ALFREDO JAAR, ANA HATHERLY, ANTÓNIO BARROS, ANTÓNIO COSTA PINHEIRO, AUGUSTO DE CAMPOS, BARBARA KRUGER, BEN VAUTIER, CILDO MEIRELES, DANH VÕ, DAVID GOLDBLATT, DORITA CASTEL-BRANCO, E. M. DE MELO E CASTRO, FERNANDO J. RIBEIRO, FERNANDO LANHAS, GENERAL IDEA, GRETTA SARFATY, GUERRILLA GIRLS, JAMES LEE BYARS, JOHN BALDESSARI, JOSEPH BEUYS,  LUC TUYMANS, MANOEL DE OLIVEIRA, MARIA HELENA VIEIRA DA SILVA, MARTHA ROSLER, MIGUEL BRANCO, MIROSLAW BAŁKA, OFICINA ARARA, PATRÍCIA GARRIDO, PIERO MANZONI, SANJA IVEKOVIĆ, TALES FREY, THOMAS SCHÜTTE, YOKO ONO

At a time when Portugal is commemorating fifty years of democracy, the Serralves Foundation presents a group exhibition conceived specifically for the Museu de Aveiro/Santa Joana focused on freedom as the driving force of artistic practice. Part of the Aveiro Portuguese Capital of Culture programme, the exhibition brings together works from the Serralves Collection and the Aveiro Municipality Collection, presenting works by artists who question the limits imposed on freedom, whether individual or collective, political, or artistic, celebrating acts of emancipation, irreverence, and subversion of different forms of control.

The Exercise of Freedom celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution whilst presenting works from different times, geographies, and disciplines that reveal the diversity and profusion of artistic practices associated with this topic. Covering more than six decades, dating back from the late 1950s to today, the exhibition encompasses painting, sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, video, performance, archive documentation, objects and multiples.

This exhibition, curated by Joana Valsassina, is part of the Serralves Collection Touring Exhibition Programme, which aims to make the Foundation’s collection accessible to different audiences across the country.

Production: Fundação de Serralves — Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Porto