Helena Elias

It is well know the Portuguese historical moments highlighted  by the Portuguese dictatorship ruling the country between 1933-1974. Medieval and    the so called Discoveries were the main narratives to collective educate the people in public spaces of historical sites. By choosing which historical characters to portray in stone, the New state underlined the episodes from the nation history that should be remembered. Along with the restoration of historical sites, such as church or castle, a statue was envisaged to complete the historical scenario of the town planning. The objective of this communication is to critically access the activity of the Portuguese Ministry of Public Works (1955-65) in what concerns the placement of statues intended for public spaces. Such scenaries were envisaged within the regime's ideological apparatus, to enlist the illiterate and lower middle classes into a form of perception of that historical fact consentaneous with the political agenda of the new state.

This paper addresses the creation and placement of the last public art orders produced by the Portuguese dictatorship. The impact produced by the political shift to democracy in many of the orders commissioned by the New State, specially the statues waiting to be placed in the early years of Democracy is the main subject of this paper. A progressive change of procedures and ways of deliver public art orders after the middle sixties is primarily discussed as it constitutes the first sign of the failure of the New State system of public art running between 1938 e 1960. It considers the activity of the Portuguese Ministry of Public Works (MOP) and Lisbon Municipality Council (CML), in the period encompassing 1965 to 1986, corresponding to the last years of dictatorship and the joining of Portugal to the EEC, in what concerns the placement of statues intended for public spaces. Monuments paying tribute to the main characters of the regime, Salazar and Carmona, have been removed after the Carnation Revolution. But a couple of years after democracy being established, some statues promoted by the New State find their way to public spaces of several Portuguese towns.

El regimen politico anti-democratico, auto denominado Estado Novo, salido del golpe militar ocurrido el 28 de mayo de 1926, busco limitar el encargo de arte publico de los organismos de la administracion publica. En Lisboa, la CML y el MOPC/MOP habian pasado a tener la casi totalidad del encargo de arte publico, asegurando los procedimientos necesarios a la concrecion del trabajo en los espacios publicos. Al conjunto de procedimientos llevados a cabo por los servicios de la administracion, se designo sistema de encargo de arte publico. El proposito de este trabajo es caracterizar los sistemas de encargo de la CML y MOPC/MOP para Lisboa, durante el Estado Novo, centrando el estudio entre 1938 y 1960. Tomando encuesta el marco institucional de este periodo, se pretende, como objetivos: 1,- Proponer sistemas de encargo de arte publico para Lisboa, dirigidos por los organismos de la administracion central y local, que son los CML y el MOP. 2,- Exponer las manifestaciones del sistema de encargo de arte publico propuesto para los espacios publicos de Lisboa. Se distinguen las instancias del sistema de encargo de arte publico de la CML y el MOPC/MOP, en funcion de los servicios que ejecutan los procedimientos y se identifican dos momentos significativos. Para la CML; entre 1944-1953, merced de una dotacion permanente en el presupuesto municipal, y entre 1954 y 1960, se desarrolla el programa de encargos destinados a las obras municipales. Para MOPC/MOP: entre 1938 y 1947, en que los encargos se destinan a las obras de edificacion y urbanizacion, entre 1948 y 1960, en que los encargos se destinan al as obras de edificacion. El analisis de las encomiendas de monumentos nacionales permite evaluar la actuacion de la administracion central y local, con tareas que no se confinan al sistema de arte publico y en los cuales Salazar intervino.

El regimen politico anti-democratico, auto denominado Estado Novo, salido del golpe militar ocurrido el 28 de mayo de 1926, busco limitar el encargo de arte publico de los organismos de la administracion publica. En Lisboa, la CML y el MOPC/MOP habian pasado a tener la casi totalidad del encargo de arte publico, asegurando los procedimientos necesarios a la concrecion del trabajo en los espacios publicos. Al conjunto de procedimientos llevados a cabo por los servicios de la administracion, se designo sistema de encargo de arte publico. El proposito de este trabajo es caracterizar los sistemas de encargo de la CML y MOPC/MOP para Lisboa, durante el Estado Novo, centrando el estudio entre 1938 y 1960. Tomando encuesta el marco institucional de este periodo, se pretende, como objetivos: 1,- Proponer sistemas de encargo de arte publico para Lisboa, dirigidos por los organismos de la administracion central y local, que son los CML y el MOP. 2,- Exponer las manifestaciones del sistema de ...

Depois do editorial anterior, em reflexões sobre o lugar do saber e da verdade na cultura actual, enquanto problematização política, assumimos a estranheza por a Universidade estar a deixar de ser um lugar crítico e, portanto, político. Este editorial, do segundo volume com dossier temático sobre Arte e Activismo, propõe-se, em continuidade, a reflectir sobre o lugar da Universidade, atendendo às suas recentes transformações, no estado actual da política: qual o lugar da universidade contemporânea, enquanto espaço de reflexão livre e crítica, perante o estranho mundo político que habitamos actualmente, ou seja, se há lugar para uma activismo político na Universidade e qual? E se a metamorfose (ou mesmo revolução) que os últimos anos têm exercido, exteriormente e sobre a Universidade, vão no sentido da sua agilização ou, mesmo, da sua anuência? Observamos hoje em dia uma grande transformação da Universidade, acompanhada de uma carência de reflexão sobre si própria, um défice de «una ...

Os murais têm se vindo a destacar como a principal produção artística nas cidades observando-se o seu desenvolvimento e crescente valorização. Tamanha projeção veio despertar o interesse por parte de marcas na sua rentabilização como uma alternativa à fotografia publicitária, associando-se a sua grande visibilidade e potencial de comunicação. Os murais vieram alterar os signos da malha urbana, promovendo novas e diferentes formas de interação com a expressão física do contexto urbano. São analisados, através da semiótica social, murais de arte urbana assim como murais de cariz publicitário com recurso a meta-funções – ideacional, interpessoal e intertextual – tanto a nível a verbal como visual. É possível constatar que todos os murais são polissémicos, ricos em possíveis interpretações. Os murais associados às marcas encontram-se condicionados de forma mais consistente pela obrigatoriedade da presença de elementos associados à marca, não se traduzindo em menor carga simbólica. Aos m...

Concept coordination and talk: Helena Elias * Invited speaker: Margarida Prieto Starting from sets of illustrations of the earthquake and tsunami of 1755, in this session we will approach the techniques and methods used, namely the application of the hatching by using parallel, crossed or circular lines. The talk will include some questions and conventions of landscape representation and the atmospheric perspective. Certainly, the graphic description of the physical phenomena will have been a challenge for the draughtsmen and engravers of the time, who will have illustrated the liquid and gaseous states from oral and written reports and other images conveyed through drawing, painting and engraving, namely of the wave that sink public spaces and the fire that consumed the buildings. The explanation we now know about tsunami propagation waves allows us to speculate about the visual representation of the 1755 Lisbon natural disaster: the images show us a strong and devouring wave of ships, which is accentuated by scene of doom and pain associated with the destruction caused by the sea. These representations are then more close to the shipwreck scenes or sea battles depictured by the sea landscape drawings and paintings of that time. **** Open workshop of graphic representation techniques from the earthquake and tsunami engravings of 1755 Lisbon City Museum, 30 January 2016 Concept and coordination of the workshop: Helena Elias Artists/researchers: Helena Elias and Inês Marques During one afternoon, the visitors of the exhibition have the opportunity to experiment some of the graphic techniques used in the illustrations of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the tsunami. By observing and drawing some of the elements represented, such as waves, clouds, air, open earth or ruined buildings, the participants exercise and understand the hatching graphic conventions of the shading using parallel, crossed or circular lines. Methodology: At the beginning of the session it is explained how to reproduce this shading technique in order to create volume and texture. Next, participants choose one of the elements (waves, clouds, air, open land or ruined buildings) to shade and light by applying the demonstrated technique in order to represent an illusion to the three-dimensionality of these elements. This exercise is done on A3 paper sheets. Each sheet is accompanied by a small image of the represented element. These pictures will constitute a collective landscape drawing of the phenomenon. A drawing paste-up will be placed on the Museum of Lisbon garden wall. https://www.facebook.com/1055829087765572/photos/pcb.1286823911332754/1286823734666105/?type=3&theater https://vimeo.com/153754702

In 1940 the Salazar regime celebrated two historic dates (1140 and 1640) wich were considered representative of the Nation. The dates correspond to the formation of the kingdom of Portugal and the proclamation of independence against the Portuguese kingdom of Castile. In 1938, the dictator Salazar disclose the program of the celebrations and appealed to public services to show commitment to the preparation of the event, demonstrating the "great capacity to achieve in Portugal." The construction of a monumental fountain was one of the initiatives practiced by public services in response to the call from Salazar. The proposal, presented formally in 1938 by the Supervisory Committee of the Waters of Lisbon, belonged to the Ministry of Public Works and Communications, then headed by Duarte Pacheco. The project counted two sets of sculptures and two ceramic panels, complementing the architectural structure of the monument. There were also considered programs based on effects of...

Este artigo tem por base a experiencia academica e profissional da autora, tendo como quadro referencial alguns momentos interdisciplinares que considera significativos para a pratica de arte publica. Estes exemplos correspondem a experiencias artisitcas orientadas para o cidadao e para a comunidade. Consciente de que este espirito e por vezes pouco incentivado em algumas unidades dos 1os e 2os ciclos de estudos do ensino superior de design e artes, onde lecciona, a autora partilha duas experiencias educativas, envolvendo projectos site‐specific, que tem como processo central o desenho, entendido como linguagem interdisciplinar. Nas suas diversas vertentes operacionais do trabalho de projecto, o desenho e utilizado como ferramenta do pensamento, instrumento previligiado da comunicacao, de expressao individual e colectiva, direcionado para a resolucao de problemas e melhoria da qualidade dos espacos urbanos estudados.

Este artigo pretende traçar a evolução da arte pública comissionada ou recepcionada em Portugal, por via dos contactos luso-brasileiros estabelecidos entre os estados português e brasileiro nos períodos das ditaduras e democracias. Em concreto, procura-se perceber que temas, linguagens plásticas e formas de aproximação aos espaços públicos foram sendo tomados no decurso destes contactos. Através da análise de obras que cobrem este período cronológico, argumenta-se que as formas de representação, temas e lógicas de intervenção nos espaços públicos se diversificam no período democrático português, fornecendo diferentes combinações entre temáticas, meios e discursos propostos. No contexto do Estado Novo português (1933-1974) a arte pública serviu sobretudo propósitos comemorativos oficiais que ligavam os dois países. As entidades brasileiras ofertaram elementos como o busto de Júlia Lopes de Almeida ou a réplica do monumento de Pedro Álvares Cabral. As obras produzidas em Portugal eram...

Recently there has been a resurgence of murals in several European and American cities. Street art visual practices have privileged murals as one of the most suitable formats to address public spaces. Despite the increasing recognition and significance of murals for the visual culture of these cities, this contemporary urban art practice has not received much attention from recent literature. This paper provides a literature review on contemporary murals, giving an account of their popularity, their relation to location-specificity and global presence, as well as the means of dissemination of such art expression. The study will then focus on a set of case studies in Lisbon, regarding the paradigmatic shift from sculpture commissioning to mural commissioning within Portuguese Brazilian cultural relationships. The works of OSGEMEOS, Bicicleta sem Freio and Nunca will be discussed in this framework, questioning what the contributions of contemporary mural works might be for the public ...

This article explores the embodiment of the art historical avant-garde legacy through some of the artistic manifestations across the 20th century, in public spaces. At the same time, it discusses the incorporation of such historical background in contemporary collaborative research practices. It does so by addressing the case study of the collective Situ_Acção, a group of artists and researchers from different fields of arts and communication, whose activity is focused on intervention in the city, based on action and collaborative research and shared reflection on urban phenomena, associated with public arts. First, it will be described how Situ_Acção started a common ground for the inquiry: the legacy of urban murals in Lisbon. By investigating the Portuguese digital archives of urban murals of the 1970s and 1980s, Situ_Acção applied spatial artistic techniques to overcome the missing information regarding the places of intervention. In addition, the use of performance and on-site ...

Through reflexive practice, this paper deals with public art, interdisciplinary and education issues, based in the academic and professional background of the author. Some key historical moments are highlighted as examples of artistic experiences citizen‐oriented and addressed to the community. Aware that this matter is often less covered in some courses of the 1st and 2nd cycle of studies in higher education, the author shares two educational experiences involving site‐specific projects, in which drawing plays an important role as an interdisciplinary language within the project work. In the various operational aspects of the project work, drawing is used as a privileged communication tool for thought and problem solving, as well as for the individual and collective artistic expression, in order to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the urban spaces.

Through reflexive practice, this paper deals with public art, interdisciplinary and education issues, based in the academic and professional background of the author. Some key historical moments are highlighted as examples of artistic experiences citizen‐oriented and addressed to the community. Aware that this matter is often less covered in some courses of the 1st and 2nd cycle of studies in higher education, the author shares two educational experiences involving site‐specific projects, in which drawing plays an important role as an interdisciplinary language within the project work. In the various operational aspects of the project work, drawing is used as a privileged communication tool for thought and problem solving, as well as for the individual and collective artistic expression, in order to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the urban spaces.

Recently there has been a resurgence of murals in several European and American cities. Street art visual practices have privileged murals as one of the most suitable formats to address public spaces. Despite the increasing recognition and significance of murals for the visual culture of these cities, this contemporary urban art practice has not received much attention from recent literature. This paper provides a literature review on contemporary murals, giving an account of their popularity, their relation to location-specificity and global presence, as well as the means of dissemination of such art expression. The study will then focus on a set of case studies in Lisbon, regarding the paradigmatic shift from sculpture commissioning to mural commissioning within Portuguese Brazilian cultural relationships. The works of OSGEMEOS, Bicicleta sem Freio and Nunca will be discussed in this framework, questioning what the contributions of contemporary mural works might be for the public ...

This short, experimental piece, represents one possible way to describe the site-specific installation ATLAS: MATRIX in the Tropical Garden of Belém in Lisbon, Portugal. The text is the narrative of a mindful collaboration, one where the act of collaborating - intentional but not overly planned - resulted in an open-ended installation/dispositive that called for ulterior collaboration, enabling the spectators to play with the elements while generating, at the same time, a reflection around the collaborative endeavour itself. An introductory story in the form of a diary is followed by DIY guidelines, indicating a replicable formula for co-laborating - [from Latin cum (together) + laborare (to practice)] - in transdisciplinary settings.

One of the objectives of this paper is to foreground issues less covered when we speak of contemporary urban (art) practices referring to concepts of street/urban/public art. First, we will explain our background research approach towards issues regarding interventions in public spaces framed by these concepts. At a second stage, given our art/teaching/research approach to practice, we will consider the definitions spread in recent literature concerned with these concepts, but looking more closely to examples that, while addressing the practices of street art and urban art, position public art as a practice anchored in a certain historical conception.

When literature discusses street and urban art against the background of public art, it does not speak much about such interventions as murals and their concern with materiality, because a sociological or anthropological subject is, at stance (even in the field of the history of art), where artists are often the object of research rather than the researchers. These insights highlight social and cultural processes, groups and individuals, their content messages, identities, and authorship issues.
We are aware that the above concepts may be influenced by the knowledge affiliation, academic background, or research perspectives, and so, we do not avoid these territories to construct our argument.

Rather, we wish to offer and add another insight based on the working practices of artists, teachers, and researchers. For so, we feel that we need to approach the discussion of several definitions of public, urban, street art, in order to point how some issues are being dismissed, setting boundaries for practices in public spaces. That is why we have entitled the paper: Where do public art ends and urban art starts? Of course, we may say that these differences in the public space have now a great level of visibility, and feed the increasing of literature dedicated to such perspectives. As artists that also practice in public spaces without commissions and are not framed by the institutionalized public art machine, we believe that we are practicing public art rather street art (without the need to reinforce illegal or legal constrains).

We argue that the contrasting exercises, at stake of trying to preserve the origins of these contested urban practices, reduce the public art practice to a stigmatized definition much aligned with the purposes of place making and the branding of cities. Such perspectives avoid further research insights on the topic, overcome dichotomies and highlights orthodox academic perspectives. Our argument is rooted in our reflexive practice as artists/teachers/researchers where the physical site of the work, materiality, and engagement with the environment, should be a matter of concern when discussing these interventions with the lens of research. Rather than categorize materials and techniques according to identity groups, which we feel that reduces the latent creativity of the practitioners and the ways of engagement with the environment, we prefer to enhance the aesthetic quality of processes and meaningful relations of the practitioners and work with the urban environments. Finally, we address the singularity of the urban mural referring the dimensions that could enrich the research in these issues.

Through reflexive practice, this paper deals with public art, interdisciplinary and education issues, based in the academic and professional background of the author. Some key historical moments are highlighted as examples of artistic experiences citizen‐oriented and addressed to the community. Aware that this matter is often less covered in some courses of the 1st and 2nd cycle of studies in higher education, the author shares two educational experiences involving site‐specific projects, in which drawing plays an important role as an interdisciplinary language within the project work. In the various operational aspects of the project work, drawing is used as a privileged communication tool for thought and problem solving, as well as for the individual and collective artistic expression, in order to contribute to the improvement of the quality of the urban spaces.
Key Words: Public art, interdisciplinary approach, project work through drawing, art & design education

Neste artigo procura-se enquadrar os momentos principais que formataram as modalidades de encomenda de arte pública entre a Primeira República e o Estado Novo, apontando os intervenientes,  procedimentos e cerimónias associadas bem como os objectos de tributo. Começaremos por abordar as iniciativas, promotores e rituais associados aos projectos de monumentos,  para depois nos centrarmos na polémica instalada sobre as modalidades de encomenda existentes, e por fim, apresentarmos os factos que levaram à configuração do modelo de encomenda de iniciativa estatal, vigente durante o Estado Novo - sem alteração até ao fim da década de 60 do século XX

Les œuvres murales constituent depuis peu l’une des formes de production privilégiées par les street artists dans différentes villes à travers le monde. Si les paramètres de composition, de dessin, de couleur et de technique employés pour les fresques permettent d’identifier aisément leurs auteurs sur les réseaux mondiaux, certains aspects mettent en lumière ou co-agissent avec les spécificités du lieu à différents degrés. Issue du projet de recherche pour l’art public dans le cadre des relations culturelles entre le Portugal et le Brésil, cette étude propose une interprétation des caractéristiques des œuvres d’Os Gémeos, de Vhils, de Nunca et de Bicicleta sem Freio. L’un des objectifs est également le questionnement du concept d’art in situ pour les œuvres murales de street art tout en prenant en compte la nature à la fois locale et mondiale des travaux. Si l’on peut affirmer que le street art — représenté par des artistes aux pratiques très diverses allant du graffiti aux Beaux-Arts et exposé dans différents lieux dont des galeries d’art — est hétérogène, les politiques urbaines favorables à son développement ont accordé une nouvelle légitimité aux œuvres de street art en dehors des espaces institutionnels. De telles initiatives ont ainsi permis la résurgence des interventions murales comme l’une des principales pratiques d’œuvres d’art publiques.

O programa desenvolveu um corpo de trabalho que teve o Borboletário e o Jardim Botânico como referência conceptual. O espaço do Borboletário e do Jardim e a foram o foco da investigação dos alunos para o desenvolvimento dos exercícios.

O conhecimento de obras de arte que se desenvolveram nas zonas de fronteira da arte e das ciências naturais, constituiu o suporte do estudo.

Este programa foi desenhado como um projeto artístico, promovendo nos alunos a interacção e uma postura criativa fundamental para a realização de um enunciado artístico.

Desenvolveu-se apoiado na experimentação das matérias e na aprendizagem dos processos da escultura. Repetiu os gestos dos artistas interiorizando o pensamento que está na origem das obras arte visitadas.

Through reflexive practice, we deal with several works that respond to a site-specific matrix, which were born / and / or accompany our journey as artists / researchers / teachers. These relate in some aspects the permeability of the artistic practice with the contemporary ethnographic practice and may put it this way the dialogue between art and anthropology.

At first, we discuss the development of site-specific term in artistic practice, considering the paradigms listed by Kwon and then mapping their relationships with anthropology field, framing some texts that address this relationship.

We then use this framework to reflect on our artistic practice and the  connections or spacings with the anthropology practices.

Murals are a urban cultural trend today. Search engines display predominantly murals when one looks to public art, urban art or street art. Mural fits digital urban culture. We face a public art paradigm shift with new tipes of works on display and new ways of engagement.

Pliny the Elder, writes, in his book of natural history, that Dibutades, a young Corinthian, has inscribed on the wall, the outline of the projected shadow of her lover, before his departure to war. The father, a potter of the city of Zion, filled with clay the figure generated by the outline, and created the bust, which later did play at the top of the Corinthians roofs. Thus in its origins, the design was associated with the desire, the need to create form, and the memory of it is so desirable. Starting with the speculation of what was the Dibutades drawing tool, we present a series of developmental forms, wherein the clay is worked in different states (dust, mud, soft or hard paste), The drawing, whereas filled or erased with these state matters on a table, it is considered a unique process of creating forms while engaging ceramic and storytelling.