The exhibition “Dark Safari”, the first show of the itinerancy of the State Contemporary Art Collection (CACE), was visited by 38,500 people at the Côa Museum, the Côa Parque Foundation said today.
“Portuguese and foreign visitors accepted the ‘Dark Safari’ exhibition very well, which was seen by 38,500 visitors who passed through the museum in the last half year. Of this total, 45% were of foreign origin, which shows a lot of receptivity to this type of art “, the president of the Côa Parque Foundation, Aida Carvalho, told Lusa today.
The show was the first chapter in CACE’s project to circulate throughout the country, which, in the meantime, has already opened a new exhibition in Castelo Branco, in this case entitled “Non Finito”.
Aida Carvalho added that the combination of the first artistic manifestations in the Côa Valley that occurred 30,000 years ago and this contemporary record created a “chronocultural arc for those looking for cultural spaces with these characteristics”.
The exhibition “Dark Safari” was on display in two places in Vila Nova de Foz Côa: the Côa Museum and the Foz Côa Cultural Center.
The show featured works by Andy Warhol, Fernão Cruz, Helena Almeida, Hugo Canoilas, Jimmie Durham, João Fonte Santa, Ana Pérez-Quiroga, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Luís Lázaro Matos, On Kawara, Sara Bichão and Tiago Baptista, among other artists.
The Minister of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, told the Lusa agency in January that the exhibition “Dark Safari” began the circulation of CACE throughout the national territory, ensuring that the annual acquisition program fulfills the function of “placing art in public fruition, in line with the strategy of democratizing access to culture, a priority of the Government”.
“The choice of Foz Côa [Guarda district] to host this first major CACE exhibition has special symbolism: it takes place in a low-density territory, far from metropolitan areas, and, moreover, it is very enriching to present the work of contemporary artists in a space that puts them in dialogue with the first artistic manifestations of Man, of what today we could call ‘public art'”, indicated the governor.
According to the curator of CACE, Sandra Vieira Jürgens, this exhibition is the result of a partnership between the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC), the Côa Parque Foundation and the municipality of Foz Côa, being the first of a new cycle that will be held until 2024 by several cultural spaces in the country.
The exhibition “Dark Safari” was curated by the artists Sara & André and Manuel João Vieira.
