Asia’s first major retrospective of the late Portuguese contemporary artist Helena Almeida (1934-2018) will open at the Macao Museum of Art (MAM) on 23 January, the Cultural Affairs Bureau has announced.
Titled Helena Almeida: I Am Here – Presence and Resonance, the two-part exhibition features nearly 200 original works spanning Almeida’s decades-long career. Known for her exploration of the body, space and self-representation, Almeida’s work frequently blurred the boundaries between painting, photography and performance. The Lisbon-born artist, who began exhibiting in the late 1960s, represented Portugal at the Venice Biennale in 1982 and 2005.
MAM’s “Presence” section – opening at 6.30 pm on Friday – constitutes Almeida’s first large-scale retrospective in Asia and presents her artistic development in chronological order, including early paintings, photographic series, preparatory sketches and video works.
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The “Resonance” section showcases Almeida’s continuing influence, bringing together works inspired by her practice from mainland Chinese artists Min Han, Gao Fuyan and Sun Xiaoyu, as well as Macao artists Pang Yun, Wong Weng Io and Angel Chan On Kei. This part has been open to the public since December.
To complement the exhibition, a curating workshop led by Portuguese art scholar and chief curator Delfim Sardo was held at MAM on 18 January. There will also be a thematic lecture and two “bodily narrative” workshops conducted by co-curator Song Zhen. Participation is free, with registration via the Macao One app required.
Helena Almeida: I Am Here – Presence and Resonance will run until 26 April across MAM’s first to third floors. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 7 pm, except Mondays, and admission is free.
