Exhibitions in Lisbon
October 2026
October at a glance: 8 exhibitions opening, 11 closing, and 20 more on view across the city.
Opening in October
Exhibiting, Publishing: MAAT in Print (2016–2026)2 OctMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
More than 300 books and catalogues look back on ten years of MAAT's publishing and exhibition programme.
VENUS – Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos2 OctMAAT – 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 Age2 OctMAAT – 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.
Amelie von Wulffen: Panic Realism17 OctCulturgest
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.
Sei Miguel: Original Copy17 OctCulturgest · Free
The hybrid diagrams, between drawing and writing, that jazz and experimental musician Sei Miguel invented to score what musical notation couldn't capture.
Ângela Ferreira: Here I Stand24 OctMAC/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.
Life is the Game – An immersive experience by Paulo Furtado28 OctMAAT – 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.
Animals of Lisbon – Another History of the City29 OctMuseu 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.
Closing in October
- Loops.Expanded 20263 Oct
MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado
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.
Seeing and Reading: Paulo de Cantos4 OctMUDE – Museu do Design
The self-published books, primers and game-books of educator and graphic innovator Paulo de Cantos (1892–1979), including his double-fronted "birostos" books.
- Maria José Oliveira: I Who Once Was I4 Oct
MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado
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.
Margarida Correia – Mais Alto5 OctMAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology
Photographs, interviews and archives portraying the Portuguese army's female paratrooper nurses who served in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.
Diogo Pimentão. Transient Force of Things5 OctCentro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM) · Free
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.
My Dear Saint Anthony – Images from Private Collections11 OctMuseu de Lisboa
At the Saint Anthony site: statues, candles and devotional prints lent by private collectors, and the personal stories behind each piece.
Terra Crua11 OctMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
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 Botas18 Oct
Casa Fernando Pessoa
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.
Saving Lives from the Sea – Neutral Portugal in a World at War (1939–1945)18 OctMuseu de Marinha
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 Himid25 OctMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
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 Paredes31 OctMuseu do Fado
Centenary show on Carlos Paredes (1925-2004), master of the Portuguese guitar, through his instruments, records, documents and films.
Also on through October
Frida Orupabo: Cloud of Confusionto 1 NovMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
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.
6th Natural History and Science Photography Exhibitionto 29 NovMuseu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
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.
Mostra Espanha 2026: Guest Works by Maruja Malloto 29 NovMAC/CCB – Museum of Contemporary Art and Architecture Centre
Two paintings by Spanish avant-garde artist Maruja Mallo, Basuras (1930) and Naturaleza viva (1943), span pre-war Madrid's outskirts and her exile on the Chilean coast.
- The Eternal Ark – Fernando Pessoa and Posterityto 6 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]to 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 Indonesiato 13 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.