Afterwards, to her friend’s original collection, Marcia decided to add some of her own personal boxes. Small toy-birds (made in China) were added to the top of each box fixed with a thin metal chain. The artist explained once that “the two collections of boxes, the crowned birds with their shiny metal collars, propose together the migration of these objects to the realm of art”- or in other words to the “Kingdom of Heaven.”
This installation, with its delicate intensity, does not make its intentions immediately accessible, but at a first glance it makes us think of our own collections, our objects and memories, and the experiences encrypted therein.  | | Paço Imperial, 2005 |
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