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Where Art Meets Nature: A Day at Serralves
Photography by Claudine Boeglin
Serralves Foundation in Porto ranks among the most memorable cultural institutions for its offer of a complete universe where art, architecture, and nature weave an intertwined canvas across approximately twenty hectares.
Located in the affluent Foz do Douro area of western Porto, the Museum—designed by Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira—is the point of entry, with a cafe and restaurant. The arthouse cinema and the Miami Pink art-deco house offer places to retreat and relax. The promenade above reptilian vegetation from the vertiginous wooden bridge is a creative and moving experience in itself. In many aspects, the garden—where lichen forms world maps—transcends the audacity of Serralves's curatorial program and makes the whole estate a rare destination. It is worth an outbound bus ride from Lisbon on budget-friendly FlixBus.
Whether a solo pleasure or family outing, Serralves is a playground for adults and children alike to embrace the childlike spirit of play the space conveys. For lovers of art destinations (Louisiana in Denmark, Dia:Beacon upstate New York, Marfa in West Texas, etc.), Serralves Foundation will be where to spend unforgettable hours that easily stretch into half a day no matter the season.
The pictures below, taken two days before Christmas, present fragments and details of Anne Imhof's Faust ist ein Stahlbad—her first solo show in Portugal; The Life of Bees—a photographic composition by Helena Ramos and a joint initiative between Novo Banco and Serralves to support emerging photography talents; and, at Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira, the theatrical choreography of Luis Miguel Cintra's "Little Theatre of The World." The space and display feel like tiptoeing out of a royal dinner for a naughty escapade to the hunting pavilion. Pure thrill.
Photography Claudine Boeglin @dandyvagabond
Photography and text Claudine Boeglin
