During the Second World War and in the context of the affirmation of neorealism in the plastic arts, three young artists, Manuel Filipe (1908-2002), Tereza Arriaga (1915-2013) and Jorge de Oliveira (1924-2012), created, in the region of Leiria, Portugal, a set of works of great quality and importance which demonstrate their commitment to witnessing the working conditions of factory workers. These works of art are the centrepiece of the exhibition Artistas na Fábrica (Artists at the Factory), Tereza Arriaga, Jorge de Oliveira, Manuel Filipe, 1943-1945, curated by IN2PAST researchers Raquel Henriques da Silva (IHA – NOVA FCSH) and Emília Margarida Marques (CRIA – Iscte), on show at m|i|mo – museu da imagem em movimento (Moving Image Museum), in Leiria, until June 15, 2025.

Anthropologist Emília Margarida Marques already held two guided tours in October. Art historian Raquel Henriques da Silva invites you to her first on October 26th, at 3 pm. The programme associated with the year-long exhibition will also include talks, round-tables and other initiatives, to be announced soon.

The impressive set of charcoal drawings by Manuel Filipe “represent the hardship, suffering and hopelessness of an oppressed labour force”. Working from direct observation, Tereza Arriaga created dozens of portraits of child workers at the Nacional Fábrica de Vidros (National Glassworks) – Marinha Grande, “an extraordinary document of the hardship of their lives without childhood, which is practically unseen and is exhibited here in its entirety for the first time.” Also working from direct observation, Jorge de Oliveira drew at the Maceira-Liz cement factory, dreaming that his dozens of drawings could serve as the basis for creating a large mural, similar to those of the Mexican painters he admired.

The exhibition culminates with a section dedicated to the city of Leiria, the place where they met, and where they participated in joint exhibitions and witnessed the cultural and political dynamism of the city and its institutions – also visible in Marinha Grande – which lived up to previous artistic dynamics, from the 1920s and 1930s, and reflected the hopeful atmosphere of the immediate post-war era. It also presents several written documents, photographs, films and oral sources, showing the historical and social context of the works, with particular focus on the factory realities represented, as well as on relevant elements of the artists’ biographies: Jorge de Oliveira’s approach to cement work, the initial reception of Manuel Filipe’s Desenhos negros (‘Black drawings’), or Tereza Arriaga’s remarkable activist and militant career.

This exhibition was initially designed by Prof. João Bonifácio Serra (1949-2023), who proposed it to the Leiria City Council, which was aware of the importance of the work developed by these artists in Leiria in the context of Portuguese neorealism.

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