Mestres Da Obra
12.10-09.11.2023 & 28.10.2023
The "Mestres da Obra" [Masters of the Work] project focuses on the relationship between designers and builders. It promoted the transformation of the work environment into a space for knowledge and the exchange of knowledge, giving new meaning to relationships and contexts in architectural and artistic practice. It consisted of an exhibition of pieces developed in collaboration between the curator, Arthur Pugliesi, and workers on a construction site. The exhibition was activated by a public program that included two talks and a tour. The first talk/guided tour of the exhibition was given by curator Arthur Pugliesi at the opening of the exhibition. The second talk took place in the CIAJG reserves, with director Marta Mestre, Paulo Moreira, Carla Cruz and Flávia Vieira, professors at the University of Minho, moderated by Arthur Pugliesi. The tour consisted of a visit to the shipyard in Guimarães, where it was possible to see some more pieces developed as part of the project.
Mestres da Obra is an artistic collective that has been promoting the human development of construction workers for over 20 years, helping to strengthen issues related to sustainability, citizenship and culture. As a core activity, the organization sets up Art and Humanities Workshops within construction sites, where workers participate in co-creation with artists, architects, musicians and education professionals.
The construction site then becomes a space for exchanging knowledge, where teaching and learning become a collective responsibility, strengthening the relationship between the workers and the place where they live and work.
The complexity of these issues, relevant not only to the Mestres da Obra Program but to any process of cultural regeneration, implies the use of new methodologies and action strategies that can re-signify work environments and the perception of a new use for cities. By getting in touch with our innermost imagination, our senses are renewed and we are naturally led to review the meanings we attribute to things. The power of a new vision comes to the surface, a new understanding of how to deal with certain problems and, above all, new possibilities for solving them.
Fotos: Yujie Liu, Barbara Gocníková
Contributors: Arthur Pugliesi, Carla Cruz, Flávia Vieira, Marta Mestre, Paulo Moreira
Partners: Mestres da Obra, AlfaAtlântica, Ordem dos Arquitectos Norte, CIAJG Guimarães
Support: DG Artes/Ministério da Cultura e Criatório
