Without doubt, the most interesting thing in Portugal’s biggest art gallery, the National Museum of Ancient Art or the ‘Janelas Verdes’ Museum as it’s popularly known, is the interesting selection of Renaissance paintings. And it’s for both quality and quantity. The visitor who goes inside the door on the yellow façade of this old Portugues palace will find that the museum is, roughly, divided in two clearly differentiated areas: on one hand the national artists paintings and, on the other, the work of European artists. Both in one and the other the works from the Renaissance literally shine.

The traveller shouldn’t expect to find great works with heroic themes or a wide range of portraits of royalty. What the National Museum of Ancient Art holds is quite different, because the small and medium panels of purely religious themes are those that stand out, which are executed with a spectacular colouring (reds, blues, greens or yellows) and with that delicate stroke which characterizes the work of this period of time. And this has a pretty simple explanation because, this art gallery, contrary to other big European museums (like the Louvre or El Prado) isn’t made up with collections which come from royal funds but with works which were kept in monasteries and churches. The Portuguese confiscation which took place in 1834, took every single possession from the religious orders (including works of art) and, with this particular legacy, they made a large museum which, at the end of the 19th century, it separated into three different entities: the National Archeological Museum, the National Museum of Ancient Art and the Contemporary Art Museum. They’re all located in Lisbon.

In order not to saturate the eye sight, it’s recommended for the visitor to do, at least, two visits. With the first one he can enjoy the religious panels which belonged to the Portuguese school, among which the enormous panels of ‘Saint Vincent de Fora’ stand out, which were made by Nuno Gonçalves, an artist who also carried out the disturbing ‘Saint Vincent tied up to a column’. But if there’s a work in the Portuguese school which is worth looking at for more than ten minutes that is, without doubt, the ‘Ecce Homo’, which was made in the mid 15th century by an anonymous artist. The panel represents Christ with his hands tied and his head covered by a cloth, in an unconventional image of the sacrifice of Jesus.

If we’ve booked the second day to enjoy the panels of the European school, we can choose between the works of the predecessor of surrealism, Hyeronimus Jeroen van Aeken, known in the art world as El Bosco, representing a triptych  on the ‘Temptations of Saint Anthony’, a spectacular panel of the scholar ‘Saint Jerome’ from the hand of the German artist Durer, reminding us of our mortality, ‘The Miracle of Saint Eusebius of Cremona’ by Rafael Sanzio or the ‘Saint Augustine’ by Piero della Francesca.

The curious visitor that goes inside the National Museum of Ancient Art can also not take any notice of these recommendations and prefer to wander around the different rooms of the art gallery without a fix direction, allowing himself to be trapped, randomly, by any of these magnificent ancient panels.

More information on the official website: http://www.mnarteantiga-ipmuseus.pt/

Candela Vizcaíno

Remember to book one of the apartments in Lisbon to be able to see the Portuguese capital calmly, because you’ll need a few days to do so.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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The Chiado National Contemporary Art Museum of Lisbon presents in its art video programme the exhibition Poetic things that are political until August 21st. The exhibition which has been commissioned by Miguel Amado is a co-production between the Chiado Museum and Duplacena-Fuso.

The art exhibition with explicit political meaning takes on the investigation of different video works that take on, in a political way, the socio-political conflicts of globalization and post-colonialism in different parts of the world. With that aim it chooses a series of art videos that haven’t been exhibited in any Portuguese museum.

The moving image (video) means an ideal registration to capture reality with its complexities, building a testimony of every day and social lifestyle transformations. Thanks to this capacity of capturing the symbolic dimension of reality and building new territories of sensibility exploring frictional ways, it has transformed into an ideal support to embody works of art that, in any other day, would go without registering.

That’s why the artists such as Katarina Zdjelar from Serbia, the Americans Chelsea Knight and Austin Shull, Daniel Jewesbury from Northern Iteland, Cao Fei from China, Nazito Mosquito de Bofa from Angola, Nira Pereg from Israel and Rita Sobral from Portugal, have made use of the video to produce the works that are shown in this exhibition.

Conceptual artist Katarina Zdjelar explores the notions of identity, authority and community through narratives of memory, where it includes book texts and a special work on language, as notion of change. In the work which is exhibited, Zdjelar takes an Italian community that look to transform its reality to capture the poetics of collective and individual transformation. In 2009 she participated in the Serbian Pavillion in Venice’s Biennale.

The Chinese artist Cao Fei expresses the particular sensitivity and ancestral aesthetics that Sabbath has in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem. His work that took place in 2008 is fundamentally focused on exploring the Jewish culture and religion, going in depth in the complex relations that it has with politics and the armed conflict which is going on in the region. Sabbath is the story of a barricade that takes place every Friday in a Jerusalem neighbourhood to stop the entry of intruders to the sanctity of the Sabbath day.

The rest of the works refer to different political conflicts that have made up part of local cultures, such as the catholic-protestant conflict in Ireland and the colonial influence between Africans and Europeans, or the confinement phenomenon in the United States.

For more information: http://www.museudochiado-ipmuseus.pt/en/node/1059

Nancy Guzman

A great exhibition that makes us think about the poetics of politics in art is what the Chiado Museum offers. So, if you’re interested in politics and art and you’re in one of our apartments in Lisbon spending a few enjoyable summer days, this exhibition is a good prospect.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Other Perspectives: Works in Focus will be on at Lisbon’s Chiado Museum until the 18th December. The show aims to place a global focus on the collection at the National Museum of Contemporary Art – Museum Chiado – whilst also offering a panoramic view of Portuguese art, spanning chronologically from Romanticism (1850-1880) right up to the contemporary period of the 21st century.

The exhibition, commissioned by Elena Barranha and Rui Afonso Santos, was put together by selected cultural figures – art historians, curators and artists – who were invited to choose an artwork from the collection to represent the different periods.

The show will be open to the public on the 18th of every month until this December. Each piece is accompanied by a text, and brief description of the artist, and the work. The content of the exhibition will also be reproduced in a catalogue, which will include extra images and texts from the historians, explaining their choices in more detail, forming a comprehensive look back at Portuguese art of the last two centuries.

The Chiado Museum was founded by the Portuguese government on 26th May 1911, and grew as a division of the old National Museum of Fine Art – a part of the National Museum of Ancient Art in the ancient San Francisco convent which was later remodeled by Modernist Jean Michel Willmotte. The early pieces at the Other Perspectives exhibition, which date from 1850, were lent by the National Museum of Ancient Art.

The museum holds around 5,000 pieces of art – paintings, sculptures, design objects and photographs which span the Romantic, Naturalist, Neorealism, Surrealism and Abstract eras of Portuguese art.

The collection is the product of a desire to place a spotlight on the history of vanguard art – and to bring together more traditional styles whilst also taking a critical look at contemporary Portuguese art.

The collection starts with Romanticism, in the middle of the 19th century, with artists such as Tomás de la Anunciación and Cristino da Silva – going on to Naturalism, represented by artists such as Miguel Ángel Lupi and Columbano Bordallo Pinheiro. With the turn of the century comes the symbolism of Antonio Sousa López, and the expressionism of Mario Eloy. Political and social critique has always been present in the Portuguese art movements, and was particularly prevalent during the Surrealism and Abstract eras around the 1940s. But it was the 1960s which saw the arrival of the vanguard, with the Portuguese interpretation of Pop Art, and the various different styles which have marked the present period.

For more information http://www.museudochiado-ipmuseus.pt/en/node/787

Nancy Guzman

Other Perspective is an interesting new exhibition which traces the history and evolution of Portuguese art. If you happen to be in Lisbon don’t miss out on this show, on until December 2011. And what better way to make the most of the charm of the city than renting Lisbon accommodation .

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Translated by: Poppy
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It’s a trend increasingly common for companies and banks to devote a portion of their profits to the support of projects known as “social responsibility”, ie financial support to arts and culture in the broadest sense. This new trend, motivated by a need for companies to show their active involvement in the territory where they conduct their business, has arrived in Portugal in the forms of innovative cultural centre and very active in the territory, which has led – from its beginnings – to a real explosion of art in the capital city.

It is called Culturgest and is undoubtedly one of the most interesting artistic projects of Lisbon’s artistic world. This is a huge cultural centre that offers a long series of activities all year round for adults and children, art professionals or amateurs who want to simply attend shows or events. Culturgest is a foundation created by the Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Portugal’s public bank, with the aim of supporting contemporary art in all its different manifestations. Cultural and scientific events are organized and presented devoted to the dance, theater, music, opera, new circus, cinema… There are regular exhibitions of visual art as well as an intensive educational program of seminars, conferences and training courses.

Culturgest is located in the headquarters building at Caixa Geral de Depósitos, at Rua Arco do Cego, Floor 1, and its official website, where you can find the annual program of exhibitions and activities is www.culturgest.pt.

Moreover, this cultural centre offers other services such as room hire, film projections, and tutorials. It has a permanent art gallery which displays works of plastic arts mainly from the twentieth century, and other spaces were temporary exhibitions are opened- often monthly. Culturgest also has a bookstore known as “Ler Devagar”, where there are often literary talks and readings.

Among the artists who presented their works in the Culturgest spaces there are Chris Marker, Zul Zelub, Eddie Prevost, Luis Tinoco, Amanda Duarte, Mona Hatoum, Asier Mendizabal and Nora Aslan, and a long list of “emerging” international and Portuguese artists, who present their work in group shows.

Another space connected with the Culturgest is Chiado 8 Contemporary Art, opened in January 2002. This is a project of the World Fidelidade insurance company which, taking advantage of the strategic position of one of its buildings, decided to participate in the Chiado rehabilitation initiatives through the creation of an area of dissemination of contemporary art and its programming is in charge of Culturgest since March 2006. During the first three years the curator in charge of this centre was Ricardo Nicolau, while today (until 2012) exposures are curated by Bruno Marchand. Chiado 8 Contemporary Art is located at Largo do Chiado, No. 8.

menschauser

If you wish to know these interesting spaces of the Portuguese capital city, we suggest you to rent apartments in Lisbon and walk the city by taking part in its projects and cultural activities.

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Translated by: salome antigone
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Casa do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa – Fado Museum
Museu do Fado

Largo do Chafariz de Dentro, N.º 1
1100-139 Lisboa
tel +351 218 823 470
fax +351 218 823 478
Geral – museudofado@egeac.pt
Website: http://www.museudofado.egeac.pt/

Museu da Cidade – Lisbon Museum

Campo Grande, 245, 1700-091 Lisbon
Tel. +351 217 513 200
museudacidade@cm-lisboa.pt
Website: http://www.museudacidade.pt

Museu do Design – Design Museum

R. Augusta, 24
1100-053 Lisbon
Tel. + 351 218886117
Fax. + 351 218886124
mude@cm-lisboa.pt
mudemuseum@gmail.com
http://www.mude.pt/

Museu Teatro Romano National Roman Theater Museum

Estrada do Lumiar, 10
1600-495 LISBOA
Tel : 00 351 21756 74 10/19
Fax : 00 351 21 757 57 14
Email : mnteatro@ipmuseus.pt
http://www.museudoteatro-ipmuseus.pt/

Museu do Chiado National Museum of Contemporary Art

Museu do Chiado
Rua Serpa Pinto, 4
1200-444 Lisbon
Tel.: (00351) 213 432 148
Fax.: (00351) 213 432 151
E-mail (general): mnac-museudochiado@imc-ip.pt
http://www.museudochiado-ipmuseus.pt/en

Museu Colecção Berardo Cotemporary Art

Praça do Império
1449-003 Lisbon
T. (+351) 213 612 878
F. (+351) 213 612 570
E. museuberardo@museuberardo.pt
http://www.museuberardo.com/