Report on Visit to Joana Vasconcelos Foundation, Lisbon

On Friday 14 February twenty members of the Society visited the Atelier Joana Vasconcelos located in a converted warehouse next to the Museu do Oriente in Alcântara, Lisbon. The atelier forms part of the Fundação Joana Vasconcelos whose mission is to support those who follow the pathway of art. As well as the creation of major works of art, often commissioned by museums and private individuals, the Foundation awards bursaries and collaborates in the initiatives of other entities. The Foundation also has objectives of social solidarity and supports social causes.

Joana Baptista Vasconcelos was born in Paris in 1971. She is undoubtedly the foremost living Portuguese plastic artist. She has exhibited regularly since 1994 and achieved considerable international success in exhibitions such as the Bienial de Veneza in 2013, the Guggenheim in Bilbao in 2018 and the MasArt Art Museum in Boston, Massachussets in 2020. Particularly well known internationally are her works “A Noiva” - The Bride, a 20 ft. high chandelier made of over 14,000 tampons, “O Bolo” - the “wedding cake” at Waddesdon Manor, England, and the Valkyrie series, initiated in 2004, inspired by the powerful female characters of Norse mythology that fly over battlefields on winged horses and bring the bravest warriors back to life to serve as gods.

Our guide was also called Joana. She spoke with great enthusiasm in excellent English, and was obviously highly inspired by the example of Joana Vasconcelos. On entering the ground floor of the atelier our attention was immediately drawn to the “Drag Race”, a Porsche 911 Targa Carreira, decorated with gilded Baroque angelic figures and burgundy-coloured ostrich feathers. Joana explained that the gilding had been done in association with the National Coach Museum, just a couple of miles away in Belém. The remainder of the vast space was largely empty but it was explained to us that the area was used as an assembly area and for preparing exhibits for transport to exhibitions. There were, however, two wall panels using Viúva Lamego and Bordalo Pinheiro tiles, which had been models for the design of the “wedding cake”.

On the first floor we saw three ladies working on intricate lace-like black crochet designs, which would then be used dress classical sculptures made of cement. On the second floor we visited the metal and woodwork workshops – very necessary to produce the skeletons of the larger exhibits. Employees in the textile department, divided into crochet, embroidery and sewing areas, were busy repairing Valkyries. Against the walls were neatly stored hundreds of different fabrics and components. Apparently, nothing is ever thrown away.

Next stop was the art work department. Joana Vasconcelos commences each project with a rough drawing and then develops her ideas with the personnel of this department on a continuous basis. In the adjoining Bordalo room, an employee was engaged in producing fine black crochet lace to decorate the head of a bull from the Bordalo Pinheiro ceramic factory.

When preparing for a major exhibition, there may be up to 60 people working at the atelier. Our guide informed us that the employees’ work was very demanding in concentration and physical skills so the atelier took great care in looking after them by making available daily sessions of yoga, meditation and selfcare. In addition, two therapists attended during the week to give further assistance.

Finally, we visited the architectural department, which was responsible for the planning of major projects. Here we were shown some of the “red books”, each devoted to one of these projects and containing drawings, descriptions, references and photographs.

And so ended a most successful visit with further photographs being taken by the “Drag Race”. The Fundação Joana Vasconcelos is not open to the general public but accepts requests for guided visits from organisations with cultural objectives. Members of the British Historical Society of Portugal were indeed privileged to be made so welcome.

Text: Edward Godfrey

Photos: Luiza Serpa Lopes/Andrew Shepherd