Encounters — Art and Labour is a cycle dedicated to reflecting on the work and challenges of professionals who develop an artistic practice in Portugal. Seeking to contribute to the formulation of proposal with real impact on their economical and professional sustainability, the project promotes a space of dialogue between artists, lawyers, researchers, and other agents from the sector around issues related to the regulation of the profession, copyright, models of funding, and forms of collective organizing.

Over two days, the program brings together two presentations, and two roundtables.


Among the guests are Isabelle Henrion, co-coordinator of Artistes en résidence and interdependant curator, who will speak to us about ways for artists to achieve sustainability based on her experience within the French visual arts scene, and the artist Carla Filipe, in dialogue with lawyer Gabriela Pinheiro about legal and contractual issues in visual arts.

The first roundtable will have as a starting point Café Trabalho, a project by artist José Oliveira, with the participation of three independent spaces. The second roundtable, conceived in collaboration with the Association for Visual Artists in Portugal (AAVP) will bring together artists, collectors, gallerists, curators, and institutional representatives.

Coffe-breaks and dinners will be moments of continuity for debate and sharing ideas. The dinners have a capacity of 50 people and require pre-booking.

Subsequently, the Encounters will be gathered and published in a minute, edited in collaboration with Mafalda Araújo, bringing together the main questions discussed and proposed in the sessions. This free distribution edition will serve as a reference and a working tool for artists and other professionals in the sector.