“QWhen I arrived at the museum in April 2021, it was all dismantled, which allowed me to rethink the museum’s long-term exhibition in a more programmatic and integral way. It was a long process, even a very long one, but which resulted from internal reflections to find narratives for an exhibition that we didn’t want to be just a succession of art objects”, said the museum’s director, António Ponte, in statements to journalists at the eve of its reopening.
In August 2019, Soares dos Reis announced that it would be partially closed, due to the start of the first of two phases of recovery and maintenance works, with an initially expected duration of six months.
These recovery works for the first public art museum in the country were negotiated by the former director of the institution, Maria João Vasconcelos, who in June 2019 said that the project would have an endowment of around one million euros, half of which for the design of the permanent exhibition.
With the works already completed when he took over, António Ponte recognizes today, confronted by journalists, that the city lacked an explanation, but underlines that his priority was always to return that cultural space to the city.
“We admit that there may have been a miscommunication in this explanation to the city. But look, I entered on April 1, 2021 and we opened the entire temporary exhibition wing on May 15. We understand this urgency to give people back the space. April 2021 until today we always had temporary exhibitions”, he indicated.
Showing himself satisfied with the full reopening of the museum, António Ponte also recalls that during the two-year period that led to the construction of this new narrative, the world, after a pandemic, was faced with a war with a direct impact on the availability of materials necessary for the realization of this new narrative, to which is added the times of public tenders and the choice of pieces itself, in a set of more than 18 thousand objects.
“We worked a lot during this period”, he underlined, acknowledging that “this does not justify everything”.
Anticipating what visitors will be able to find from Thursday, the official explains that the permanent exhibition presents a new look at its collections, valuing not only the cultural heritage, but also the history of the 190-year-old institution.
“What we are making available to our visitors today is a completely renewed exhibition, with several levels of narrative, of object relations, in which we cross the various artistic expressions – the fine arts with the decorative arts – allowing the public to have their readings”, he defended.
The intervention made it possible to fully renovate 27 rooms, with a total area of 1,900 square meters, where 1,133 pieces will be on display, 230 of which are undergoing restoration.
Among the novelties, António Ponte highlighted the availability to the public of pieces, some from the 13th century, which had not been seen for about thirty years, and which are now on display on the second floor of the Soares do Reis Museum building, such as the sculpture of Christ crucified.
Also noteworthy are the works of painters Vieira Portuense and Domingos Sequeira, and a bust of the poet Luís Vaz de Camões and a travel album and notes by António Soares dos Reis.
Asked about the museum’s intention to apply for funding for the requalification of the outer space, its director indicated that this will be achieved through the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the new community support framework.
The first public art museum in the country, the National Museum of Soares dos Reis was founded as the Porto Museum of Paintings and Prints in 1833, having acquired national status in 1932.
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