“Imagine the intensity of every experience (aesthetic, cultural) provoked by a specific work, determined, to a great extent, by its density.” (FCG Newsletter, n.º 67, p. 12) This was the premise put forward by Leonor Nazaré, curator of “Densidade Relativa. A partir da Colecção do CAMJAP” (Relative Density. From the Modern Art Centre Collection). The challenge is clear: to envisage a “densimetry of images” to measure the (physical and non-physical) materials involved in the relationship between viewer and artwork.

Comprising almost 50 pieces by 36 Portuguese and international artists, “Densidade Relativa” opened on 27 October 2005, occupying the Hall and first floor Gallery of the Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão [José de Azeredo Perdigão Modern Art Centre] (CAMJAP). It was on display from the 28th of that month until 22 January 2006.

In her introduction to the exhibition, the curator explains that the dual concepts of intensity/density were chosen in response to the fact that these terms are among those most commonly used by art critics and in art history to appraise (and metaphorically represent) the aesthetic experience of the art object. The immense semantic baggage carried by these two words, so often applied to a field that defies verbal description, was interrogated and dissected in the piece written by Leonor Nazaré for the exhibition catalogue. She explores the intersections between science and philosophy, psychology and mysticism, literature and sociology, using the concept of “density” (equally commonplace in the fields of physics and metaphysics) to probe the potential “for a continuum between the realm of thought and that of bodies and objects” (Densidade Relativa, 2005, pp. 10-62).

The works displayed were extremely varied, both thematically and in terms of the mediums used (painting, installation, sculpture, photography, video) and their artistic and historical contexts (from 1961 to 2005). This very diversity was a point of cohesion in response to the exhibition’s fundamental aim: to foreground sensory affect in an effort to understand how the sensory stimuli provided by art objects are transformed (and densified) into feelings, ideas, emotions.

Images of the exhibition show that the works were arranged according to attraction and contrast, the role of the museum being to manage the “forces”, the “weight and lightness” and the contrast between “fullness” and “emptiness”, inviting visitors to contemplate how, in the subjective relationship with an artwork, language negotiates these concepts, from the perception of their physical and material nature to the inherent plasticity of the more intellectual and spiritual realms.

As highlighted in promotional materials, the project was based on a dialogue between pieces that were, at the time, among the most recent additions to the CAMJAP collection and pieces that had belonged to it for many years (Newsletter FCG, n.º 67, p. 12). All of the works included belonged to the collection, with the exception of two pieces by Lourdes Castro (1930) (Invs. 10P1622; 10P1623), which were simply in storage at the FCG at the time (Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00538). Five years later, in 2010, these became part of the collection, meaning that all of the works featured now belong to the Modern Art Centre collection.

Aside from the 46 pieces that appear in the catalogue, a small acrylic on paper by Bruno Pacheco (1974) is visible in photographic records of the exhibition. Entitled O Bicho (2003 (Inv. 04DP1900) it shows the silhouette of a four-legged creature. It is a painting that demands to be viewed in its own right but which, like so many works by this artist, may be assumed to be a study for a larger canvas (a generalisation that all good preparatory studies resist). The same animal appears again, on a larger scale, in an acrylic on canvas of the same title (Inv. 04P1269), which is also exhibited but, unlike the former, appears in the catalogue (Densidade Relativa, pp. 110, 166, 173).

During the planning phase of “Densidade Relativa”, the featured artists or their representatives were invited to loan bibliographic or editorial materials for the public to browse. These resources were displayed in a handling room within the exhibition space, which also contained two computers to access digital documents, as well as the exhibition catalogue and room texts.

In the exhibition space, these texts, printed and laminated so visitors could carry them, were located close to the pieces to which they referred and clearly numbered to map out the exhibition areas. They have been preserved due to the way they foster personal contact with the artworks and are “themselves an example of how these forms and degrees [of density] vary enormously”. They are also included in the exhibition catalogue, from pages 171 to 224, and their discursivity demonstrates what Jorge Molder (then director of the CAMJAP) describes in the introduction as “a reflection on the ways viewers experience the works”, the spark for the entire project (Densidade Relativa, p. 7).

With its vast scope, “Densidade Relativa” combined two approaches often assumed to be incompatible. On one hand, it proposed a deeply theoretical inquiry. On the other, it claimed that this protracted conceptual exploration was catalysed by the more direct relationship between the viewer and work, emphasising the sensory nature of contemporary artistic creation. In doing so, it drew attention to the phenomenon of reception, where the realm of sensibility plays a role in critical interpretation. A vast archive of documents bear witness to an extensive field study, during which eight individuals gave personal feedback on specific pieces, which was then recorded in a table and analysed in the curator’s essay (Densidade Relativa, pp. 55-62). However, it is worth recalling that this focus on the spectator foreground the need for subjective participation, something that is not reducible to mere statistical analysis.

This commitment to the question of interaction was reflected in the many educational activities that ran in parallel with the exhibition. The exploration of scientific themes provided the inspiration for a guided tour exploring two exhibitions, entitled “Um olhar cruzado entre as exposições “Densidade Relativa” (CAMJAP) e “À Luz de Einstein” (Instituto de Ciência)”. The latter exhibition, devoted to the founding father of the Theory of Relativity was running simultaneously on the opposite side of the Gulbenkian Gardens, in the Foundation’s Main Building, to mark the International Year of Physics. Susana Anágua of the CAMJAP Education Department, led an event in partnership with an educator from the Gulbenkian Science Institute. Anágua also led workshops for children and families, entitled “Caixas para ver o mundo?!” and “Tão Longe e Tão Perto: Onde fico eu?”. She was also responsible for “Os Fenómenos da Física à Luz da Arte Contemporânea”, one of three organised guided tours, along with “Densidades Fotográficas” by Patrícia Brás. Meanwhile, Ana Ruivo led three more general tours (FCG Newsletter, n.º 67, p. 25).

After its spell in Lisbon, “Densidade Relativa” travelled to Sines as part of the 2006 edition of the “Verão. Arte Contemporânea. Sines” (Summer. Contemporary Art. Sines) programme. Split between two spaces in the old town centre: the then recently opened Centro de Artes de Sines (CAS) (opened in 2005) and Centro Cultural Emmerico Nunes (CCEN), which occupied a historic building. The latter played host to the videos The Mirror Suitcase Man (2004) (Inv. IM21) by Rui Calçada Bastos (1974), and Historia de la Música Rock (2002) (Inv. IM20) by Rui Valério (1969), the installation A Hand of Bridge (2004) (Inv. 04E1273) by Vasco Araújo (1975), and the painting Motel (1997) (Inv. 97PE279) by Fiona Rae (1963), the latter replacing Love Wall (1961) (Inv. PE128) by Peter Blake (1932), which did not travel to Sines. The remaining 45 works were displayed in the CAS.

For this second iteration of the exhibition, the museological strategy used in Lisbon was adapted, with the areas and their respective room texts amended. The opening took place on 12 August 2006 and photographic records show good visitor numbers and the presence of several of the featured artists as well as other figures from the worlds of art and culture.

The curator, Leonor Nazaré, led an inaugural guided tour, the first of a series of events which, as in Lisbon, evinced a strong investment in the education programme, a focus echoed by Marta Mestre, who worked for the CAS programming department at the time, and Isabel Ribeiro da Silva, a representative of the CCEN. In collaboration with the curators and institutions that hosted the touring edition of “Densidade Relativa”, the CAMJAP Education Department was able to run a series of parallel events intended to further the push for decentralisation that the exhibition’s tour came to represent. In addition to the six tours led by Ana Ruivo, we must also highlight the contribution of Marta Guerreiro, a member of CCEN, with her tour and workshop for children, “Uma Viagem Verdadeira... A Tua”. Marta Mestre and Liliana Rodrigues developed “Interrogar a Arte Contemporânea (a partir da exposição ‘Densidade Relativa’)”, aimed at a young audience and, together with Mariana Pinho, “Movimentos Densos e Relativos”, aimed at adults. The artist Susana Anágua again worked with CAMJAP as an educator, notably on “O Jogo do Densímetro” and the tour/game “Caixas para Ver o Mundo” – sessions in which she seems to have applied some of the recommendations of the training session “Introduction to Educational Practices in Museums and Exhibitions”. Anágua led this training initiative alongside Susana Gomes da Silva, coordinator of the CAMJAP Education Department. Scheduled for 28 and 29 July 2006 (almost a month and a half before the opening of the exhibition), it appears to have provided the basis of the education programme of the touring edition of “Densidade Relativa. A partir da Colecção do CAMJAP” in Sines.

The FCG participated in “Verão. Arte Contemporânea. Sines” again the following year. For this 10th edition (2007), the Foundation supported the exhibition “Sines Local” (Local Sines), also held at the CCEN and an outdoor urban space, establishing an intimate dialogue with the city. Leonor Nazaré wrote pieces on the participating artists, including Susana Anágua (1976), who returned to Sines as an exhibiting artist for the event alongside Ana João Romana (1973), Filipa César (1975) and Inês Botelho (1977).

The interdisciplinary nature of “Densidade Relativa” and its authorial approach to curation had ramifications for the museological and educational practices of the FCG. In 2009, once again stressing its technical and methodological significance, Leonor Nazaré presented “Referência sumária à exposição ‘Densidade Relativa’” in one of the sessions on the course Questões de Arte Contemporânea, organised as part of Descobrir – the Gulbenkian Educational Programme.