Casa de Serralves

About

Serralves Foundation ( Fundação de Serralves or Parque de Serralves ) is an art foundation in which the primary goal is "to raise the general public's awareness concerning contemporary art and the environment.”

Serralves Foundation is constituted by the Museum, designed by the architect, Álvaro Siza Vieira, who won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1992. The Villa (Casa de Serralves) is a unique example of Art Deco architecture, and the Park won the “ Henry Ford Prize for the Preservation of the Environment” in 1997.

The buildings of Serralves - Casa de Serralves, Park, Museum of Contemporary Art, Auditorium and Library - were jointly classified by the Portuguese State as a "Building of Public Interest" in 1999 and as a " National Monument " in 2012.

Serralves develops its activities around 5 strategic axes: Artistic Creation, Audience Formation and Awareness-Raising, The Environment, Critical Reflection on Contemporary Society and The Creative Industries.

- Artistic Creation emphasizes the fine arts, through the constitution of a premier international contemporary art collection and an exhibitions program that features leading Portuguese and international artists, plus music, performing arts and film cycles that complement and enhance the exhibition program.

- Audience Formation and Awareness-Raising are achieved through innovative programs, tailored to all audience segments and ages. An example of this is the annual festival, Serralves em Festa.

- The Environment is enhanced by highlighting the Park as a public leisure zone merging art and the landscape.

- Critical Reflection on Contemporary Society is developed through the study and discussion of key contemporary issues, within the fields of the arts, social sciences, experimental sciences and politics.

- The Creative Industries: The Foundation assumes a pioneering role, through the creation of INSERRALVES (the first specialized creative industries incubator in Portugal), and its active contribution to ensuring that the North region becomes Portugal's first creative industries cluster, via the ADDICT association. The Foundation management model conciliates partnerships with Founders and cooperation with the State. There are currently 181 founders, including companies, private individuals and other institutions. Special Patron Status is reserved for Founders who stand out because of their ongoing commitment to Serralves, embodied through their contribution to the Annual Fund.

The actual President of the Foundation is Luís Braga da Cruz, former Portuguese Finance Minister.

During the immediate period after the 1974 revolution, the city of Oporto hosted several social movements that demanded the creation of an exhibition space in the city, in order to exhibit art produced at that time. The importance of several initiatives - in particular the Centre of Contemporary Art Archived 2013-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, which was managed from the outset by Fernando Pernes and which remained in operation until 1980 - played a key role in consolidating the artistic universe in Oporto. These achievements were recognized by the Secretary of State for Culture, Teresa Patrício Gouveia, when she chose the city as the location for the future National Museum of Modern Art.

The State acquired the Serralves Estate in December 1986 for this purpose. On this date, and prior to the creation of the Serralves Foundation in 1989, a Founding Committee was constituted, whose members were Jorge Araújo, Teresa Andresen and Diogo Alpendurada. Serralves Park and Villa were opened to the public on May 29, 1987. The creation of the Foundation, via Decree-Law no. 240-A/89, of July 27, signaled the beginning of an innovative partnership between the State and civil society - encompassing around 51 public and private sector bodies at that time.

The Foundation signed a contract in March 1991 with the architect Álvaro Siza to design the Museum building. The Museum was inaugurated on June 6, 1999.

To house the art collection of Serralves (estimated in more than 4,000 works in 2014), the Foundation promoted in 2008 an international competition for the architectural design of Pólo Serralves 21, a multifunctional building and museum branch in Matosinhos on the former grounds of EFANOR (Northern Manufacturing Company), owned by Sonae the company founded by Belmiro de Azevedo. The winner project was designed by the architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese studio SANAA ( Pritzker prize in 2012). However, the project was canceled in 2010 for lack of funding and agreement with the local government of Matosinhos.

In September 2014, an enlargement project was presented by Alvaro Siza to expand the premises of Serralves by transforming the garage of the Villa in the new Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira.

During the immediate period after the 1974 revolution, the city of Oporto hosted several social movements that demanded the creation of an exhibition space in the city, in order to exhibit art produced at that time. The importance of several initiatives - in particular the Centre of Contemporary Art Archived 2013-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, which was managed from the outset by Fernando Pernes and which remained in operation until 1980 - played a key role in consolidating the artistic universe in Oporto. These achievements were recognized by the Secretary of State for Culture, Teresa Patrício Gouveia, when she chose the city as the location for the future National Museum of Modern Art.

The State acquired the Serralves Estate in December 1986 for this purpose. On this date, and prior to the creation of the Serralves Foundation in 1989, a Founding Committee was constituted, whose members were Jorge Araújo, Teresa Andresen and Diogo Alpendurada. Serralves Park and Villa were opened to the public on May 29, 1987. The creation of the Foundation, via Decree-Law no. 240-A/89, of July 27, signaled the beginning of an innovative partnership between the State and civil society - encompassing around 51 public and private sector bodies at that time.

The Foundation signed a contract in March 1991 with the architect Álvaro Siza to design the Museum building. The Museum was inaugurated on June 6, 1999.

To house the art collection of Serralves (estimated in more than 4,000 works in 2014), the Foundation promoted in 2008 an international competition for the architectural design of Pólo Serralves 21, a multifunctional building and museum branch in Matosinhos on the former grounds of EFANOR (Northern Manufacturing Company), owned by Sonae the company founded by Belmiro de Azevedo. The winner project was designed by the architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese studio SANAA ( Pritzker prize in 2012). However, the project was canceled in 2010 for lack of funding and agreement with the local government of Matosinhos.

In September 2014, an enlargement project was presented by Alvaro Siza to expand the premises of Serralves by transforming the garage of the Villa in the new Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira.