Starting from the question ‘How can we be all places in one?’, the artist launches a work of thought that will focus on the notion of the ecology of relationships and the fabrication of fertile futures based on the interconnectedness and interdependence between species, sustainability and imagination.

Alongside more than a hundred 3rd and 4th year pupils at Lisbon primary schools, the ‘Lugar’ [Place] project’s artist in residence works with teachers and mediators to devise and develop this project that in previous years culminated in the installations ‘Lugar(es)’ [Place(s)] and ‘Lugar Infinito’ [Infinite Place].

Part of the ‘Fábrica de Projetos’ programme, ‘Lugar’ [Place] is a participatory project focused on citizenship, human rights and social justice. On ground shared between the museum and the school, with art as a language of thought and exploring new possible paths for art education in the contemporary world. ‘Lugar’ [Place] invests in values such as empathy, inclusion, equity, interculturality and democracy.

Maja Escher (Santiago do Cacém, 1990) creates installations based on collaborative dynamics and fieldwork methods, involving drawings, found objects and compostable materials combined with riddles, proverbs and songs. ‘Pedras de Raio’, her most recent exhibition, was held between February and April at the Monitor gallery in Lisbon.

The artist has now been selected as one of the finalists of the 15th edition of the EDP Foundation’s New Artists Award. The six artists shortlisted for the prize will take part in a group exhibition at the MAAT, with the winner to be announced next year.