Fábio Colaço Portugal, b. 1995
Wall plinth, 5 x 15 x 15 cm.
“Flooded Europe” (2025) is a work that comes
from the logic of ready-made, consisting of a simple yet powerful arrangement:
a glass full of water (to the limit) with a one-euro coin resting at its
bottom. This minimal composition encapsulates a profound critique of the
European project, exposing its fractures, contradictions and constant, often
invisible, tensions. The glass, transparent and fragile, becomes a metaphor for
the lack of clarity in European politics, where ideological divisions, economic
disparities and unresolved crises remain concealed beneath an apparent unity.
The coin, partially obscured by the water, evokes a sense of drowning, an
economy weighed down by its own structures, a currency burdened by inequities
between nations and a political system sinking under the weight of indecision. This
piece addresses the rise of Eurocentrism, the persistence of financial
imbalances and the paralysis of EU governance. It speaks to a continent flooded
with fallacies, uncertainties and corruption. Its stillness invites
contemplation and reflection on whether Europe will remain afloat or succumb to
the forces it has created.