Visual arts and institutions in post-revolutionary Portugal: artistic interventions and the creation of a new museum of modern art

This article explores the field of visual arts and artistic experimentation as important elements of civic agency in the Portuguese revolutionary process. It argues that Portuguese visual artists, who had been exploring new media and forms of expression since the late 1960s, anticipated and championed the Portuguese revolution as a democratic project. In doing so, they also proposed new forms of civic action, which intersected artistic practice with political engagement. I will specifically address the mobilization of the artistic and cultural community in Oporto for the creation of a “living” museum of modern art in this city. This project caused a rupture with the institutional apparatus of the dictatorship and effectively promoted a debate about cultural democratization and decentralization. This article conceives visual arts and action as a force for a more plural and progressive regime. It explores collective interventions in the public and institutional space; the configuration of democratic participation in the transformation of former dictatorial structures; and the envisioning of continuing change in order to consolidate democracy. The article thus advances a critical redefinition of the relationship between artistic practice and political mobilization and contributes to the dynamic dialogue between creativity and democratization in Portugal.