“The imagery in Braga’s installation Carousel refers to ‘La Boum’, a fake festival initially organised as a prank, but that ran completely out of hand when thousands of people turned up at the address. The illegal gathering on April 1st, 2021 in Brussels’ Bois de la Cambre eventually resulted in clashes with the police. Several images of this event show partygoers being knocked over by policemen on horseback. Although nowadays the image of a carousel is primarily associated with a type of amusement ride, the modern carousel emerged from cavalry traditions and horsemen combat preparation exercises. Braga‘s Carousel plays with various perceptions of horses within the city landscape and reflects on power relations between the police and the public during mass gatherings. ” (Ekaterina Vorontsova

Pictures by @pramoediya and Pauline Pastry