Audio
Conference

Exile and expatriation in post-1945 Britain

Talks about British Art

In the context of the exhibition 'British Art – Vanishing Point', Pedro Aires Oliveira and Henda Ducados explore how thinking about exile and expatriation in Britain, in a specific time and place, both complexifies and broadens our reading of the development of the Portuguese art scene in the twentieth century.

26 Aug 2025 35 min

Talks about British Art

Within the framework of the great transformations that marked the decades following World War II, Pedro Aires Oliveira shows us how cultural changes and shifting mindsets, migratory dynamics and the emergence of social consensus, which lasted until the late 70s, contributed to building a multicultural society in the United Kingdom. Through this lens, we are invited to reflect on the exile and expatriation experienced by the Portuguese, either as a result of political persecution or through motivation and desire expressed in a spirit of stimulating artistic creation.

Henda Ducados focuses on the speech made by Amílcar Cabral and Mário Pinto de Andrade in the House of Commons, in 1960, which she takes as a starting point to reflect on the motivations, strategies and impact of decolonial collective consciousness. She goes on to highlight how the First Congress of Black Writers and Artists, held in Paris in 1956, as well as the press conference in 1960, contributed to framing, questioning and denouncing the Portuguese colonial regime, driving the debate and raising awareness of the independence movements in African colonies.

In the audio recording shared here, Pedro Aires Oliveira and Henda Ducados present a view of the work produced abroad by Portuguese artists, as an integral part of the visual arts scene in Portugal.

Series

Talks about British Art

Gatherings around the exhibition ‘British Art – Convergence’ that promote talks about the networks resulting from the flow of artists and cultural agents between Portugal and the United Kingdom.

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