Through partnerships with national institutions, the project “GulbenkianItinerante” aims to disseminate the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum’s collections, privileging the regions that are furthest from major cultural centres. This partnership follows a dynamic model, designed to promote cultural development, on both a regional and national scale, with the aim to contribute to combating the disparities that remain in our country.

Partners are given the opportunity to choose works from the reserves of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum’s two collections, with a particular focus on lesser known pieces or works by artists who deserve to be revisited or even rediscovered. The idea is to compare these works with curatorial criteria and the collections of the institutions where they will be displayed, in a permanent collaboration directed at the communities they serve. On the other hand, the project aims to create networks between various partners, who in some cases worked together on the presentation and design of the exhibitions.

The agreed starting point was “Crossing Cultures, Crossing Times”, a theme which has simultaneously guided the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum’s programme for the 2018/2019 biennial. During the first phase, exhibitions will be held in the Centro Cultural Graça Morais, in Bragança; the Espaço Miguel Torga, in Sabrosa; the Centro de Cultura Contemporânea, in Castelo Branco; the Museu de Portimão; the Centro de Arte de Sines and the Museu de Tavira. Some of these exhibitions will take place at the same time.

We hope that this initiative symbolises the beginning of a society with a more dynamic, creative and interventional perspective in preparing for our common future. The results can be seen in this group of exhibitions, displayed from north to south, between 2018 and 2020.