PortugalArte10

The eight queens puzzle requires that eight chess queens be placed in a mutually coexistent arrangement on a traditional 8×8 chessboard and that with the queen’s standard moves still applied, no game piece can be placed in such a way that it would pose a threat to the other queens on the board. The problem can be computationally extensive, as there are 4,426,165,368 possible arrangements of eight queens on the board, but only ninety-two solutions. The puzzle represents the cohabitation of multiple viewpoints within a highly ordered system. Likewise, the question facing any curatorial strategy is how to establish a cohesive point of view that retains the multiplicity of artistic practice whilst establishing parameters for distinctive aesthetic programs.

The openness and structure that is presented by the eight queens puzzle will serve as the basis of PortugalArte10, a multiplatform international survey exhibition of contemporary art presented in the cities of Lisbon, Grândola, Portimao and Vila Real de Santo António. Relating to the significant roles of these cities in Portugal’s revolutionary political history, PortugalArte10 will host a variety of curatorial platforms that aim to engage notions of discovery, renewal and freedom. The framework for the overall presentation of exhibitions and public projects will provide a springboard from which disparate curatorial points of view can develop in simultaneity.

The launch of PortugalArte10 in 2010 will coincide with the country’s 100-year anniversary of Republicanism. The programs and events that make up this multi-platform exhibition will be folded into the atmosphere surrounding this historic occasion in the country’s political history. Playing host to a range of artistic and curatorial perspectives, PortugalArte10 will be aligned with the narratives of discovery and freedom that define Portugal’s cultural and political histories. The ethos of Portugal’s October 1910 Revolution and the Carnation Revolution of 1974 informs the divergent critical positions that make up PortugalArte10. In the spirit of these watershed moments from the country’s political history, the exhibition platforms installed within and throughout the public realm are intended to address the role played by the Portuguese people in overturning authoritarian rule. Like the Carnation Revolution, which depended on the people who descended onto the streets alongside military insurgents, the dispersal of platforms throughout the streets of Lisbon and Grândola will deliberately address the role played by the general public in the bringing about of social change. The exhibition seeks to connect the exploratory interests of contemporary artists with the diverse audiences of Portugal, as they are particular germane to the country’s pursuit of popular freedom. The exhibition’s tone is established by a turning point in the Carnation Revolution of 1974, when a deputy to the military commander proclaimed publicly that the revolution was possible because the movement carried the will of the people. When he declared, “And the people, we have the people,” the deputy signaled the moment at which military action had been appropriated by the populace. In an effort to establish a connection between the people of Portugal and recent international developments in contemporary art, the dispersed platforms of PortugalArte10 will resonate alongside this important moment in the path toward Portuguese freedom.

PortugalArte10 will display a range of artistic and curatorial approaches for the Portuguese public to consider in the context of their own revolutionary history. PortugalArte10 will provide another avenue through which the country’s centennial celebrations can explore and demonstrate the role of the general populace in the pursuit of freedom.

The task of placing different curatorial and artistic visions throughout the cities of Lisbon, Grândola, Portimao and Vila Real de Santo António will be fulfilled by JohnstonMarklee Associates (Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee), who will select locations for the ambitious public sculpture program and indoor installations. The integration of PortugalArte10 within the very fabrics of these cities will resonate alongside the atmosphere of discovery and exploration that is specific to Portuguese cultural history. By making use of the ready-made built environment, the various interventions installed throughout the cities’ public and semi-public spaces will maintain the uniqueness and integrity of each curatorial and artistic point of view. Furthermore, the exhibition platforms of PortugalArte10 will provide a host of disparate contexts for viewers and residents to discover and engage with the critical stakes of each project on their own terms.