Católica and Serralves launch "Mãos sobre a Cidade"
In the year that marks the 50th anniversary of the 25 April Revolution, the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) and the Serralves Foundation are inaugurating the exhibition "Hands on the City: Artistic Investigations in the Urban Environment". An exhibition that brings together national and international artists, designed for UCP's four campuses, and which investigates the processes surrounding life in the city.
Inaugurated on 23 January at the Amélia de Mello Foundation Gallery at Católica's headquarters in Lisbon, the exhibition "looks at the relationship between art, citizenship and democracy", explains Isabel Capeloa Gil, UCP's President.
Comprising works from the Serralves Collection from the 1960s to the present day, including drawing, collage, sculpture, photography, street posters, sound and video pieces, the exhibition centres on the work of artists who explore different aspects of this complex reality, portraying and intervening in the street.
Hands on the City is the second exhibition organised as part of the partnership between Serralves and Católica. "It has been very gratifying for Serralves to be able to bring this relationship with the Catholic University closer together," says Ana Pinho, Chairman of the Foundation's Board of Directors, who describes this exhibition as a "new and enriching experience", as it is being held on all four UCP campuses.
Divided into Lisbon, Braga, Viseu and Porto, four different urban centres where Católica is present, the exhibition takes these territories and their different characteristics as its starting point. The academic community in these four locations thus has access to different parts of a single exhibition. Art therefore reaches more and different audiences.
Defending "the democratisation of Portuguese access to contemporary art", the Minister of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, praised the initiative of Serralves and Católica, emphasising the importance of "two institutions mobilising to show art and take it to the country".
The President of UCP also reiterated the country's need to "preserve the heritage of the past, give artists the chance to develop their artistic activity and also create and develop audiences".
Mãos sobre a cidade is on show at the Amélia de Mello Foundation Gallery at the UCP headquarters in Lisbon and can be visited every working day from 14h00 to 17h00.
The exhibition is open to the university community and the general public, ensuring free and inclusive access to culture and knowledge.