Living in another country means much more than changing addresses. It means learning to interpret different cultural codes, developing new relationships and discovering that what seems natural in one place can be completely different somewhere else.
Portugal was a particularly meaningful chapter of my life.
Between 1999 and 2008, I lived in the country and worked in different professional environments, including companies connected with communication, design and visual production.
Lisbon was an experience of personal and professional growth. It is a city where history is present in its streets, architecture, public spaces and in the way people relate to the past and the present.
My personal life was also deeply connected to this experience. During that period, I was married to Joana da Costa Cabral and became acquainted with a Portuguese family and cultural environment that broadened my references.
One important element of this context is the history of the Costa Cabral family and its relationship with art and artistic education.
One institution deserves particular attention: AR.CO — Centre for Art and Visual Communication.
Founded in Lisbon in 1973, AR.CO began as an independent school dedicated to experimentation and artistic education. Among its founders were Manuel Costa Cabral and Graça Costa Cabral, who played fundamental roles in building an institution committed to artistic experimentation and education.
The school developed activities in several fields, including drawing, painting, photography, ceramics and sculpture, and later expanded its presence to Almada.
This history belongs to the Portuguese cultural environment I encountered during those years.
I do not believe that living abroad turned me into someone else. I believe it expanded my ability to observe, compare and understand different ways of living and creating.
Travelling and living in another country require adaptation, effort and courage. They also require humility: the recognition that there is always something new to learn.
Lisbon remains an important part of my story.
• AR.CO — A instituição — https://arco.pt/site/pt/quem-somos/a-instituicao
História institucional e fundação em 1973.
• Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian — Manuel da Costa Cabral — https://gulbenkian.pt/historia-das-exposicoes/biographies/2444/
Biografia e trajetória institucional.
• Arquipélago — Graça Costa Cabral — https://arquipelagocentrodeartes.azores.gov.pt/pt/programacao/exposicao-graca-costa-cabral-obras-1982-2015/
Biografia e relação com a AR.CO.