Serralves Foundation

Get to know the exceptional set of patrimonial assets under the tutelage of the Serralves Foundation, a cultural reference hub and a center of knowledge in Portugal and the world.

Serralves Foundation by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Serralves Foundation

The Serralves Foundation's mission is to stimulate the interest and knowledge of audiences of different origins and ages in Contemporary Art, Architecture, Cinema, Landscape, Environment and in critical issues for society and its future, in an integrated manner based on a set of exceptional assets, in which the Museum of Contemporary Art, the House, the Park and the Manoel de Oliveira Film House stand out.

Serralves Foundation by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Serralves Foundation by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Museum of Contemporary Art

Visiting the Museum is always more than visiting its exhibitions. It is also discovering the particularities of each space that makes up this architectural work, with a strong organisational structure and a great flexibility and capacity for transformation that responds to the diversity and unpredictability of the contemporary art that is exhibited here.

Álvaro Siza Vieira by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Álvaro Siza Vieira

The architectural plans for the Serralves Museum were first drawn up in 1991 by the architect Alvaro Siza. The new building was finally inaugurated in 1999, harmoniously integrated within the surrounding urban area and the pre-existing spaces of the gardens of the Park and Villa.

Museum of Contemporary Art by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Collection

The Serralves Foundation currently holds over 4300 works in its collection, of which more than 1700 belong to Serralves with a further 2600 works from various private and public collections on long-term deposit. 

Museum of Contemporary Art by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

The focus of the Serralves Collection is contemporary art produced from the 1960s to the present day. Art produced before 1960 may also be considered in relation to its relevance to the Collection and artists represented therein. 

Library by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Library

Serralves Library, open to the public since 2001, specialised in post-1960 contemporary art in its various manifestations - visual arts, performing arts, architecture, music - and different approaches - art theory and history, cultural policies, collecting, fairs and biennials, competitions and cultural education - with special emphasis on the themes and artists presented in the Museum's programme and represented in the Serralves Collection.

Archive by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Archives

The Archives, namely the Álvaro Siza Archive, the Carlos Alberto Cabral Collection, the Photographic Archive, and the Graphic Material Archive are available to the general public, subject to prior booking.

Serralves House

Originally conceived as a private residence, the Serralves Villa and the surrounding Park were commissioned by the 2nd Count of Vizela, Carlos Alberto Cabral (1895−1968), on the grounds of his family’s former summer residence on the outskirts of Porto. 

Designed and constructed between 1925 and 1944, the Villa is considered the most notable example of an Art Deco building in Portugal. In 1996 it was classified as a ‘Building of Public Interest’. In 2012, the ensemble of the architectural and natural heritage of the Serralves Foundation was accorded the status of National Monument.

In 1987, the Portuguese State acquired the property from the heirs of Delfim Ferreira with the intention of installing a museum of modern art there. The House was opened to the public that same year, as a venue for exhibitions of modern and contemporary art until the opening, in 1999, of the new Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art.

In 2021 it was conclued the restoration and adaptation project of Casa de Serralves, signed by the architect Álvaro Siza. This project, which ensures the total integrity of the magnificent building, has provided the house with better conditions to welcome visitors, in particular people with reduced mobility.

At the same time, structures and coverings were renovated, thus enabling the necessary museological environment to host important exhibitions, such as those of the Miró Collection, owned by the Portuguese State, in the custody of the Porto City Council and in storage at the Serralves Foundation.

Manoel de Oliveira House by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Manoel de Oliveira's House of Cinema

The Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira, project by Álvaro Siza is a new centre of excellence for the cinema and the moving image, integrated within the spaces of the Serralves Foundation.

Manoel de Oliveira's House of Cinema by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

In addition to a permanent exhibition, a documentation centre and film screenings that provide regular access to Manoel de Oliveira's oeuvre, the Casa do Cinema will present a programme of temporary exhibitions, thematic and monographic film series, retrospective, conferences,  publications and educational programmes, through which it promotes different ways to approach contemporary cinema, within a broad reflection on the art of our epoch.

Serralves Park

Serralves Park spans 18 hectares and is constituted by a wide variety of magnificent, harmoniously interconnected spaces: formal gardens, woodlands, and a traditional farm. Designed by the architect Jacques Greber in the 1930s, it constitutes a singular reference within Portugal’s landscape heritage.

Serralves Foundation by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

A visit to the Park, via any of its circuits, involving different routes and durations, is a privileged opportunity to come into contact with nature and appreciate the wide diversity of trees and shrubs, constituted by roughly 200 species and a variety of autochthonous and ornamental exotic plants. 

Sculpture by Fundação de SerralvesRede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea a Norte (RPAC – Norte)

Sculptures

In addition, the gardens and the park also constitute a museum setting: visitors to the park will encounter sculptures from the Serralves Collection that are permanently on display.

Treetop Walk

The Treetop Walk is created next to the tree canopy, high above the ground, and offers breathtaking opportunities to observe and study the Biodiversity of Serralves Park.

Implementation of this project - designed by the architect Carlos Castanheira in collaboration with the architect Álvaro Siza Vieira - have a major impact in terms of environmental awareness and respect for conservation of nature, natural heritage and the scientific community, in Portugal and abroad.

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