contemporary art with a view over the tejo
A 16th-century doorway bricked up in the wall. A panel of 18th-century tiles in an old chapel. A country estate that reached the 20th century in ruins and ended up converted into one of the most distinctive contemporary art centres on the south bank. Casa da Cerca has layers.
The project was initiated by the painter Rogério Ribeiro and has Drawing at its central axis, which immediately sets this programming apart from a generic art centre. You're not greeted by a permanent collection of institutional painting or sculpture, but by curatorial focus with its own identity, accredited in the Rede Portuguesa de Arte Contemporânea.
The building grows by accumulation, with sections built in different periods, and the garden is part of the artistic proposal, not just context. There are works installed outside, events that use the green space as a roofless room, and a direct view over Lisboa and the Tejo that no gallery in Belém has.
Coming to Almada to see contemporary art with the river in front of you and a 16th-century doorway bricked up behind you is an experience that can't be replicated on the other side of the water.
what you find here
- focus on drawing as a central discipline, not a secondary medium
- garden with artistic interventions and its own programming
- building with traces of five centuries layered on top of each other
- unobstructed view over Lisboa and the Tejo from the historic area of Almada
- access via the Cacilheiro ferry, less than ten minutes on foot from the landing
