This Saturday, the Group of Friends of the Portimão Museum visited the Museu da Pólvora Negra (in Barcarena, Oeiras) and the exhibition «Amadeo Souza-Cardoso | Porto Lisboa / 2016-1916», at the National Museum of Contemporary Art or Museu do Chiado.
At the Museu da Pólvora Negra, which results from the musealization of the old gunpowder factory that used the driving force of the waters of the Ribeira de Barcarena to manufacture this dangerous material, the GAMP was received by Fernando Valério, leader of the Group of Friends of the Gunpowder Museum Negra, as well as Maria Alexandra Fernandes, director of the Historical and Museological Heritage Nucleus of the Câmara de Oeiras, who was the tour guide.
Integrated in the Barcarena Gunpowder Factory complex, the Museum illustrates the history of that institution, at the same time as it documents the black powder manufacturing processes, as well as the evolution of the energy sources used at the time.
In the first room, there is a thematic introduction about what gunpowder is, its origin, diffusion and use. The second section deals with the use of gunpowder in Portugal until the XNUMXth century, with special emphasis on the situation in Barcarena and also on the importance of the Ferrarias d'El Rei, which were installed there since the reign of King João II.
The third room is dedicated to the Royal Powder Factory of Barcarena, inaugurated by António Cremer in 1729. It contains one of the main pieces of the museum: the recovery of a greyhound engine for powder casing.
The fourth room is dedicated to the Factory's activity in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries. Going through technological evolution along with the use of new energy sources, covering more recent social and economic aspects.
In the afternoon, after lunch at the Maria Pimenta restaurant, located in the Museu da Pólvora Negra, it was time to head to Lisbon, to the Chiado Museum, for another guided tour, this time to the very interesting exhibition by Amadeo Souza-Cardoso, which recreates the exhibition that the artist himself, 100 years ago, promoted and curated in Porto and Lisbon, causing, at the time, amazement and even scandal, due to the boldness of the works presented.
Curated by Marta Soares and Raquel Henriques da Silva, this show, which was already on display in Porto, recalls the times when, when Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso returned to Portugal at the beginning of the First World War, he was a recognized painter in the arts of the avant-garde, having participated in group exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Boston and London.
The solo exhibitions he held in Portugal, in 1916, were part of this determination to affirm his career: the first took place in Porto, at Jardim Passos Manuel, from 1 to 12 November; the second, in Lisbon, in the Portuguese Naval League, from December 4th to 18th. The Soares dos Reis National Museum evoked the exhibition in Porto and now the National Museum of Contemporary Art – Museu do Chiado evokes the exhibition in Lisbon.
These exhibitions provoked scandal and debate. In Lisbon, the exhibition provided the meeting between Amadeo and Almada Negreiros, an enthusiastic supporter of Amadeo. It was in this context that Almada presented the exhibition at the Naval League as “more important than the discovery of the sea route to India”.
«What was seen a hundred years ago and what do we see today in the works on display? What were the spaces where Amadeo exhibited were? What is the role of Amadeo as “commissar” of himself? What could have motivated the most violent reactions? What was written in the press? What discussions took place around avant-garde painting?” These are some of the fundamental questions of this exhibition.
It was another cultural visit by the Friends of the Museum of Portimão, shared, as always, by people of all ages and different nationalities.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação
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