Exhibition Opening: 11 July, 6 pm

The exhibition Hands over the City presents a group of works by Portuguese and international artists represented in the Serralves Collection who have turned their attention to contemporary urban reality, investigating physical, economic, social, and cultural processes that shape life in the city.

The city is, by definition, a place of concentration—of people, resources, infrastructures, and services. It is a place of assembly and confrontation, where democracy is born and put to the test. Throughout history, the city has been the setting for countless social and cultural movements and fertile ground for artistic creation, inspiring the work of writers, musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists alike. At a time when crowds take to the street to demand the right to housing, Hands over the City showcases a diverse set of artistic practices developed within an increasingly urban society.

The exhibition presents a diverse group of works that echoes the multitude of expressions related to this theme. The artists represented in the show portray the city and intervene in the streets, evoke the urban visual landscape, recover discarded objects and materials, and share creative agency with inhabitants and passers-by, exploring different aspects of this complex ecosystem. Comprising drawing, collage, sculpture, and photography, as well as street posters, sound and video works, Hands over the City brings together a series of works from the late 1960s until the present day, spanning the period covered by the Serralves Collection.

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