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Arts & Communication Contemporary Portuguese art market tools

the art system, shape tastes in society and the canon, and to the art world”. In particular, they aim to contribute to
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support innovative esthetic movements, besides exercising the global recognition of Portuguese contemporary art. To
influence on public policies. Next, I examine three active this end, the collectors invite international artists, curators,
collectors or collector duos – António Cachola, Pedro and collectors; create events; and promote discussion of
Álvares Ribeiro, and Maria João Santos and Armando topics related to art and the art ecosystem. Along with
Cabral – who have been gathering works with the aim of the exhibition program, works from the couple’s own
sharing them with the public. collection are often on display. Their collection covers
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First, António Cachola is a businessman who has a vast range of materials from contemporary visual arts,
assembled a comprehensive collection of contemporary particularly videos, installations, and photography.
Portuguese art, along with work by emerging artists, with 4. Discussion
works from the 1980s onward. At the turn of the new
millennium, Cachola began discussions with the city This study gathered comprehensive data to analyze
council on opening a museum in Elvas, his hometown the specific features of and gain deeper insights into
on the border with Spain. The institution opened in 2007 the dynamics of a small-scale art market. Utilizing the
in an old hospital converted into a public museum, and conceptual framework of the Global South as an operative
the collection was loaned and established there. The new tool to discuss markets from a region that previously lacked a
Elvas Museum of Contemporary Art (MACE) has had an supportive infrastructure, the applied methods (a literature
ever-evolving program since then, aimed at disseminating review, reports, and questionnaires, combined with field
knowledge of Portuguese artists, including among Spanish research and interviews) enabled the identification of the
institutions. The 2022 program for the 15th-anniversary main infrastructures of the primary art market in Portugal.
celebrations of the opening of MACE is particularly The development observed has followed the international
noteworthy. On this occasion, the museum turned to growth of the art market from the 1960s onward on a scale
its wider network, inviting 24 institutions and various commensurate with Portugal’s size.
collectors to join in the celebrations by presenting their This study also identified a permanent tension among
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collections in spaces across the town. The program paid the art market players. The data show small-scale, local
tribute to the practice of collecting and the significance of buyers in their métier. The art market’s size and the scope
the role that collectors play in the Portuguese art scene, of collections, which prioritize acquisitions of works by
thus arguing against the suggestion that their influence is Portuguese artists and thus support the local art scene,
inconsequential. may seem like a collecting practice that is distinctive from

Second, businessman Pedro Álvares Ribeiro opened a regions of the Global South. In addition, collectors may be
museum in Porto in 2019 called the Casa de São Roque, led to focus on emerging artists, who are not yet established
Centro de Arte (House of St Roch, Art Center). This in the art system, due to economic constraints and lower
new space was previously a manor house favored by prices, allowing them to support new talents (Cachola/
bourgeoisie wine producers. While the building belongs to MACE). Moreover, a sense of responsibility toward the art
the city council, the collector agreed to refurbish it to host milieu was identified. Collectors’ actions may be driven
an international contemporary art collection, thus creating by a desire for community impact and using alternative
a hybrid of private and public museum models. Since then, venues for displaying their collections. Collectors tend to
his collection has been exhibited through a program of make art accessible, be engaged in collaborative practices,
temporary exhibitions. The collector is very committed to and work closely with artists, other collectors, and cultural
the art scene, having begun amassing works of art in the organizations (Rialto) in a collaborative manner, ultimately
1980s. He first loaned his works to the Serralves Museum helping build networks. This resilience and adaptability
in the 1990s. His collection focuses on works by the allow collectors to pursue creative pursuits and sustain
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Portuguese artists he loves (e.g., Ana Jotta, José Pedro their collections. Understanding this distinctive practice
Croft, and Rui Chafes) but also features Spanish and Polish helps us appreciate the unique contributions that collectors
artists. make to the art world.

Finally, Maria João Santos and Armando Cabral are a Simultaneously, however, efforts to gain international
couple who launched Rialto6 in Lisbon in 2019. This is a audiences and recognition have also increased. Systematic
private project: they open their own house to the public participation by Portuguese gallerists in international art
on specific days of the week through a program of eclectic fairs is one such measure, which has the aim of reaching
contemporary exhibitions. The couple is highly committed international collectors, curators, and museum directors.
to contemporary art and is keen to make themselves “useful The programs developed by galleries also consider

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 7 doi: 10.36922/ac.3317