iCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)Avenidas Novas
Inês Zenha. Murky Waters
Inês Zenha turns the Project Space into a post-human cave of water, clay and bodily fluids, exploring queer identity, desire and transformation.
More in Lisbon
Straw has started to grow out of the back wall. Desenterro is a mural of unfired clay covered in hairs, cracks and lumps, and DN reported that straw in it began sprouting by itself, which Inês Zenha reads as survival.
You walk into the Project Space and, in Observador's words, into a kind of cave. Glazed stoneware drainpipes have wild plants growing out of them, and water runs through Somos Lodo, the sculpture made for this show. The curators say the subject is the queer body as something strange, sewers, sweat and body hair included. Lisbon renters know walls that sprout things every winter; this is the one where it's on purpose.
Le Petit Journal called the mood "calm, strange and almost hypnotic", helped by the sound of running water. Entry is free, but you collect a ticket on the day. CAM is open until 21:00 on Saturdays and closed Tuesdays. Zenha and the curators lead a free tour in Portuguese on 6 February 2027.
Look for
Desenterro, the clay wall
Look at the end wall: a mural of raw, unfired clay with hairs, cracks and growths across it, where straw has started sprouting on its own.
Somos Lodo (2026)
Look for the water: this sculpture, made for the Lisbon showing, opens the route with a continuous flow dripping and running through it.
The drainpipes with weeds
Look for the glazed stoneware pipes around the room, with wild plants and seedlings pushing out of them.
Águas-Vivas, the green triptych
Look for three panoramic paintings of genderless figures in a green fog, holding and supporting each other, eyes closed.
The Becoming-Hydra sculptures
Look closely at the glazes on these hybrid creatures, where pipes, organs and plant forms run into one another.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Evening Visits
- Locals Who've Seen It All
Skip if
You want art without bodily themes: sewage, sweat and body hair are the show's subject.
Also at Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Inês Zenha. Murky WatersCourtesy of Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
- Amelie von Wulffen: Panic RealismPhoto: Frank Sperling / Culturgest
- Sei Miguel: Original CopyCulturgest
- Arpad Szenes: Collection Highlights (Third Exhibition Cycle 2026)Courtesy of Fundação Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva
- Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)GualdimG / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Museu Calouste Gulbenkian (Founder's Collection)Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- CulturgestGualdimG / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fundação Arpad Szenes – Vieira da SilvaJnpoJuwan / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Casa-Museu Medeiros e AlmeidaRedpill 87 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0