2015 sees the fiftieth anniversary of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation launching its activities in Paris. The commemorative program extends through to 2016 and culminating in the exhibition dedicated to the work of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, which the Grand Palais shall host between March and July next year in the galleries currently given over to a major retrospective dedicated to Velazquez. This shall certainly represent a major event on the French capital’s exhibition agenda and providing an unprecedented opportunity to open up to a global public these works by an artist who is “probably the most important Portuguese modernist” in the words of the curator Helena de Freitas.

The official ceremony commemorating the Foundation’s 50th year in Paris takes place on 15th September 2015 with the Board of Directors marking its presence at the French Delegation with its installations at no. 39, Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg since October 2011. This occasion shall serve for the presentation of a study drafted by Rui Ramos, professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, invited by the Foundation to reflect on its five decades of activities in Paris. The same day also includes the inauguration of the exhibition “A Sul de Hoje. La création contemporaine au Portugal” curated by Miguel von Hafe Perez.

Fifty years on from its inauguration, on 3rd May 1965, the Delegation to France of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation holds an important role in the cultural and artistic landscape of Paris. And, in a difficult period for Europe, the objectives have also included serving as a forum for the debate of ideas. The “Tout se transforme” conference cycle falls within this scope and presenting the 28th May conference “Démocratie et justice sociale au-delà de l’État-nation,” with Étienne Balibar and Nancy Fraser, a Delegation initiative in partnership with the Collège d’études mondiales – Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme. On 25th June, Manuel Castells will be the keynote speaker at the Foundation in Paris at a conference dedicated to the theme “Des mouvements sociaux en réseaux au changement politique.”

Pliure and other exhibitions

Between January and April of this year, many new visitors were welcomed at the Delegation, brought in by the positive coverage in the specialist French press of the Pliure exhibition about books and art. Commissioned by Paulo Pires do Vale, the second stage of this exhibition is now ongoing at the Palais des Beaux-Arts where it remains on display until 7th June. This represents a co-production with the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris (ENSBA) and that brings together works by artists including Joseph Beuys, Dürer, Francesca Woodman, Fernanda Fragateiro, Matisse, Georges Méliès and Diogo Pimentão.

Between January and April of 2016, the Delegation to Paris is also staging an exhibition of the recent works of Julião Sarmento, curated by Ami Barak, and the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine, between April and July, hosts the exhibition Les universalistes. Architecture portugaise 1965-2015, with the architect Nuno Grande serving as curator and highlighting “the universal vocations of the recent generations of Portuguese architects in a constant dialogue with the world”. On the list of architects incorporated into this exhibition are Álvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Pancho Guedes, the Aires Mateus brothers, Gonçalo Byrne, Ruy Athouguia and Nuno Teotónio Pereira, among others.