Serralves Foundation is the master place for art to be discovered. Besides its architectonical undeniable beauty, inside this amazing building project by Álvaro Siza Vieira, there’s always a lot to be discovered with the exclusive exhibitions that take the main stage in this art centre. Let Secrets from Portugal guide you in this unique adventure through art.

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Surrounded by a big beautiful garden with 18 hectares, Serralves Foundation is the house of the Contemporary Art Museum. The modern, functional building opened doors for the first time in 1999. Ever since it has been welcoming many temporary exhibitions where the work of avant-garde artists is presented.

Nowadays, the Serralves Foundation is regarded as one of the most successful cultural institutions in Portugal and derives from a singular international projection and recognition, possessing a rich historical and cultural heritage. It’s located in Porto and it highlights a wide variety of sectors, from contemporary art to architecture, landscape design – with its magnificent gardens – as well as other themes of public interest. The Serralves Museum was designed by the legendary Portuguese architect, Álvaro Siza Vieira, winner of the Pritzker Prize in 1992 for Casa de Serralves, a unique copy of the Art Déco architecture, and the Parque, designed by the French architect Jacques Gréber and awarded with the Henry Ford Prize for the Preservation of the Environment in 1997.

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Located in Serralves Park, the museum establishes a direct dialogue with Serralves House and the surrounding gardens. Instead of a monumental facade, the museum is defined by a harmonious articulation between different architectonical elements and the slight slope of the ground where the building is located.

As a mission, the Serralves Foundation tries to stimulate the interest and the public knowledge of distinct ages for contemporary art, for architecture, landscape, and critical themes for society and its future, making it in an integrated way, based on an exceptional heritage set, in which the Museum of Contemporary Art, the House and the Park stand out.

In 2012, the heritage complex of Serralves was classified as a “National Monument.” This maximum rating acknowledged the cultural, architectural and landscape value of Serralves heritage, as well as all the investment that has been applied in its valuation, animation and disclosure.

The creation of the Serralves Foundation, in 1989, as a privately owned public institution, marked the beginning of an innovative partnership between the State and civil society. After more than 25 years, we thank all those who have been supporting Serralves, namely its Founders and Patrons. But also to all the visitors and to those who have been able to collaborate with Serralves, thus evidencing the growing and continuous adhesion of the community to this project.

As its vision, Serralves Foundation wants to be a reference point and a centre of knowledge, in Portugal and in the world, in the fields of Contemporary Art, Architecture, Landscape and critical themes for society and its future, promoting the diversity of the cultural offer through an innovative approach which, in a sustained manner, attracts diversified publics and induces Community support.

The entry on this wonderful art world costs 15€ or 12€ depending if you want to visit just the Museum and the Park, or if you also want to see the House. However, on the first Sundays of every month, there’s a free entrance in the Serralves Foundation until 13:00.

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