Leonor Antunes is the selected artist to present Portugal at the Venice Biennale, a name whose work is of the upmost importance and quality to understand, both in the conceptual, technical and aesthetic point of view.

a seam, a surface, a hinge, or a knot, a project developed in a partnership with the curator João Ribas, proposes a dialogue with Venice’s architectural heritage. Antunes reflects upon the works of Carlo Scarpa, Franco Albini and Franca Helga, as well as Savina Masieri and Egle Trincanato, and assembles at the Palazzo Giustinian Loli – headquarters of the Portuguese participation – a landscape of linear, geometric and organic forms which establish a bridge not only Portugal and Italy, but also Japan when the artist resorts to so-called Shakkei – the inclusion of background landscapes when projecting gardens.

The 58^th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, with its Chinese moto May You Live In Interesting Times, was curated by Ralph Rugoff and represents a departure from the way Portugal establishes its politics of representation in this event. Afterall, this is the first time that this participation comes out from a public competition, with the selected project made from an independent jury.

The pre-opening happens today, 9 May, and the exhibition is on from 11 May to 24 November this year.