The person who carries out the analysis is the artistic director of the cultural facility, responsible for the space that, in the Aveiro district and in the Porto Metropolitan Area, houses the Treger Saint Silvestre collections, with 1,700 works of Art Brut, and Norlinda and José Lima, with 1,200 pieces of Contemporary Art, in addition to designing independent exhibitions and managing an educational service for the general and specialized public.
“It is still a young project, but a lot of work has already been completed on several fronts and the balance of this first decade shows a safe, solid and sustained evolution, which has allowed the CAO to assert itself not only on the national stage, but also to internationally, thanks to loans and alliances with accredited institutions from other countries,” stated Andreia Magalhães.
In charge of the house since 2016, this official argued that its “line of continuity” also contributed to the affirmation of the CAO, since the initial momentum of the institution did not fade over the years, but rather revealed a growing dynamic: between 2013 and In 2017, the global program generated 2,724 to 4,882 visitors per year and, from 2018 to September 2023, annual attendance was between 4,743 and 8,104 people.
Still in the context of demand, Andreia Magalhães regrets that, due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19, the CAO registered a drop in 2020 and 2021, but she is sure that the space will recover pre-pandemic levels, once in 2022 The house registered a total of 6,405 registrations and, only between January and September of this year, it already exceeded that number.
“This is a reflection of very ambitious projects such as the ‘Work Capital’ exhibition, which involved works of Contemporary Art that we have in storage and added pieces by around 50 artists invited to relate the visual arts with historical memory, social and political aspects from La Oliva itself,” stated the director of the CAO.
The “Fabrico Suspenso” exhibition was also “a milestone in these 10 years, as it constitutes the first exhibition in Portugal dedicated to the independent production of the R2 office, specialized in graphic identity and editorial design for cultural institutions and museums in several countries.” .
Regarding Oliva’s presence abroad, Andreia Magalhães highlighted the collaboration with the Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis, which until November has an exhibition in Porto with portraits of Brut Art from the São João da Madeira collection, and also highlights the growing number of loans to foreign entities, such as those that took works from the same fund to the Gugging Museum, in Austria, and the Prada Foundation, in Italy.
The head of the CAO highlighted, in fact, that “the Treger Saint Silvestre Collection is very unique and differentiates Oliva, generating an interest that enhances the relationship of the house with foreign entities” without works from that universe.
In addition to the loan of “500 to 600 works per year,” Oliva thus ensures “six to seven internal exhibitions” every 12 months and an equal number of exhibitions designed for external entities from the private collections that constitute “the basis” of the institution.
All this work has been carried out with “a small team”, of six people, and a budget that the director of the CAO also considers “modest”.
The City Council of São João da Madeira could not indicate complete figures for the 10 years of activity of the structure, but affirms that, since 2018, the municipality’s investment “in CAO programming exceeded half a million euros”, specifically 513,300 euros, a sum that does not cover the costs of operation and maintenance of the space nor the funds of the General Directorate of the Arts for the supported exhibitions.
“We need to continue raising other financing, also at the European level, and develop the network of partners in Portugal, because this is decisive for the project to continue growing,” said Andreia Magalhães, who also has the ambition of creating “a collection owned” by Oliva, independent of the private works that are in the custody – but not possession – of the Municipality.
The director of the CAO says she is also receptive to co-creations in various artistic fields, “in a spirit of resilience that encourages the design of autonomous, original and differentiating content.”
For this reason, Andreia Magalhães considers the recent creation of the Portuguese Network of Contemporary Art to be positive, which represents “a great step” towards the valorization of this specific segment, taking into account “the tendency of the State to favor the performing arts to the detriment of performing Arts”. the visual arts, which have always had less support” despite their “determining role in the cultural formation of any society.”
Source: Observadora
