Exhibitions in Lisbon
August 2026
August 2026 at a glance: 1 exhibition opened, 0 closed, and 34 more were on view across the city.
Opened in August
Was on view in August
- Alice Geirinhas: Sycoraxto 20 Sept
MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do ChiadoPast
An installation of drawings giving body and voice to Sycorax, the unseen witch-mother of Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest, drawing on medieval woodcuts of the European witch hunts.
On Gestures and Forms. A Dialogue Between Collectionsto 20 SeptMNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do ChiadoPast
Works from MNAA, MNAC and the Millennium bcp Collection meet across four themes (Flesh, Time, Ingenuity, Material/Immaterial), recalling the two museums' shared 1911 origin.
Young Design Generation Exhibitionto 20 SeptMUDE – Museu do DesignPast
The 20 finalist projects of Lisbon Design Week's 3rd Young Design Generation competition, shown with their creative process and all 122 entries.
3 Views of Lisbonto 27 SeptMuseu de LisboaPast
Three rarely shown privately owned paintings of Rossio and Terreiro de Belém from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with open questions of authorship.
- Ultratremorto 27 Sept
MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do ChiadoPast
Group show curated by Germano Dushá: sixteen Portuguese and Brazilian artists explore the passage between material and immaterial through apparitions, rituals and states of transformation.
For the Love of the City – 90 Years of the Grupo Amigos de Lisboato 27 SeptMuseu de LisboaPast
In the Backroom at the Pimenta Palace: 90 years of the Friends of Lisbon Group, the civic association that has fought for the city's heritage since 1936.
Perspectives on Bacchus Hour – 10 Yearsto 27 SeptMuseu de LisboaPast
At the Roman Theatre site: José Alex Gandum's photographs of a decade of Bacchus Hour, the monthly evenings of music and toasts in the ancient theatre.
What Remainsto 27 SeptMuseu de LisboaPast
At the Roman Theatre site: Robert Wiley's site-specific installation weaving uncatalogued glass and ceramic fragments from local excavations into a web of craft and history.
Rosa Barba. Drawing Vocabulariesto 28 SeptCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)Past
Rosa Barba's first major show in Portugal: a site-specific installation in the Nave where film, sound and performance become sculpture, a 3D film and musical score at once.
SUPERCREATURES! Powered by Natureto 30 SeptPavilhão do Conhecimento – Ciência VivaPast
27 interactive exhibits reveal the evolved "superpowers" of Portuguese animals, from the peregrine falcon's 300 km/h dive to the Iberian wolf's howl.
Glass Eye – Pedro Barassito 30 SeptMuseu Nacional de História Natural e da CiênciaPast
Paintings and drawings by Pedro Barassi made while following the museum's taxidermy laboratory in 2025-26, probing the uneasy line between artificial animal and living memory.
Loops.Expanded 2026to 3 OctMNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do ChiadoPast
11th edition of the MNAC and DuplaCena show devoted to the loop as a form of moving image, curated by Irit Batsry, with works by Karim Aïnouz, Marcelo Gomes and open-call artists.
Maria José Oliveira: I Who Once Was Ito 4 OctMNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do ChiadoPast
Lisbon-born artist Maria José Oliveira (b. 1943) turns humble, worn objects into drawings, sculptures and installations about memory, ritual and metamorphosis. Capelo Norte Gallery.
Seeing and Reading: Paulo de Cantosto 4 OctMUDE – Museu do DesignPast
The self-published books, primers and game-books of educator and graphic innovator Paulo de Cantos (1892–1979), including his double-fronted "birostos" books.
Diogo Pimentão. Transient Force of Thingsto 5 OctCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)FreePast
New works by Diogo Pimentão in the Drawing Room, some made during a performance with dancer Emmanuel Eggermont, pushing drawing through paper, graphite and the body.
Margarida Correia – Mais Altoto 5 OctMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and TechnologyPast
Photographs, interviews and archives portraying the Portuguese army's female paratrooper nurses who served in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.
My Dear Saint Anthony – Images from Private Collectionsto 11 OctMuseu de LisboaPast
At the Saint Anthony site: statues, candles and devotional prints lent by private collectors, and the personal stories behind each piece.
Terra Cruato 11 OctMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture CentrePast
Architecture Centre show on raw earth as a building material in Portugal, from soil science and historical know-how to prototypes and contemporary case studies.
- Echoes from the Collection – The Anarchist Banker by Mário Botasto 18 Oct
Casa Fernando PessoaPast
A work from the house's art collection leaves storage: Mário Botas's O Banqueiro Anarquista, after Pessoa's story, presented by curator Susana Pomba.
6th Natural History and Science Photography Exhibitionto 18 OctMuseu Nacional de História Natural e da CiênciaPast
The 30 best images, chosen by a jury from about 215 entries by 41 photographers, capturing wildlife and the natural world in the museum's annual photo contest.
Saving Lives from the Sea – Neutral Portugal in a World at War (1939–1945)to 18 OctMuseu de MarinhaPast
How neutral Portugal's navy, merchant and fishing ships rescued some 6,000 people from 12 nations' vessels in WWII, and the Portuguese seafarers lost to the war.
Multiple Eyes: Patricia Domínguez, Ines Doujak, Lubaina Himidto 25 OctMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture CentrePast
Three artists from different generations treat storytelling as a collaborative, political practice, fusing the ancestral and spiritual with the carnivalesque, magical and abject.
Variations to Carlos Paredesto 31 OctMuseu do FadoPast
Centenary show on Carlos Paredes (1925-2004), master of the Portuguese guitar, through his instruments, records, documents and films.
Frida Orupabo: Cloud of Confusionto 1 NovMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture CentrePast
Frida Orupabo's first solo show in Portugal mines her Instagram image archive of colonial records, ethnographic photos, family portraits and pop icons to probe intimacy and violence.
The Photographic Impulse: (Un)settling the Colonial Archiveto 31 DecMuseu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
A decolonial reading of photographs and scientific objects from Portuguese geodesy and anthropology expeditions to colonised territories, from the late 19th century to 1974.
Zé Povinho's Lisbon (A Lisboa do Zé Povinho)to 31 DecMuseu Bordalo Pinheiro
Off-site show for Zé Povinho's 150th birthday: Bordalo's everyman in his home city of Lisbon. Held in the foyer of Fórum Lisboa (Av. de Roma 14), not at the museum.
Illustrare – Journeys of Scientific Illustration in Portugalto 31 DecMuseu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Six centuries of Portuguese natural-history illustration, shown alongside specimens and models, exploring images made both to enchant and to communicate science.
Natural Variations – A Journey Through Portugal's Landscapesto 31 DecMuseu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
An immersive 1,200m² journey through ten Portuguese ecosystems: climb a mountain, descend into a cave and dive into the ocean among plants, animals and fossils.
Japan: Festivities and Ritesto 3 Jan 2027Museu do Oriente
More than 1,500 objects, recreated altars and shrines trace Japan's calendar of Shinto and Buddhist festivals, from New Year and the Boys' and Girls' festivals to funeral rites.
The Eternal Ark – Fernando Pessoa and Posterityto 10 Jan 2027Casa Fernando Pessoa
How Pessoa's legend grew after 1935 from the famous trunk of unpublished papers. Curated by Antonio Sáez Delgado; visitors assemble their own take-away selection of texts.
Rosana Antolí. An Aria for the Mallardto 11 Jan 2027Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)Free
A sound installation in the Gulbenkian Garden's south lawn: an opera aria for the mallard duck, sung by Gulbenkian Choir soprano Claire Rocha Santos with the garden's own birds.
They Were Afraid, Yet They Wentto 31 Jan 2027Museu do Aljube – Resistência e LiberdadeFree
Women political prisoners and resisters under Portugal's dictatorship: who they were, how they endured prison, exile and underground life, and who supported them.
Turn Around. A Look at the EDP Foundation Art Collectionto 15 Feb 2027MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
Around 90 works by 58 leading Portuguese contemporary artists, from Helena Almeida to Julião Sarmento, drawn from a collection of some 2,500 works from the 1960s to today.
ANTROPO(CÉNICO) – In the Time of Humansto 31 Dec 2030Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Long-term installation on humanity's impact on the planet: 90 mammals from around the globe fill the room, tracing transformation and loss from the fossil record to today.
Image credits
32
- You, Me, Us [O, Hau, Ita; Tu, Eu, Nós]Courtesy of Museu do Oriente
- On Gestures and Forms. A Dialogue Between CollectionsCourtesy of MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado
- Young Design Generation ExhibitionCourtesy of MUDE – Museu do Design
- 3 Views of LisbonCourtesy of Museu de Lisboa
- For the Love of the City – 90 Years of the Grupo Amigos de LisboaCourtesy of Museu de Lisboa
- Perspectives on Bacchus Hour – 10 Years© José Alex Gandum
- What Remains© Robert Wiley
- Rosa Barba. Drawing VocabulariesCourtesy of Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
- SUPERCREATURES! Powered by Nature© Скарабей_священний_на_о._Джарилгач_(cropped)
- Glass Eye – Pedro BarassiCourtesy of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
- Loops.Expanded 2026Courtesy of MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado
- Maria José Oliveira: I Who Once Was I© Maria José Oliveira
- Seeing and Reading: Paulo de CantosCourtesy of MUDE – Museu do Design
- Diogo Pimentão. Transient Force of ThingsCourtesy of Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
- Margarida Correia – Mais AltoPersonal archive of Nurse Aura Teles. Unknown author.
- My Dear Saint Anthony – Images from Private CollectionsCourtesy of Museu de Lisboa
- Terra CruaNuno Vasconcelos / MAC/CCB
- 6th Natural History and Science Photography ExhibitionCourtesy of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
- Saving Lives from the Sea – Neutral Portugal in a World at War (1939–1945)Courtesy of Museu de Marinha
- Multiple Eyes: Patricia Domínguez, Ines Doujak, Lubaina HimidAntónio Jorge Silva / MAC/CCB
- Variations to Carlos ParedesAugusto Cabrita
- Frida Orupabo: Cloud of ConfusionAntónio Jorge Silva / MAC/CCB
- The Photographic Impulse: (Un)settling the Colonial ArchiveCourtesy of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
- Zé Povinho's Lisbon (A Lisboa do Zé Povinho)Courtesy of Museu Bordalo Pinheiro
- Illustrare – Journeys of Scientific Illustration in PortugalCourtesy of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
- Natural Variations – A Journey Through Portugal's LandscapesCourtesy of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
- Japan: Festivities and RitesCourtesy of Museu do Oriente
- The Eternal Ark – Fernando Pessoa and PosterityGualdimG / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Rosana Antolí. An Aria for the MallardCourtesy of Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
- They Were Afraid, Yet They WentCourtesy of Museu do Aljube – Resistência e Liberdade
- Turn Around. A Look at the EDP Foundation Art CollectionPhotos: Bruno Lopes
- ANTROPO(CÉNICO) – In the Time of HumansCourtesy of Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Stay in the loop on Lisbon
A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.