The Lisbon Consortium

To look back at the curatorial project “What We Can(‘t) Hold” that closes in Monday (22 June), watch the interview with Leonor Nazaré (Senior Curator, CAM) that is now available on the Lisbon Consortium Youtube channel (link in bio).

The interview is part of the curatorial project of the MA students in Culture Studies at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. The exhibition is a result of the Curatorial Practices seminar and the partnership with CAM - Centre for Modern Art, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

In this video, recorded in person at CAM-Gulbenkian, the students talk to Leonor Nazaré. With a unique background spanning literature, aesthetics and art criticism, Leonor Nazaré shares her vast experience and guides us in a reflection on the encounter between the artwork, the space and the public.

Applications are ongoing to the MA program in Culture Studies!

The Management of the Arts and Culture track is ​designed to prepare students for a career in the cultural sector. It combines an admittedly theoretical discussion about the complexity of the art system in a globalized world with some practically-oriented modules designed to develop skills in the fields of curatorship, cultural management and cultural production. This track tackles the main issues in the study of culture and promotes a meaningful and comprehensive critical reflection about the arts to form effective thinkers and managers in the cultural field. The program also offers opportunities of professional immersion (internships) so as to extend student learning beyond the space of the University.

Global Cultures and the Arts track promotes a broad discussion about cultural phenomena and trains students to develop a critical, structured reflection on how artistic and cultural objects and practices produce meaning. The track is organized around theoretical seminars (common core) and thematic seminars that address issues relevant to the field of Culture Studies and our contemporary times.

The program also offers opportunities of professional immersion so as to extend student learning beyond the space of the University.

For more information, check link in bio!

Congratulations, Maria!

Maria Otamendi Val successfully defended the MA Internship report "Where Caring is More than Money. Even in the Art World. Galleri Heike Arndt DK: A Case Study on Non-for-profit Art Galleries" on 27 May, 2026.

Congratulations, Matthew!

Matthew Mason successfully defended the PhD thesis "Between Situationist Critique and Postmodern Play: Contemporary (re)Readings of Jean-Luc Godard’s ‘Long ‘67’" on 27 May, 2026.

Randi Charno Levine is an American arts advocate, author, and former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal who is widely recognized for championing cultural diplomacy as a tool for strengthening international relations.

As Ambassador, she led efforts to enhance the diplomatic, commercial, educational, and defense collaborations between Portugal and the United States – yet Ambassador Levine also made the arts a central pillar of her diplomatic work.

Ambassador Levine curated and launched an Arts in Embassies exhibition at Casa Carlucci, uniting 29 American artists and Portuguese counterparts to foster dialogue between the two countries through visual arts and strengthen people-to-people ties. Under her leadership, the Embassy convened cultural programming that brought communities together through shared creativity and conversation, including panel discussions, artist presentations, and public events addressing mutual challenges and aspirations.

Previously, Ambassador Levine served on the boards of major cultural and academic institutions in New York City, including the Roundabout Theatre Company, NYU Langone Health, the High Line, the Anna Wintour Costume Center, the National Portrait Gallery, the New Museum, and the Meridian International Center. Ambassador Levine is a Distinguished Fellow in the Transatlantic Security Initiative of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was named Honorary Professor of Art and Diplomacy at Católica University in Lisbon and a Visiting Fellow at Arizona State University’s Institute of Politics.

Ambassador Levine leads the seminar Art and Diplomacy on 25-26 May at UCP and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The seminar brings together artists, curators and institutional leaders to discuss topics such as institutional decision-making, the role of art museums today, as well as curatorial practices.

The full program of the seminar is available via the link in bio.

Xavier F. Salomon is the Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum since 2026.

He has worked at the British Museum and at the National Gallery in London, before joining, in 2006, Dulwich Picture Gallery as the Arturo and Holly Melosi Chief Curator.

In 2011, he joined the Department of European Paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as Curator of Southern Baroque, in charge of Italian paintings from the 17th and 18th century, French 17th-century and Spanish paintings.

In 2014, he curated the monographic exhibition Paolo Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice at the National Gallery in London. Since 2014, he has been Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator at The Frick Collection in New York where he curated exhibitions on artists such as Guido Cagnacci, Paolo Veronese, Antonio Canova, Giambattista Tiepolo, Luigi Valadier, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Bertoldo di Giovanni, Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione.

He also worked on projects with contemporary artists such as Doron Langberg, Salman Toor, Jenna Gribbon, Nicolas Party, and Flora Yukhnovich.

His main areas of expertise are art and patronage in 17th- and 18th-century Rome and Venice, and the painters Paolo Veronese and Rosalba Carriera.

Xavier F. Salomon will be in conversation with Adam Weinberg, Director Emeritus of Whitney Museum of American Art, and Amb. Randi Charno Levine on 26 May at 10:00 in Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The panel “The Art Museum Today: Collections, Communal Forums and Contested Spaces” explores the contemporary responsibilities of museums and how they might navigate competing expectations while balancing different roles: as sanctuaries for reflection and psychic sustenance, hubs for collective cultural exchange, and platforms for socio-political protest.

Full bio available @ Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

The full program of the Art and Diplomacy seminar is available via the link in bio.

Born in Mexico City, Aliza Nisenbaum makes portrait paintings that are manifestations of exchanges with her subjects over time. Collaborating with communities, she employs the focused attention of observational painting to create the conditions for close-looking. Distinct social groups are foregrounded, including immigrant communities, dancers, members of grassroot organizations, subway, airport, and health workers. Nisenbaum engages with these groups on various levels, sharing resources, skills and ultimately, through the intimacy of portraiture as social representation. Through lengthy engagement with her subjects, the artist gains a deeper understanding of individual and collective histories, and accords a dignity to the exchange– that exceeds the space of portraiture. Often lushly decorated with patterned textiles found in her sitter’s homes and tiles from workplace settings, Nisenbaum makes visible the material conditions, friendships and alliances of particular work and leisure environments.

Selected solo and two-person exhibitions include The Barack Obama Presidential Center (June 2026) Des Moines Art Center (2025–2026); The Metropolitan Opera, New York (2023–2024); Queens Museum, New York (2023); Delta Air Lines x Queens Museum at LaGuardia Airport, New York (2022); Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City (2022); Tate Liverpool (2020); Minneapolis Institute of Art (2017–2018).

Nisenbaum’s work is held in the permanent collections of museums and public institutions worldwide, such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate, The Perimeter, Whitney Museum of American Art, and many others.

Aliza Nisenbaum will be in conversation with artist Alfredo Jaar, curator Rujeko Hockley and Amb. Randi Charno Levine on 26 May at 15:30 at UCP (Auditorium 511). The panel “Curatorial Power: Selection, Visibility, and Narrative” examines curatorial decisions by discussing what is collected, exhibited, framed or omitted and how these decisions actively construct cultural meaning and historical narratives.  

Alfredo Jaar is an artist, photographer, architect, and filmmaker who lives and works in Lisbon. His work has been shown extensively around the world. He has participated in the Biennales of Venice (1986, 2007, 2009, 2013), Sao Paulo (1987, 1989, 2010, 2021) as well as Documenta in Kassel (1987, 2002).

Important individual exhibitions include The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (1992); Whitechapel, London (1992); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (1994); The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1995); and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2005). Major recent surveys of his work have taken place at Musée des Beaux Arts, Lausanne (2007); Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2008); Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlinische Galerie and Neue Gesellschaft fur bildende Kunst e.V., Berlin (2012); Rencontres d’Arles (2013); KIASMA, Helsinki (2014); Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK (2017); Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa (2020); SESC Pompeia, Sao Paulo (2021), Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima (2023), and KINDL, Berlin (2024).

His work can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum, New York; Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; MOCA and LACMA, Los Angeles; MASP, Museu de Arte de São Paulo; TATE, London; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Centro Reina Sofia, Madrid; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; MAXXI and MACRO, Rome; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlaebeck; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art and Tokushima Modern Art Museum, Japan; M+, Hong Kong; and dozens of institutions and private collections worldwide.

Alfredo Jaar will be in conversation with artist Aliza Nisenbaum, curator Rujeko Hockley and Amb. Randi Charno Levine on 26 May at 15:30 at UCP (Auditorium 511). The panel “Curatorial Power: Selection, Visibility, and Narrative” examines curatorial decisions by discussing what is collected, exhibited, framed or omitted and how these decisions actively construct cultural meaning and historical narratives.

The full program of the Art and Diplomacy seminar is available via the link in bio.

For the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, Prof. Diana Gonçalves talks about culture as a space for belonging, reinvention and critical thinking.

https://sapo.pt/artigo/pensar-a-cultura-na-era-contemporanea-porque-continua-a-ser-urgente-refletir-sobre-o-mundo-em-que-vivemos-6a0ee1c5cd43b947e526b413

Philippe Vergne has been serving as director of Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, since April 2019.

He was director of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) from 2014 to 2018.

Prior to his appointment at MOCA, Vergne served for five years as director of the Dia Art Foundation, New York.

Before his tenure at the Dia Foundation, Vergne was Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

From 1994 to 1997, Vergne was Director of the MAC, Musée d’Art Contemporain de Marseille, France.

Philipp Vergne will be in conversation with Adam Weinberg (Director Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art), artist Hank Willis Thomas and Amb. Randi Charno Levine on 25 May at 18:30 at UCP (Auditorium 511). The panel “Institutional Decision-Making: Ethics, Risk, and Public Impact” focuses on how museums and cultural institutions make high-stakes decisions involving ethics, funding, governance, public trust, and social responsibility.

The full program of the Art and Diplomacy seminar is available via the link in bio.