TANT PER DALT COM PER BAIX. Oscar Holloway

A fisherman sitting on the sand at a beach drinks from an upturned porró, a traditional Catalan wine pitcher. The wine flows from the large spout, normally used to fill it. The photograph, preserved in the Arxiu d’Etnografia i Folklore de Catalunya, precisely records this unconventional way of drinking: “from above” or “from below.” Starting from this image, Oscar Holloway unfolds a constellation of photographs in which the porró appears as a familiar yet strangely unfamiliar object. Turning the vessel upside down transforms disorder into a form of affirmation through celebration, understood as a form of collective resistance. It disrupts hierarchies and stands in opposition to the rigidity of the individual, productive body associated with the hygienic glass or wine glass.

Bringing together archival material and images collected by the artist, TANT PER DALT COM PER BAIX (as above so below) traces a small history of this practical and ubiquitous object, reclaiming indiscipline, spontaneity, and community. It is a history made up of small gestures, ingenuity, and a certain joy in disorder. The title refers literally to the ethnographic notes of Tomás Carreras y Artau, but seeks to take this ambiguity beyond the rigour of classification, making room for error, inexperience, and revelry, while pointing to the festive and communal nature of drinking in Catalan popular culture.

Panoràmic Arxius.
In collaboration with the Arxiu d’Etnografia i Folklore de Catalunya.