During her residency at PADA (Bolsa Barreiro), Alëna Koleso developed a project based on her experience of obtaining a Portuguese tax number (NIF) at the former Finanças office in Barreiro. The process began by queuing outside the office with seven other undocumented people for eight hours before it opened, just to secure one of the eight tickets issued per day. That night became both an illustration of migration politics in Portugal and the beginning of Koleso’s longer undocumented stay — though always in good company.

The initial idea was to build eight benches for people to sleep on while waiting in line. However, after the office relocated to Forum Barreiro (Barra Shopping) in February 2025, the plan became harder to realise. Still, the habit of searching for potential “bench” materials around Barreiro’s industrial park unintentionally shaped the project’s final form. The main series of drawings was made on the backs of blue boards found in a rubbish container — materials believed to have come from the demolished Finanças office.

The drawings began with footprints left by demolition workers. Their texture reminded Koleso of ink, and she extended their lines, echoing the movement in front of the former Finanças square and beyond. This literal connection to stepping and remaining on the ground also led her towards more transparent materials, including a discarded television screen used to trace the floor of her studio.

The resulting installation reflects on waiting as one of the least visible dimensions of bureaucracy: a system that claims transparency while remaining distorted and exclusive. Materials discarded through the disappearance of the former office are reused to trace the bodies, movements, and time spent around it.

Madrugada para oito was first presented in the group exhibition O Corpo que se Desgasta, curated by Frederico Vicente at PADA Studios, and later developed into the solo exhibition Madrugada para oito, curated by Villa Karpatia at mais uno +1, Picoas metro station.

Works in the project: Madrugada para Oito #1–5 — found materials, ink, oil pastel; Traços de Pegadas — HD  video, 8'8", recorded by Daniel Miranda Silva, edited by Alëna Koleso; found materials, broken TV screen, marker
Medium: Found materials, drawing, video, sound
Exhibitions: O Corpo que se Desgasta, PADA, 2025; Madrugada para oito, mais uno +1, 2026
Photography: Samuel Duarte, Villa Karpatia
Year: 2025

O Corpo que se Desgasta – PADA, Bolsa Barreiro
Traços de Pegadas – video