The official opening of Lisbon’s new cultural venue is scheduled for 6:00 PM, with the presence of the city’s mayor, Carlos Moedas. The event will feature a performance by artist Luísa Cunha titled ‘Along the road when I was young’, as announced by the Empresa de Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural (EGEAC – Lisboa Cultura).
The new Espaço Coleção Arte Contemporânea – Lisboa Cultura, formerly known as Galeria da Avenida da Índia, is directed by Sara Antónia Matos and Pedro Faro, who oversee the EGEAC’s Municipal Galleries. It will launch with an exhibition curated by them, showcasing works in various media by artists such as Ana Jotta, Eduardo Batarda, Fernanda Fragateiro, and Paulo Brighenti, among others.
The venue will offer free admission from Tuesday to Sunday, between 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM, and from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM. It is part of a network of five venues under the Municipal Galleries, which includes Pavilhão Branco, Galeria da Boavista, Torreão Nascente da Cordoaria Nacional, and Galeria Quadrum.
The inaugural exhibition, titled ‘Who Where/Quem/Onde’, is the first in a series of temporary exhibits drawn from the city’s collection. It will feature art acquisitions made by the Lisbon City Council (CML) in 2024, alongside works purchased in previous years, according to EGEAC – Lisboa Cultura.
The purpose is “to showcase the breadth and conceptual and formal diversity of this contemporary art collection,” the curators noted a week ago in their announcement of the inaugural exhibition.
Organized around aesthetic affinities and spatial relationships, this exhibition is titled after Vasco Araújo’s work, ‘Who Where #1’ (2011), inspired by Samuel Beckett’s late play ‘What Where’ (1984). It aims to reveal the variety and coexistence of themes in Portuguese contemporary art, inviting visitors to engage directly with the works from the Contemporary Art Collection – Lisboa Cultura.
The exhibition, which runs until September 7, also features works by Inês d’Orey, Joana Escoval, Diana Policarpo, Isabel Cordovil, Belén Uriel, Carla Filipe, Daniel Schmidt, João Onofre, Dealmeida Esilva, Paulo Nozolino, Flávia Vieira, and Délio Jasse, among others.
The curators emphasized that “the array of works and artists presented affirms CML’s commitment to continue building and developing its collection, with the view of including other artists in the future and expanding the representation of those currently within it.”
They added that “prior to any exhibition, it is necessary to catalog, conserve, study, and organize the works/collections, a set of tasks often overlooked but essential, entrusted to institutions, here under the care of the Museu de Lisboa.”
In light of local, national, and global conflicts, the curators also underscored the crucial role of museums in creating spaces for public debate where differences can be bridged and connections across generational, geographical, and cultural divides can be forged.
