The non-profit Arte Institute, established in 2011, is committed to promoting and making contemporary Portuguese culture known throughout the world in all its areas, building intercultural dialogues, generating new areas of creation and reflection.

The Arte Box project, analysed in this piece, expresses that intention to foster and promote, coupled with an understanding that the way we exhibit strongly influence the public’s involvement and commitment to the arts. Aligned with this belief, Arte Box is displaying works by contemporary Portuguese artists at three airports: Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon; Dulles International Airport in Washington; and Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro. These efforts to internationalise Portuguese contemporary art were combined with the opportunity to challenge four Portuguese cities to show works by local artists. These are Leiria, Alcobaça, Nazaré and Cascais. During this phase of the project, discussed here, Leiria’s BAG – Banco das Artes Galeria also opted to invite artists from the other three municipalities, giving this project a new face: triggering an internal dialogue, from a national and, of course, inter-municipal standpoint. Continuing a journey that started at the world’s airports and ended in Leiria, as we can read on the walls of the exhibition room.

Ana Ventura Miranda, Arte Institute’s director, curated the exhibition Arte Box in the BAG, featuring the work of 25 Portuguese artists. According to her, “the driving force behind this exhibition is contemporaneity in all its flavours. From photography to clay; from cork to paint; from stone to canvas: the plurality of creativity is where today’s national cultural identity is forged.”

Painting, sculpture, drawing, photography and installation are the techniques in this exhibition. The different backgrounds and mythologies of the artists on display are striking, but we can still perceive two major clusters. If some operate around the idea of depicting the visible, grasping a certain essence of reality (in this regard, I would single out Sílvia Patrício’s Desafio, where the look of the depicted character takes on a sculptural feel in contact with the viewer – this may be the most political piece in the whole exhibition), others adopt more conceptual perspectives, exploring the notions of de-contextualisation and spatiality, as in Luís Plácido Costa’s 4 áreas de um outro lugar. Art brut also finds its footing, with works that are somewhat detached from contemporary art’s usual signposts. I would like to emphasise Artur Pinto’s Retratos da minha amiga.

Cascais City Hall invited CERCICA – Cooperative for Education, Rehabilitation and Training for Inclusion in Cascais, which has been carrying out its artistic endeavours since 1976 through its Plastic Arts Workshop, aimed specifically at plastic expression, working with children and young people with intellectual disabilities and impairment. This exhibition includes works by Artur Pinto, Osvaldo Miel, Bernardo Mendes, José Jorge Monteiro and Helder Rodrigues. Mónica Capucho and Ana Sério, who live and work in Cascais, were invited by the Arte Institute.

Alcobaça City Hall opted to show works by Carolina Correia, Cheila Peças, José Aurélio, Gabriel & Gilberto Colaço, Thierry Ferreira and Luís Plácido Costa.

Nazaré City Hall chose to display Ricardo Bravo’s work, easily connoted with the sea and the renowned waves of the region where the artist comes from.

Leiria, the host municipality, following what has been the region’s plan to increasingly invest in contemporary art, exhibited works by José Varatojo, Abílio Febra, Mário Lopes, Pedro da Fonseca, Rita Gaspar Vieira and Sílvia Patrício.

Finally, besides the municipalities invited by the Arte Institute, the Millenium BCP Foundation and the “Era Uma Vez” Association were also invited to submit other artists. The former chose to present two serigraphs, one by Menez and one by Maluda, while the latter decided to show a work by the artist Joana Santos.

Alongside a work that is sure to expand and take this project to the next level, the Arte Box in the BAG exhibition can be visited at BAG – Banco das Artes Galeria, in Leiria, until February 18, 2024.