Welcome to the page of the State Visit to Slovakia

To accompany the visit of His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic to the Slovak Republic in September 2008, an exhibition was organized comprising the work of 21 Portuguese contemporary artists.

“Café Portugal” was conceived with the idea of a coffee house as a place where the Portuguese identity was formed. A Coffee House, by being the ideal place for free and open discussion over the political, social and cultural life of the country and the world, was one of the prime places for the creation of the democratic regime and of the European ideal which we enjoy today.

This exhibition intends to reflect upon ideals of national identity, not in a sense of issuing declarations, but rather to raise issues. These are connected with the relations between the present and the past, of nostalgia with oblivion, of pride with prejudice.

21 Portuguese artists - Adriana Molder, Ângela Ferreira, António Olaio, Carla Cruz, Célia Domingues, Eduardo Matos, Joana Vasconcelos, João Fonte Santa, João Pedro Vale, José Luís Neto, Mafalda Santos, Manuel Botelho, Miguel Palma, Nelson Crespo, Paulo Catrica, Paulo Mendes, Pedro Amaral, Pedro Valdez Cardoso, Rui Moreira, Rui Toscano and Susana Mendes Silva – joined together in an exhibition with the thought of what it means to be Portuguese at the current time.

A presentation of Portuguese contemporary art in the Slovak Republic implies, in itself, an exercise in the thought of the local context. How can the Slovaks relate to this art which, at source, is so distant? When taking up national identity, we would wish to create a bridge between the two countries. While seeing, feeling, hearing about Portuguese history, traditions and culture, the Slovakian public could reflect upon their own condition, upon their own identity.


Local: Design Factory - Bratislava
Data: from 5 to 21 September 2008