‘The Sardine Miracle – Memories and Mysteries of a National Icon’ is the theme of this exhibition aiming to “understand how the sardine, fragile and precious, serves as a muse for art, the sea, and industry,” according to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos’ website.
To explore this narrative, the organizers began with the questions, “How did the sardine become a symbol of Portugal and, in particular, the city of Lisbon?” and “What events, knowledge, and industries contributed to this phenomenon?”
“It also remains a political object whenever supply crises disrupt urban provisioning or the canned goods industry, where it holds a world-leading position. However, the sardine is a common good, especially for maritime communities for whom it represents about half of the fishing value,” they add.
This exhibition, open until December 30th, will reveal “the many lives of the sardine from antiquity to the present day, both real and imagined, embraced by both popular and scholarly culture, not to mention advertising, which exploited all of its qualities,” notes the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, which is organizing the exhibition alongside Lisbon Cultura – Empresa de Gestão de Equipamentos e Animação Cultural (EGEAC).
The Padrão dos Descobrimentos will also host parallel family-oriented activities, including the project ‘A sardine among sharks’, a storytelling session highlighting the importance of individual uniqueness and collective strength on June 1st, and ‘There are many sardines!’, which invites parents and children to imagine and create a sardine advertisement poster using various types of drawings on June 29th.
