Exhibitions in Lisbon
December 2026
December at a glance: 3 exhibitions opening, 7 closing, and 21 more on view across the city.
Opening in December
Francisca Carvalho: Kouroi al cora3 DecMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
Solo show of Francisca Carvalho's vertiginous narratives, built from a blend of many sources into a rich, distinctive visual vocabulary.
Neïl Beloufa3 DecMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
French-Algerian artist Neïl Beloufa builds a route where visitors interact with objects and play through chapters of a live computer game.
Marisol: When Things Are Just Beginning17 DecMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
The first retrospective of Marisol Escobar's drawings, bringing together over one hundred works made from the 1950s until her death.
Closing in December
- The Eternal Ark – Fernando Pessoa and Posterity6 Dec
Casa 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How Pessoa's legend grew after 1935 from the famous trunk of unpublished papers.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.
You, Me, Us [O, Hau, Ita; Tu, Eu, Nós]13 DecMuseu do Oriente
34 paintings, collages and installations by Timorese artist Maria Madeira explore Timorese ancestral beliefs, exile and the cultural ties between Timor-Leste and Portugal.
Invoking Silence | Biocultural Harmony in Indonesia13 DecMuseu do Oriente
A meditative show on silence as ritual in Indonesia, from Bali's Nyepi New Year and Javanese Tapa Bisu to daily offerings and prayer, with Museu das Convergências.
The Photographic Impulse: (Un)settling the Colonial Archive31 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)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.
Natural Variations – A Journey Through Portugal's Landscapes31 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.
Illustrare – Journeys of Scientific Illustration in Portugal31 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.
Also on through December
Japan: Festivities and Ritesto 3 JanMuseu 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.
Paradise, Today.to 3 JanMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
Portugal's official show from the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale: an interactive digital installation and atlas of images on how the Portuguese landscape is inhabited and imagined.
Amelie von Wulffen: Panic Realismto 24 JanCulturgest
Paintings, sculptures and drawings by German artist Amelie von Wulffen, mixing pop icons like Heidi and Maya the Bee with the darker undercurrents of German history.
Arpad Szenes: Collection Highlights (Third Exhibition Cycle 2026)to 24 JanFundação Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva
The museum's third exhibition cycle of 2026 turns the spotlight on Arpad Szenes, with a new selection of his work drawn from the foundation's collection.
They Were Afraid, Yet They Wentto 31 JanMuseu do Aljube – Resistência e Liberdade · Free
Women political prisoners and resisters under Portugal's dictatorship: who they were, how they endured prison, exile and underground life, and who supported them.
Coexistências: Jewellery and the World's Beautyto 31 JanMUDE – Museu do Design
Core show of the 3rd Lisbon Contemporary Jewellery Biennial: international jewellery exploring ecology, AI and coexistence between humans and other life.
Contemporary Jewellery: Tereza Seabra Collectionto 31 JanMUDE – Museu do Design
Over 300 pieces by 190+ makers from the newly donated collection of jeweller and gallerist Tereza Seabra, tracing contemporary jewellery from 1970 to 2025.
Inês Zenha. Murky Watersto 8 FebCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM) · Free
Inês Zenha turns the Project Space into a post-human cave of water, clay and bodily fluids, exploring queer identity, desire and transformation.
Pedro Cabrita Reis – “without sorrow of heart”to 15 FebMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
Nearly 200 unseen paintings, drawings and sculptures made for MAAT's Oval Gallery, in which one of Portugal's best-known artists takes on the masters of post-Renaissance art.
Turn Around. A Look at the EDP Foundation Art Collectionto 15 FebMAAT – 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.
Exhibiting, Publishing: MAAT in Print (2016–2026)to 15 FebMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
More than 300 books and catalogues look back on ten years of MAAT's publishing and exhibition programme.
Life is the Game – An immersive experience by Paulo Furtadoto 15 FebMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
A mixed-reality headset journey through death and rebirth, directed and scored by Paulo Furtado (The Legendary Tigerman). Sessions last 15 to 18 minutes, for up to 6 people, pre-booked.
Sei Miguel: Original Copyto 21 FebCulturgest · Free
The hybrid diagrams, between drawing and writing, that jazz and experimental musician Sei Miguel invented to score what musical notation couldn't capture.
"Heaven on Earth Cannot Wait": Works from the CGD Collectionto 21 FebCulturgest
For Caixa Geral de Depósitos' 150th anniversary, new acquisitions to its art collection enter into dialogue with existing works. Title from poet Adília Lopes.
VENUS – Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelosto 22 FebMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
Joana Vasconcelos sets her monumental textile sculptures, including Valkyrie Venus and Marilyn, in dialogue with over 30 Valentino haute couture and ready-to-wear creations.
João Pimenta Gomes – New Ageto 22 FebMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
A sound installation of around ten resonant, leaf-like metal objects, made for MAAT's Project Room by the Lisbon musician and visual artist.
The Exhibition of a Dreamto 22 FebCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
Curated by Mathieu Copeland, sixteen dreams become songs played along evolving mandalas in the Engawa Space: an exhibition without screens, experienced through sound and space.
Ângela Ferreira: Here I Standto 28 FebMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
Survey of Ângela Ferreira from 1990s pieces to new work, tracing her long research into the facts, figures and architectures linked to colonialism.
On Drawing Placesto 29 MarCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
More than fifty artists from the 1950s to today use drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and video to build places between reality and imagination.
Animals of Lisbon – Another History of the Cityto 4 JunMuseu de Lisboa
Dogs, pigs, horses, even elephants and rhinos: the non-human neighbours who shaped Lisbon's streets, markets and stables. At the Pimenta Palace.
ANTROPO(CÉNICO) – In the Time of Humansto 31 DecMuseu 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.
Stay in the loop on Lisbon
A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.