The V Gaia International Art Biennial, which starts this Saturday, April 8 in Vila Nova de Gaia and has Africa as the guest continent, includes twenty exhibitions that bring together more than 300 artists from various countries.
The guest continent of this edition is represented in the group exhibition Projecto Manoueuvre, curated by Jorge Salgueiro, which brings together works by artists such as Alberto Chissano, Gonçalo Mabunda, Kheto Lualuali, Lulu Maparangue, Malangatana, Mapfara, Nino Trindade, Reinata Sadimba, Samuel Muankongue and Simbraz.
“In a dedicated pavilion, the Gaia International Art Biennial hosts an exhibition of different perspectives that mark the artistic paths of the continent of initiation in human history, where it integrates painting and sculpture ‘ateliers’ that permanently bring together Portuguese artists and Africans to the joint creation of new expressions”, highlighted the organization.
One year after the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, the Biennial presents the exhibition “Drawings from jail”, which brings together 18 works made between 1951 and 1959 by the historic leader of the PCP Álvaro Cunhal “in the prisons of the Penitentiary of Lisbon, where he spent seven years in strict isolation, and the Peniche Fort, from which he escaped on January 3, 1960.
The program also includes the collective exhibition of painting, sculpture and drawing “Revolution – 50 years, 50 artists”, curated by Ilda Figueiredo, which includes works by Rui Ferro, Norberto Jorge, Henrique do Vale, Isabel Lhano, Fernanda Vilas Boas, Diogo Goês and Manuela Bronze, among others.
The Manicómio project, “a pioneer in the promotion of works by artists experiencing mental illness”, is also present at the biennial with the collective exhibition “From the waist up I am sad and from there to the beach below”, which includes works by Cláudia R Sampaio, Joana Ramalho and Micaela Fikoff, “to show different perspectives on reality.”
Among the 20 exhibitions that make up the biennial, “more than half are individual ones signed by renowned artists”, including Nazaré Álvares, Avelino Rocha, Cristina Ataíde, Eurico Gonçalves, Isabel Cabral and Rodrigo Cabral.
In the exhibition dedicated to the invited artists, curated by Agostinho Santos, works by Albuquerque Mendes, Nadir Afonso, Valter Hugo Mãe, Paulo Neves, Luzia Lage, Balbina Mendes, Dalila D’Alte or António Macedo, among others, are presented.
In this edition, the International Competition ended with a collective exhibition of 38 works, “selected from more than 250 participants from various countries.”
In addition to Vila Nova de Gaia, where it takes place in the old Crestuma spinning mill, in Lever, the biennial will have poles in 14 other Portuguese towns: Alfândega da Fé, Amarante, Esposende, Gondomar, Lisbon, Mirandela, Oliveira do Hospital, Paços de Ferreira, Paredes, Paredes de Coura, Peso da Régua, Viana do Castelo, Vila Praia de Âncora and Funchal, as well as Ferrol, in Galicia.
The program also includes two exhibitions “developed in collaboration with the University of Porto, which materialize in the Biodiversity Gallery — Centro de Ciência Viva, where artists and scientists come together to showcase talent and welcome the school community. , and in the Faculty of Dentistry, where a group of artists approaches the facial structure from different angles”.
The V Gaia International Art Biennial runs until July 8.
Source: Observadora
