A Liberdade da Imagem
— Design and Visual Communication in Portugal (1974-1986)
Organized around five exhibition sections and working with different contents, supports and media, the curatorial proposal for "A Liberdade da Imagem" (The Freedom of the Image) focused on the visual production emerging in Portugal between 1974 and 1986. The exhibition brought together around 500 works representing the avant-garde aesthetic production that marked years of profound political, cultural and social shifts in Portugal.
From Emília Nadal’s pop sculptures to Ana Hartherly’s decollages, João Abel Manta's political posters to José Brandão’s record covers, Salette Tavares’ visual poetry and Ernesto de Sousa's avant-garde projects, the exhibition provided a critical mapping of the confluence of a political revolution and a cultural revolution, affirming the freedom of the image.
The Utopia and Ideology section showcased a vast visual production of cultural, social and political content, associated with aesthetic or political avant-garde proposals. The April Posters section exhibited posters from the MFA’s Cultural Dynamization Campaigns which created an important iconography of the post-25 April period. The Situations, Performances, Interventions section brought together works, mostly by collective authors, developed within the framework of the avant-garde of the 70s. Moving Images showcased the importance of visual production in film or video, from spontaneous recordings to documentaries and documentary-based fiction. Finally, Design & Circumstance showcased a short history of Portuguese graphic design in the period, highlighting the process of institutionalization, the affirmation of new authorial languages, the adventure of affirming a design culture.
The exhibition Freedom of the Image. Design and Visual Communication in Portugal (1974-1986) was promoted by the Government of Portugal as part of the 40th Anniversary of the 25 April Commemorations and the 2014/15 Year of Design program. It was comissioned by Guta Moura Guedes, curated José Bártolo and produced by ESAD. It was shown in seven venues in Porto.
Créditos
Promoter
Governo de Portugal
Coordenation and Production
ESAD
Pelouro da Cultura da Câmara Municipal do Porto
Partners
Fundação de Serralves
Fundação Casa da Música
General Commissioner
Guta Moura Guedes
Curated by
José Bártolo
General Coordination
Sérgio Afonso
Scientific Commission
Armando Alves
Paulo Parra
Rui Bebiano
Graphic Design
Drop, João Faria
Exhibition Design
Miguel Vieira Baptista
Webdesign
Diogo Vilar
Video
Alexandre Jacinto
Michael Marcondes
Photography
Inês D’Orey
Executive Production
Departamento de Projeto e Comunicação da ESAD Matosinhos: Ana Medeiros, Ana Pinto, Carlos Rocha, Catarina Paixão, Eliana Gomes, Fernando Miranda, Filipe Pinto, Hugo Branco, José Castro, João Cruz, Inês Melo, Mafalda Martins, Margarida Antunes, Mariana Mattos, Mónica Couto, Nuno Pereira, Rute Carvalho, Soraia Santos; Pelouro da Cultura da Câmara Municipal do Porto: Ana Bárbara Barros, Ana Clara Silva, Daniela Ferreira, Maria Augusta Martins, Filipa Correia, Paula Bonifácio, Jorge Costa, Lucinda Oliveira
Works lent by
Centro de Arte Moderna da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril, Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Fundação de Serralves, Serviços de Biblioteca, Informação Documental e Museologia da Universidade de Aveiro, Galeria 111, Biblioteca Pública Municipal do Porto
Provate Collections
Abi Feijó, António de Almeida Mattos, Armando Alves, Carlos Marques, Emília Nadal, Emílio Remelhe, Fernando Aguiar, Isabel Alves, Joana Santos, João Machado, Jorge Afonso, José Aurélio, José Bártolo, José Brandão, Leonilda Santos, Paulo Seabra, Rodrigo de Freitas, Salette Brandão, Sérgio Afonso
Venues
Galeria Municipal Almeida Garrett, Casa do Infante, Casa da Música, Casa Museu Guerra Junqueiro, Museu de Serralves, Museu Romântico da Quinta da Macieirinha, Palacete dos Viscondes de Balsemão