The People’s Collection is an independent project initiated in 2014, in which Ana Mendes invited people originating from colonized/invaded countries to visit ethnographic museums around the world and reflect upon their identity on a post-colonial context. Afterwards, she visits the museum, photographs the objects and creates a collection of postcards that carry the name of the participant. The work has been developed in more than 30 museums worldwide, from Tokyo to New York, London and Paris.

Ana Mendes is a Portuguese visual artist and writer working and living in London and Stockholm. She studied writing for performance at Goldsmiths College London UK, video at Royal Institute of Art Stockholm, Sweden, and animation film at La Poudriere, Valence, France. Mendes creates works in video, performance, photography, video, text and installation to speak on subjects such as memory, language and identity. Her work is quite often described as poetic and minimalist.

Recent solo shows include: Chelsea College, Telephone Gallery, London, UK, 2019; Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria; Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria, 2017 and Linden Museum Stuttgart, Germany, 2017. Group shows include: Taoyuan International Award, Taoyuan Museum of Fine Art, Taoyuan, Taiwan, 2021; Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition, Denmark, 2021; Korean Cultural Centre NY, USA, 2021.