Point of View at Park of Pena

Artists: Alberto Carneiro, Alexandre Farto/Vhils, Antonio Bokel, Bosco Sodi, Gabriela Albergaria, João Paulo Serafim, NeSpoon, Nils-Udo, Paulo Arraiano, Stuart Ian Frost

Exhibition title: Point of View

Curated by: Paulo Arraiano and Sofia Barros

Venue: Park of Pena, Sintra, Portugal

Date: May 25, 2016 – May 25, 2017

Photography: Wilson Pereira, all images copyright and courtesy of the artists, Park of Pena and Sintra Bliss House

Sintra, March 8^th 2016 – On May 25, Parques de Sintra inaugurates the “Point of View” contemporary art exhibition at Park of Pena. This site specific, group exhibit, under the artistic direction of Paulo Arraiano, brings together ten renowned artists of different nationalities: Alberto Carneiro (Portugal), Alexandre Farto/Vhils (Portugal), Antonio Bokel (Brazil), Bosco Sodi (Mexico), Gabriela Albergaria (Portugal), João Paulo Serafim (Portugal), NeSpoon (Poland), Nils-Udo (Germany), Paulo Arraiano (Portugal) and Stuart Ian Frost (United Kingdom).

The initiative commemorates the 200^th anniversary of King Ferdinand II, the “artist -king” – visionary behind and founder of Park of Pena. ”The objective behind the initiative is to create an incentive for visitors to go further into the park and discover its unique features, guided by a series of strategically placed art interventions. The visitor thus explores the parks different perspectives or “points of view” explains Project Director, Sofia Barros. The project explores the relationship between Man and Nature (the park and the palace), a common theme in the “Romantic Era” and main motive in King Ferdinand’s vision is therefore revived and understood as intended and create a cultural initiative with contributes to the positioning of the Park as a “Cultural Landscape” UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The strategically placed site specific installations, all use materials that exist in the Park itself. Throughout the year (timeframe in which the exhibit will be shown) these will not be subject to maintenance as the natural maturing process of each piece forms an integral facet of concept.

Within this context, Artistic Director, Paulo Arraiano, explains that “the ten artists work as agents of reconnection of the dialogue between the binomial Man/Earth, through a process of geographic acupuncture that fosters different in situ dialogues with a living organism. ‘Point of View’ thus seeks to both celebrate and recall this correlation and the collaboration first launched by Ferdinand II in 1838 following the creation of a neuralgic bridge to the cultural heritage of humanity.”