State contemporary art collection opens new public centre in Cascais

Portugal’s State Contemporary Art Collection (CACE) will open a new public centre in Alcabideche, Cascais, on July 1, bringing together much of its vast collection under one roof for the first time in its 50-year history.

The new facility marks a significant milestone for the collection, which was established in 1976 to preserve and promote contemporary Portuguese art but has spent decades dispersed across multiple locations.

Housed in a former building owned by the Ellipse Foundation and acquired by the state following the collapse of Banco Privado Português, the centre has undergone a €1 million refurbishment. It will house around 1,300 works from CACE’s collection of more than 3,200 pieces.

Sandra Vieira Jürgens, director and curator of the collection, described the opening as a “historic milestone” that will give the public unprecedented access to the day-to-day management of a national art collection.

“This is more than a storage facility,” she told Lusa. “It is a space for sharing – a vibrant, experimental centre that we want to share with the public.”

The centre features accessible storage areas, temporary exhibition galleries, a multimedia “black box” space and a central hall for educational activities, conferences and cultural events.

Visitors will be able to observe work usually hidden from public view, including conservation, cataloguing, packing, transport and exhibition preparation.

Tours will be available by prior booking via the collection’s website, with students, researchers and industry professionals among the target audiences.

The opening exhibition, titled Dual Sim, will showcase 23 works acquired between 2019 and 2025, reflecting renewed investment in the collection after acquisitions resumed in 2019 following a two-decade slowdown.

The exhibition brings together 23 works in various media, ranging from painting to sculpture and video, by artists such as Ana Cardoso, Belén Uriel, Diogo Evangelista, Eugénia Mussa, Gabriel Abrantes, Inês Zenha, Joana Escoval, Leonor Antunes, Mané Pacheco, Nikolai Nekh, Paulo Mendes, Sara Graça, Susanne S. D. Themlitz and Von Calhau.

Despite the creation of a permanent home, Jürgens stressed that the collection’s mission remains national and international in scope.

“The collection will continue to circulate throughout the country. It belongs to everyone,” she said.

Since 2023, works from the collection have featured in 16 exhibitions in Portugal and abroad, including in Madrid, Berlin, Rome and Shanghai.

Future exhibitions are planned for Sines, the Azores, Viseu, Évora (European Capital of Culture) and Funchal, as well as an international showcase in Paris in 2027.

The CACE Centre will be open weekdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 5pm by appointment.

Source: Lusa