The book Collections, Exhibitions and Museums in Portugal and its Empire: From the 18th to the 20th century (Routledge, 2025), a project by the late Foteini Vlachou which was continued by researchers Filipa Lowndes Vicente (ICS) and Leonor de Oliveira (IHA – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST), is out.

Foteini Vlachou was a researcher at IHA and IHC – NOVA FCSH prior to her death, in 2017. She first conceived Collections, Exhibitions and Museums in Portugal and its Empire in 2016 ‘as a challenge to crystallised ideas that still dominate art historiography in Portugal’, such as ‘the binary relationship between centre and periphery, in which Portugal is placed in the latter context’, ‘the persistence of traditional historiography of art in Portugal that tends to interpret works by assigning them stylistic labels (…)’ or ‘the dichotomy between “high arts” and “low arts’”, among others.

‘This volume follows the groundbreaking research of Foteini Vlachou, who argued for a study of art production, collecting and reception, historically inscribed.”, the co-editors also tell us in the Introduction.

This much anticipated release ‘opens up new avenues of research for future specialists interested in producing knowledge about Portugal and its heritage’, states Alicia Migueléz (IEM).

‘Focusing on the period between the beginning of the eighteenth century and the late twentieth century, this edited volume examines the histories of objects, museums, exhibitions, and collections in Portugal or outside Portugal but representing Portugal, or related to it through colonial relationships’, says the publisher’s note. Learn more.