The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum has organised a special programme to mark the International Museum Day, with activities centred on the theme Museums and contested histories: saying the unspeakable in museums. Reflecting on the role of these institutions in communities and society in general, the programme includes short (30 minutes) informal talks on topics chosen by various curators around this theme. The talks are of an open nature, celebrating a multiplicity of voices and views, and will take place throughout the day in the galleries of the Modern Collection and the Founder’s Collection.

10:15 – “Negotiations and Purchases of works in Europe”, by Nuno Vassallo e Silva

10:45 – “Visible and invisible in the work of Degas”, by Luísa Sampaio

11:15 – “A story hidden in a carpet”, by Clara Serra

12:00 – “Watch, hide and punish – A ‘controversial story’ from the series 22474, from the year 2000, by José Luís Neto”, by Leonor Nazaré

12:30 – “The creation of the Modern Art Centre building – a history of resistance and opposition”, by Patrícia Rosas

14:45 – “History silenced”, by Ana Vasconcelos

15:30 – “The Mamluk glasses of the Islamic Art Collection”, by Jorge Rodrigues

16:00 – “Versailles on paper”, by João Carvalho Dias and Manuela Marques

17:00 – “The Gulbenkian Collection comes out of the golden closet? – queer narratives in the Gulbenkian Collection”, by Michael Langan (in English)

17:45 – “The Modern Collection and its relationship with the Estado Novo”, by Penelope Curtis (in English)

Admission to the talks is free, but requires a ticket in order to maintain a maximum capacity of 30 people. On the day, entry to the Founder’s Collection and Modern Collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is free (though admission fees still apply for the temporary exhibition dedicated to the artist Almada Negreiros).

An organised visit in the Founder’s Collection entitled “The power of synthesis – simplify the line, represent Nature” is also part of this programme for 21 May in which, under the guidance of Ricardo Mendes, the public is invited to draw the works of the Islamic collection from observation.