AICA / Ministry of Culture Awards

On the sixth day of April, 2022, at 8 pm, the Jury of the 2020 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Award met by videoconference.

Composed by Luísa Soares de Oliveira, Paulo Pires do Vale, Inês Lobo and Rui Mendes, and chaired by Catarina Rosendo, the jury unanimously decided to grant the 2021 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Visual Arts Award to Rui Chafes, for his solo exhibition "Nada Existe" held at Galeria Filomena Soares, in Lisbon, in 2021.

The exhibition held by Rui Chafes in 2021, “Nada Existe”, gives continuity to a work of excellence which begun in the late 1980s. The works presented, produced between 2020 and 2021, were defined by the artist as "fragments and black foam flowers born in our time of devastation". As a whole, the exhibition demonstrates the artist's ability to renew his language through the creation of sculptures that, without giving up the great conceptual lines that have guided his work and using the medieval and Gothic sculptural tradition, are anchored in new technical processes and are ultimately rooted in the dialogue established since 2018 with the work of Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti. His works operate on the meanings created by the dialogue between absence and presence, the weight of matter and the lightness of the air, the closed form and what it encloses, through cast iron, which is welded, dominated by fire, and finally painted in matt black, always in the search for, as he said in 2007, “showing or feeling something that is not here.”

On the fifth day of February 2021, at 5 pm, the Jury of the 2020 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Award met by videoconference. Composed by Luísa Soares de Oliveira, Ana Anacleto, Bárbara Silva and Pedro Baía, and chaired by Sandra Vieira Jürgens, the jury unanimously decided to:

The 2020 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Visual Arts Award was granted to Eduardo Batarda. The jury highlighted the exhibition “Great Moments. Eduardo Batarda nos Anos Setenta” held at the Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva Foundation, in 2020. The artist, who was born in 1943 and studied in Lisbon, at the School of Fine Arts, and in London, at the Royal College of Arts until 1974, developed not only a remarkable career as a painter but also a distinguished activity as a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto. He received the EDP Grande Prémio in 2007 and, in 2019, the Grande Prémio Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. The exhibition presented an extensive series of works with a virtuous grasp of technique that served a critical, ironic, corrosive, politically engaged discourse, crossing a set of referents from the universes of both popular and erudite culture. The artist has an extensive curriculum of exhibitions in national and international territory.

The 2019 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP awards for visual arts and architecture were, by unanimous decision of the jury meeting on January 9, 2020 at the Pardal Monteiro Room of the Order of Architects in Lisbon, awarded to architect Bartolomeu Costa Cabral (Lisbon, 1929) and artist Silvestre Pestana (Funchal, 1949). The jury, chaired by Ana Tostões and composed of Sandra Vieira Jürgens, Nuno Faria, Rui Mendes and Pedro Baía justified, in the meeting’s minutes, their choice as follows:

The 2019 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Visual Arts Award was granted to Silvestre Pestana. The jury highlighted his long artistic career, which crosses several disciplines, namely experimental poetry, multimedia and performance. Emerging since the mid-1960s as one of the most radical and idiosyncratic careers in the Portuguese artistic scene, his work has been institutionally recognized in recent years, with the realization of his retrospective exhibition at the Serralves Museum in 2016. With a body of work that maintains an irreducibly experimental energy and intensity, and is constantly renewed, Silvestre Pestana has exerted a discreet influence on new generations, also for his pedagogical activity, visible in exhibitions held in independent spaces by younger curators, such as the individual exhibitions presented in Espaço Mira (2014) and A Certain Lack of Coherence

The 2018 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP award for visual arts was, by unanimous decision of the jury, gathered on July 11, 2019 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, bestowed to artist José Loureiro.

The jury was chaired by Ricardo Carvalho and consisted of Celso Martins, Paulo Tormenta Pinto, Rui Mendes and Luísa Soares de Oliveira who, in the meeting’s minutes, justified their choice as follows:

The 2018 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts Award to José Loureiro, awarded for the A Vocação dos Ácaros (The Vocation of Mites) exhibition, presented in 2018 at the Carmona e Costa Foundation, in Lisbon. The jury highlights the fact that in this exhibition "coherence was never an enemy of surprise”, in an artist that has, "for over thirty years", been developing "a body of work balancing drawing and color, the visible and the veiled, which cannot be reduced to its own discourse".

The 2017 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP awards for visual arts and architecture were, by unanimous decision of the jury, gathered on September 20, 2018 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, bestowed to architect Inês Lobo and artist Fernanda Fragateiro.

The jury was chaired by Ricardo Carvalho and consisted of Ana Tostões, Catarina Rosendo, João Rodeia and Nuno Crespo who, in the meeting’s minutes, justified their choice as follows:

The AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts Award 2017 was granted to Fernanda Fragateiro. The award is based on her two exhibitions held in 2017, “A reserva das coisas no seu estado latente” at the Eugénio de Almeida Foundation in Évora, and “Dos arquivos, à matéria, à construção” at MAAT, Lisbon. These moments of visibility enabled the confirmation of the enormous coherence of Fernanda Fragateiro's artistic career, always committed to questioning the possibilities of contemporary sculpture and its articulation with the modernist tradition in the use of materials and in procedures such as seriality and modularity. Building bridges between private spaces and public spaces, the ongoing conceptual investigation of architectural and artistic modernism’s key moments and her works’ natural vocation for dialogue with the spaces in which they are installed, allow us to affirm the contemporaneouness and timeliness of her work.’

The 2016 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts awards were by unanimous decision of the jury gathered on June 5, 2017 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, granted to artist Daniel Blaufuks. The jury was chaired by Margarida Medeiros and consisted of André Tavares, Manuel Costa Cabral, Victor dos Reis and Inês Lobo.

The Visual Arts Award was granted to Daniel Blaufuks for the exhibitions “Léxico”, held at the Bienal of Vila Franca de Xira, and ”Tentativa de Esgotamento”, held at Galeria Vera Cortês, in Lisbon.

The 2015 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts and Architecture awards were by unanimous decision of the jury gathered on June 5, 2017 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, granted to artist Jorge Queiroz and Atelier SAMI (Inês Vieira da Silva and Miguel Vieira)

The 2015 Visual Arts Award was granted to Jorge Queiroz for the exhibition “O Caso”, held at the Museu da Cidade’s Pavilhão Branco in Lisbon.

On the twenty-second day of December 2015, at 2:30 pm, the Jury of the 2014 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Award convened at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed by Bruno Marchand, Catarina Rosendo, Luís Santiago Baptista and Susana Ventura and chaired by Sérgio Fazenda Rodrigues, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2014 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts Awards to artist Ana Jotta.

The award was conceded based on the following: "The Jury for Visual Arts decided to bestow the 2014 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP award to Ana Jotta for the exhibition “A Conclusão da Precedente”, hosted by Culturgest between February 15 and May 11, 2014. The jury highlights the ability that the artist has demonstrated, throughout her career, to take risks and to successively reinvent the coordinates of her work, situation unequivocally proven on this occasion".

On the twenty-second of January 2015, at 2pm, the Jury of the 2013 AICA/SEC/Millennium bcp Award gathered at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed of Ana Tostões, Bruno Marchand, Helena de Freitas and Luís Santiago Baptista and chaired by João Silvério, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2013 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts Award to artist Alexandre Estrela.

Granting the award to artist Alexandre Estrela was justified as follows: "With the exhibition "Meio Concreto", held at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Serralves between June 29 and September 29 2013, confirmed the vitality and relevance of the work that Alexandre Estrela (Lisbon, 1971) has been developing in the last decades. Using mainly the projected image and sound, but also mediums and structures of sculptural character, the pieces presented placed the visitor at the center of an experience that allied, in an irreprehensible way, a critical review of museographic devices and a sophisticated reflection on the status of the image, on the phenomenon of perception and on its possible somatizations. The presentation of this set of works produced between 2007 and 2012 was complete with a catalogue. Its uniqueness expanded and multiplied the purpose of the exhibition, constituting a decisive document for a more complete overview of Alexandre Estrela’s universe as an author."

On the eighth of October 2014, at 11am, the Jury of the 2012 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Award gathered at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed of Helena de Freitas, Nuno Grande, Sérgio Mah and Michel Toussaint and chaired by Sara Antónia Matos, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2011 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts Award to artist Julião Sarmento.

Granting the award to artist Julião Sarmento was based on the following grounds: "Julião Sarmento is one of the most relevant figures of Portuguese Art since the 1970s, when he begins an international career, sustained to this day with intensity and wide recognition. An artist in permanent state of experimentation in various media (painting, drawing, photography, performance, sculpture, installation, film), his work is also distinguishable by the proliferation of numerous references with sources in literature and philosophy, art and architecture, music and cinema, as territories of images, narratives and mythologies of his time. And in this plurality and experimental openness, Julião Sarmento has been able to affirm a line of coherence and identity, facts fully confirmed in the exhibition organized by the Serralves Foundation in 2012. The jury also recognizes and values the catalyst and stimulating role in the relationships established and maintained with the new generations of artists and curators, sensitive to the values of mobility and the effectiveness of a path marked by energy and risk."

On the nineteenth of December 2012, at 11 am, the Jury of the 2011 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Award convened at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed by Raquel Henriques da Silva, Sérgio Mah, Diogo Seixas Lopes, Jorge Figueira and chaired by Delfim Sardo, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2011 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts Award to artist João Queiroz.

For the jury, the anthological exhibition of João Queiroz, Silvae, held at Culturgest, was the full confirmation of one of the most unique and consistent careers of the Portuguese contemporary art panorama of the last two decades.

Through drawing and painting, João Queiroz has developed a complex, but much needed, research on painting and drawing as fields of the sensitive experience of perception and knowledge. Amongst the exercise of vision, body and intellect, João Queiroz's work explores the subject's relationship with things, with senses and gestures, affirming drawing and painting as unique and irreplaceable ways of experiencing, seeing and thinking.

On 21st March 2011, the jury of the 2010 AICA/Ministry of Culture Awards (Visual Arts and Architecture) held a meeting. The jury was composed by Manuel Graça Dias (President of AICA’s Portuguese Section (SP/AICA)), who presided over the meeting, Leonor Nazaré (Vice-President of SP/AICA), as secretary, and art critics Ana Vaz Milheiro (architecture), and Lúcia Marques and Paulo Pires do Vale (Visual Arts).

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to artist Lourdes Castro (b. 1930), and the Architecture Award to architect Francisco Castro Rodrigues (b. 1920).

The 2010 AICA/Ministry of Culture Award for Visual Arts was issued to artist Lourdes Castro (Funchal, 1930). The jury deemed her anthological exhibition À Luz da Sombra (By Shadowlight), which took place at the Serralves Museum in 2010, a confirmation of their choice for the award. This exhibition highlighted the artist’s great qualities of visual inventiveness demonstrated by ineffable values such as lines, shadows or lightness; by references such as the intimate space and the relationship realm; by a performing component associated with shadow theatre. All these traits were exhibited particularly expressively and efficiently in By Shadowlight – traits that define this artist who became known by the Portuguese critics around the 1960s. This exhibition is also characterised by complicities, aesthetic and otherwise, with Manuel Zimbro (1944-2003), who she shared her life and work with – Lourdes Castro translates everyday-life gestures in a simple and authentic manner.

At the end of the 1950s, Lourdes Castro left for Munich and then Paris, where she founded the magazine KWY with René Bertholo. The production of assemblage objects in the 1960s, and the subsequent use of plexiglass for affixing silhouettes and experimenting with transparencies become crucial methods in her artistic path.

_The shadows _are also projected onto embroidered sheets and in a Great Herbarium of Shadows, alongside her set designing projects.

_Pelas Sombras _(Through Shadows), a film directed by Catarina Mourão (1997, Midas Filmes Productions: 2010) and shown at the Serralves exhibition, portrays and emphasises the artist’s constantly intimate and exulted relationship between life and art.

The jury, composed by Manuel Graça Dias, Leonor Nazaré, Celso Martins, Nuno Grande and Diogo Seixas Lopes issued the 2009 AICA/Ministry of Culture Award for Visual Arts to photographer Paulo Nozolino (b. 1955).

Paulo Nozolino is considered one of the greatest contemporary photographers, and his work is exhibited in several galleries and private collections. Among others, he has been issued the Kodak Award (1988) and the Leica Foundation Prix (1989). The jury emphasised that “his authorship of the photographic look is reaffirmed by a strong expressiveness and particular compositional inventiveness”.

His 2009 exhibition Bone Lovely, which took place at the Quadrado Azul Gallery in Lisbon, was also present at the Rencontres d’Arles and originated a book with the same title. In Arles, Nozolino also exhibited Far Cry, a video pertaining to the works exhibited in Serralves in 2005.

On 17th March 2009, the jury of the 2008 AICA/Ministry of Culture Awards (Visual Arts and Architecture) held a meeting. The jury, composed by Manuel Graça Dias, who presided over the meeting, Leonor Nazaré, as secretary, João Pinharanda, Ana Vaz Milheiro and José Manuel Fernandes, decided the following:

2008 AICA/MC AWARD – VISUAL ARTS The AICA/Ministry of Culture Award for Visual Arts was issued to sculptor Rui Sanches (b. 1954).

Rui Sanches’ body of work was one of the most influential in the Portuguese art scene in the 1980s. His work, at once extremely recognisable but constantly changing and challenging its own limitations, deals with classical and constructivist references which the artist manages in eloquent and innovating ways. Experimentation and constant research led him to produce landscape works from 1992 onwards, using a stratification method. Wood, glass and metal are the materials he uses more frequently in his sculptures. Drawing is also a crucial medium in his visual investigation.

In 2008 Rui Sanches had three remarkable exhibitions which were characterised by a keen ability to communicate with the architectural spaces: Museum, at the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA), through the creation of a dialogue with the collection and the rooms in the building; a second exhibition, at the Fernando Santos gallery in Porto, through an extension and revisiting of some of the aspects of his previous work; and a third exhibition, at the St. Anthony Convent in Loulé, held in the context of the project for tourist promotion Allgarve, through an exhibition section at the church’s nave, complemented by a site-specific installation in the rooms around the cloister.

On 29th April 2008, the jury of the 2007 AICA Awards held a meeting. The jury, composed by Rui Mário Gonçalves, Leonor Nazaré, João Pinharanda, Nuno Crespo, Ana Tostões, Michel Toussaint and Ricardo Carvalho, decided the following:

2007 AICA AWARD – VISUAL ARTS

The 2007 AICA Award for Visual Artists was issued to José Pedro Croft for the body of work he has developed over 25 years in the areas of sculpture, drawing and illustration. A continuous reflection on the sculptural discourse and the use of materials such as stone, plaster and wood or, more recently, big mirrors and metal structures, have determined the creation of works which actively challenge the observer’s view and which reflect the surrounding space in their interior.

Paisagem Interior (Indoor Landscape), a piece exhibited in the foyer of the Gulbenkian Museum from April to July 2007, on occasion of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary, is an example of the artist’s strong presence in 2007, and validates issuing this award.

On 13th February 2007, between 6.30pm and 8pm, the jury of the 2006 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts, on Rua Barata Salgueiro, number 36, in Lisbon. The jury was composed by associated Art and Architecture critics João Pinharanda, who presided over the meeting, Rui Mário Gonçalves, Nuno Crespo, Ana Tostões and Ricardo Carvalho.

The meeting opened with a retrospective look at the main anthological exhibitions by Portuguese artists and architects, and at works built and in full working use in the period covered by the awards. The jury also considered the creative paths of the respective artists. After this moment of considering and reflecting, the jury unanimously issued the following 2006 AICA-MC Awards:

Visual Arts Award: Jorge Molder. With this choice, the award is issued for the first time to an artist who works exclusively in the medium of photography, and one of the artists who has contributed the most to raising the status of photography to the level of relevance it currently enjoys. His programme and conceptual consistency was well demonstrated in his various 2006 exhibitions: Galician Centre for Contemporary Art in Santiago de Compostela; Fundación Telefónica, Madrid; Visual Arts Centre, Coimbra; and the National Cinematheque, Lisbon).

On 20th February 2006, between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, the jury of the 2005 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts, on Rua Barata Salgueiro, number 36, in Lisbon. The jury was composed by Art and Architecture critics Rui Mário Gonçalves, who presided over the meeting, João Pinharanda, Ana Tostões, Leonor Nazaré, Michel Toussaint and Lúcia Marques.

The meeting opened with a retrospective look at the main anthological exhibitions by Portuguese artists and architects which influenced 2005 on a national and international scale. The jury also considered the artists’ respective creative paths, and unanimously decided to issue the following 2005 AICA-MC Awards (in the amount of 10,000 Euros each):

Visual Arts Award: Pedro Calapez, for the coherence and dynamism of his research in the areas of colour and space, and a successful conjunction of drawing, illustration, painting and sculpture. The jury highlighted the following recent anthological exhibitions: Pedro Calapez – Selected Works 1992-2004, which took place at the Modern Art Centre at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (curated by Helena de Freitas and João Miguel Fernandes Jorge); and Ground Zero (Piso Zero), at the Galician Centre for Contemporary Art in Santiago de Compostela. Also worthy of note is the fact that Calapez won the Graphic Art National Award in Madrid, in 2005, issued by the Spanish Calcografia Nacional.

The jury of the 2004 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting on 25th January 2005 at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon. The jury unanimously issued the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards to Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia and Helena Almeida, respectively.

The jury decided to issue the Visual Arts Award was issued to Helena Almeida on occasion of her retrospective exhibition Helena Almeida: pés na terra, cabeça no céu (Helena Almeida: feet on the ground, head in the sky), which took place in the Belém Cultural Centre, in Lisbon. The jury highlighted the artist’s remarkable capacity to renew the languages of visual arts throughout four decades of work in the domains of drawing, painting, sculpture and photography, as well as the international recognition she has gained for her work.

The jury of the 2003 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting on 4th February 2004 at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon. The jury unanimously issued the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards to António Belém Lima and Luís Noronha da Costa, respectively.

The jury, composed of Ana Vaz Milheiro, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves, João Pinharanda and Leonor Nazaré, with regards to Noronha da Costa, on occasion of his recent retrospective at the Belém Cultural Centre, in Lisbon, the jury commended the historical singularity of a body of work which, having developed pioneering investigative methods and traversed frontiers between different disciplines, has simultaneously created a rare discourse on art and on cultural identity.

On 23rd January 2003, at 6pm, the jury of the 2002 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The jury consisted of art critics Carlos dos Santos Duarte, João Rocha de Sousa, Luísa Soares de Oliveira, Manuel Graça Dias and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to painter Jorge Pinheiro, on occasion of his retrospective exhibition that took place at the Modern Art Centre José de Azeredo Perdigão, which demonstrated the meticulousness of his pictorial and objective practice, in both his abstract and figurative works, and always characterised by a remarkable aesthetic consistency. As well as his extensive body of work, Jorge Pinheiro has also pursued a remarkable educational activity.

On 25th January 2002, around 5.30pm, the jury of the AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts, number 56, Rua Barata Salgueiro, in Lisbon, to issue the Awards for 2001. The jury consisted of art critic Rui Mário Gonçalves, who presided over the meeting, architect Carlos Duarte, João Pinharanda, architect Ana Tostões and Luísa Soares Oliveira, all of whom are AICA members.

After considering various options, the jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to painter Fernando Calhau, on occasion of his retrospective exhibition that took place at the Modern Art Centre José de Azeredo Perdigão, highlighting his stylistic consistency in the fields of minimal and conceptual investigation.

On 16th March 2001, around 5pm, the jury of the 20th AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Fernando de Azevedo (present on behalf of the President of the Portuguese Section, Rui Mário Gonçalves), Fernando Pernes (on teleconference, as he was unable to travel away from Porto), Carlos Duarte and Nuno Portas. The members present thus re-formed the jury present at the first awards, issued in 1981, as requested by José-Augusto França, who is retiring from the position of President of the jury in the year he had stipulated, 2000.

The Visual Arts Award was issued unanimously to painter Marcelino Vespeira, on the occasion of his great retrospective exhibition at the Chiado Museum in 2000, taking into account the influence of his body of work which has been developing consistently and with great originality since the late 40s, and also considering short exhibitions that took place in the 90s which showcased his works produced at the time.

On 27th March 2000, the jury of the 1999 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of Fernando Pernes, on teleconference, Carlos Duarte, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves and José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to Pedro Cabrita Reis, for his exhibition that took place at the National Museum of Modern Art, at the Serralves Foundation in Porto. Pedro Cabrita Reis, who is a painter and a sculptor, has been gaining recognition for creating works and conceptual proposals which redefine the fields in which they are inserted. More recently, Pedro Cabrita Reis has also been recognised internationally for his installations, namely the ones exhibited in the Museum mentioned above.

On 22nd February 1999 the jury of the 1998 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of Fernando de Azevedo, Manuel Graça Dias, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves and José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to René Bértholo, for his 1998 exhibitions at the Fernando Santos gallery in Porto, and at the Gandarinha Cultural Centre in Cascais. The painter René Bértholo has delivered a consistent body of work made public since 1954, created and exhibited mainly in Portugal and Paris. In Paris, he soon stood out among the international supporters of New Figurative art, showing an original sense of humour in paintings and objects. This humour emerges in the absurdity of themes, in the deliberately clumsy drawings and, more recently, and as demonstrated in the exhibitions mentioned above, in corresponding chromatic schemes.

On 27th April 1998 the jury of the 1997 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of Margarida Acciaiuoli, Sílvia Chicó, Manuel Graça Dias, José Lamas and José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to Paula Rego for her retrospective exhibition at the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon. Aside from the fact that the exhibition was an important artistic event which enjoyed great public success, it also reiterated the remarkable quality consistently displayed by this artist, who has been shaping the Portuguese art scene on an international level in a unique and original way since the 1960s

On 4th March 1997, around 6.30pm, the jury of the 1996 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The jury consisted of the following critics: José-Augusto França (Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section), José Lamas, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves and Cristina Azevedo Tavares.

The jury unanimously decided on the winners of the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards.

The Visual Arts Award was issued to painter José Barrias for his exhibition José Barrias, etc at the Modern Art Centre at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. This exhibition contained works dating back to 1972 which express a coherence maintained within a neoconceptual discourse, where the realms of poetry and neodadaism cross creating a much welcomed renovation.

On 15th March 1996 the jury of the 1995 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting. The jury consisted of the following critics: José-Augusto França (Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section), Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Fernando de Azevedo and Sílvia Chicó (President of the Portuguese Section).

The jury decided on the winners of both the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards.

The Visual Arts Award was issued to painter Ricardo da Cruz-Filipe for his retrospective exhibition in Culturgest characterised by an excellent poetic quality, originality and professional sense, which went hand in hand with an evident conscience of the architectural space where the musicality of silence is revealed, an attribute which is one of the greatest appeals of his work.

On 11th July 1995 the jury of the 1994 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon.

The meeting was presided over by the Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section, Professor José-Augusto França, and attended by Nuno Portas, Fernando de Azevedo, Manuel Graça Dias and Sílvia Chicó.

The Jury unanimously issued the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards to architect Fernando Távora and painter Júlio Pomar, respectively.

The award to painter Júlio Pomar is supported by his exhibition at Culturgest (Caixa Geral de Depósitos) in 1994, where his painting is revealed as an expression of maturity of a work that is simultaneously historically important and surprisingly spontaneous.

On 16th March 1994 the jury of the 1993 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Sílvia Tavares Chicó, Carlos Duarte and Pedro Vieira de Almeida.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to sculptor João Cutileiro for his exhibition that took place in the Algarve in 1993. This exhibition presented his innovative art, and commemorated 20 years of his sculpture D. Sebastião, which was erected in the city of Lagos in 1973. This sculpture constitutes the essential reference of an important turning point in national sculpture, and the Jury considered it still a worthy example of public and monumental public art.

On 25th March 1993 the jury of the 1992 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Nuno Portas and Fernando Pernes.

It was unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to painter José de Guimarães for the retrospective exhibitions of his work from 1962 to 1992 that took place at the Modern Art Centre / Gulbenkian Foundation and at Casa de Serralves from March to September. The award is further justified for the exhibition of recorded works presented in April at the Galveias Palace, and for the exhibition Por Mares Nunca Dantes Navegados (Through Seas Never Before Ventured) that took place at the Sintra National Palace from June to September. All these exhibitions confirm the quality of a poetic imagination created expressively into an original visual discourse, which is always renewed in a coherent sequence of stages throughout 30 years.

On 30th January 1992 the jury of the 1991 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida and Sílvia Chicó.

It was unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to painter Ana Vieira, for her exhibition Diário de Cinco Dias (Diary of Five Days), which took place in 1991 at the National Cultural Centre. The jury considered the continuity of her research which deals particularly with the construction and deconstruction of space, creating a minimal pictorial discourse which inspires transience.

On 21st January 1991 the jury of the AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The meeting was presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Nuno Portas, Pedro Vieira de Almeida and Rui Mário Gonçalves, as secretary.

The jury unanimously decided to award Nikias Skapinakis for Visual Arts, considering his exhibition at the National Society of Fine Arts in 1990. The exhibition revealed an attitude of innovation within a vast body of work composed of various distinct and inventive stages which, as a whole, constitute an extremely rich and personalised unity, consistently accompanied by civic and critical interventionism.

On 12th February 1990 the jury of the 1989 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. José-Augusto França presided over the meeting, and Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Rui Mário Gonçalves and Nuno Portas were in attendance.

The jury first considered the Visual Arts Award, and decided to attribute it to painter Malangatana Ngwenya Valente, with reference to his retrospective exhibition that took place at the National Society of Fine Arts in October/November 1989. The jury took into account the outstanding quality of his work demonstrated over many years, which integrates primary aesthetic values with his personal expressionistic discourse. The jury also found that the artist’s Mozambican nationality, due to the cultural proximity, should not be an object to his election for a Portuguese award.

On 13th January 1989 the jury of the AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The Jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Fernando de Azevedo, Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida and Rui Mário Gonçalves, as secretary.

After considering various possibilities, the jury voted unanimously for painter Jorge Martins for the Visual Arts Award. Jorge Martins is the author of a perceptive and pictorial body of work which he has developed for 30 years. The jury also emphasized the artist’s talent as an illustrator, which was demonstrated at the retrospective exhibition at the Gulbenkian Foundation, as well as in his illustrations of Fernando Pessoa’s Message.

On 23rd January 1988, around 6pm, the jury of the AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The Jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Sílvia Tavares Chicó, Carlos Duarte, Fernando de Azevedo and Rui Mário Gonçalves, as secretary.

Looking back on 1987, the jury unanimously decided to issue painter Álvaro Lapa with the Visual Arts Award, given the uniqueness of his work and poetic presence, which he has consistently made public for over 20 years. Álvaro Lapa’s work in 1987 could be visited at the Emi and Arcada galleries, and also at the tribute exhibition to Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso in Casa de Serralves.

On 16th January 1987, the Awards Jury met at the National Society of Fine Arts. The Jury consisted of critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Carlos Duarte, Sílvia Chicó, Fernando de Azevedo and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The Jury decided to issue the Visual Arts award to painter António Sena, who has had a remarkable presence in collective exhibitions this year, and who has demonstrated a development of his lyricism, where linear writing assumes pictorial and textured values, following a coherent sequence of aesthetical research initiated many years ago.

On 15th February 1986, the jury members of AICA’s Portuguese Section held a meeting to issue the 1985 Awards. The Jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França (President), Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Nuno Portas and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The Jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to sculptor Alberto Carneiro, who has consistently had an influencing presence in pioneering artistic movements for over 20 years, either as creator of shapes through his works on wood, either as a key player in the conceptual sphere, namely on the ecological topic. His body of work is remarkable by its expressiveness and coherence. His solo exhibition at the EMI Gallery confirmed these qualities in a collection of works of great purity.

On 9th January 1985, around 7pm, a meeting was held by the jury responsible for issuing the 1984 AICA’s Portuguese Section Awards for Visual Arts and Architecture.

The Jury consisted of José-Augusto França, Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section, Sílvia Chicó, President of the Portuguese Section, Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, and Nuno Portas, who voted by post.

The Jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to painter Júlio Resende, and the Architecture Award to architect Alcino Soutinho.

Supporting the choice for the Visual Arts Award is the quality recognised in Ribeira Negra (Dark Riverside), completed in May 1984 at the Cooperativa Árvore-Cursos in Porto, about the riverside. This work is a vast mural where the painter demonstrates the full maturity of his artistic resources, which he also displays in his widely recognised portfolio.

On 13th December 1983, around 8pm, the jury responsible for issuing the 1983 AICA Awards held a meeting. The jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, architects Carlos Duarte and Nuno Portas, painter Fernando Azevedo and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The visual arts award was issued unanimously to painter António Dacosta, who had an exhibition this year at Galeria 111.

At 10pm on 22nd December 1982, at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, a meeting was held by the Jury responsible for issuing AICA’s Portuguese Section National Awards for Visual Arts and Architecture. The Jury was presided over by José-Augusto França, honorary president of AICA’s Portuguese Section, and composed by Rui Mário Gonçalves, Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, all members of the Association and, representing Fernando Pernes, AICA’s acting president, was Fernando de Azevedo.

Once the meeting was in session, the following members intervened: Fernando de Azevedo and Rui Mário Gonçalves proposed Joaquim Rodrigo as a candidate to the visual arts award. Carlos Duarte and Pedro Vieira de Almeida concurred, as did José-Augusto França. Therefore, the visual arts award was issued to Joaquim Rodrigo for his exhibition held in October of the present year at the Quadrum Gallery in Lisbon. As well as the merit of the said exhibition, the jury took into account the artist’s previous work, and the publication of his book O Complementarismo em Pintura (Complementarity in Painting), published by Livros Horizonte, which constitutes a valuable theoretical reflection alongside the creative process itself.

The Jury was presided over by José-Augusto França, honorary president of AICA’s Portuguese Section, and composed by Fernando Pernes, acting president of the Association, and by Fernando de Azevedo, Carlos Duarte and Nuno Portas, all members of the Association. The meeting was held at the National Society of Fine Arts, on 5th June 1982, to issue the two awards for visual arts and architecture, each in the value of 100,000 escudos, funded by the Ministry of Culture in office on 25th May 1982.

Firstly, the panel focussed on the Visual Arts Award, to be issued to the artist who had presented a work or body of work of particular interest in 1981, and also taking into account the artist’s previous curriculum. The jury unanimously decided to present the Award to painter Costa Pinheiro, for his exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in June/July 1981, on the subject of Fernando Pessoa. This artist’s prior work justifies the jury’s choice of a set of paintings and drawings of great visual inventiveness and poetic depth, contextualised by a mythical outlook on Portuguese culture which has been a constant feature in the artist’s work.

On the sixth day of April, 2022, at 8 pm, the Jury of the 2020 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Award met by videoconference. Composed by Luísa Soares de Oliveira, Paulo Pires do Vale, Inês Lobo and Rui Mendes, and chaired by Catarina Rosendo, the jury unanimously decided to grant the 2021 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Visual Arts Award to Rui Chafes, for his solo exhibition "Nada Existe" held at Galeria Filomena Soares, in Lisbon, in 2021. Also unanimously, the 2021 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Architecture Award was bestowed to Nuno Brandão Costa for the Campanhã Intermodal Terminal in Porto, whose buildings were completed in 2021.

The 2021 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Architecture Award Nuno Brandão Costa concluded in 2021 the buildings of the Intermodal Terminal of Campanhã, whose public tender he won in 2017, with the exterior spaces in conclusion phase. The work confirms the author's career of excellence and is a landmark in current Portuguese architecture, by the way it privileges the new urban mobility systems and the consequent regeneration of an area of the city affected, since the 19th century, by the construction of the railway structure still in place and in operation. It is one of the most relevant public projects underway in Porto, articulating in an exemplary way infrastructure, topography and public space in a city that goes back to the territory for the introduction of natural systems in its design.

On the fifth day of February 2021, at 5 pm, the Jury of the 2020 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Award met by videoconference. Composed by Luísa Soares de Oliveira, Ana Anacleto, Bárbara Silva and Pedro Baía, and chaired by Sandra Vieira Jürgens, the jury unanimously decided to:

The 2020 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Architecture Award was granted to Atelier do Corvo, founded in 1996 by Carlos Antunes (Coimbra, 1969) and Désirée Pedro (Porto Amélia, Mozambique, 1970), highlighting its unique practice in the field shared between architecture and fine arts. A field where they often reflect and structure thought on the notion of space and its relationship with the individual and the aesthetic experience. Carlos Antunes’ and Désirée Pedro’s careers, marked by the direction and artistic programming in the Círculo de Artes Plásticas of Coimbra and the Contemporary Art Biennial of Coimbra, reflects a constant questioning of the city and the territory, in a productive confrontation between architecture, arts, culture and heritage. In 2020, in a year marked by the pandemic, Atelier do Corvo stood out for its resilience and experimental urgency. From Miranda do Corvo, ‘in a symbolic act against discouragement and lethargy’, it opened the doors of its atelier with the launch of the project “Senso. Galeria efémera para dias de clausura”, where they exhibited works of architecture and guest artists. An essential project to make architecture known to the public and be understood as a field that can, and should, be shown not only through constructed works/buildings, but also through thought, reflections and relationships with other related subjects. In the same year of 2020, they completed the work of the Irmãs Hospitaleiras do Sagrado Coração de Jesus, with the refurbishment and expansion of the Bento Menni building and the construction of the new administrative building, in a project that affirms and consolidates the recognition of the atelier’s design practice.

The 2019 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP awards for visual arts and architecture were, by unanimous decision of the jury meeting on January 9, 2020 at the Pardal Monteiro Room of the Order of Architects in Lisbon, awarded to architect Bartolomeu Costa Cabral (Lisbon, 1929) and artist Silvestre Pestana (Funchal, 1949).

The jury, chaired by Ana Tostões and composed of Sandra Vieira Jürgens, Nuno Faria, Rui Mendes and Pedro Baía justified, in the meeting’s minutes, their choice as follows:

The 2019 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Architecture Award, granted to Bartolomeu Costa Cabral, distinguishes a work heavily marked by an ethical attitude and by a countercurrent posture based on work on a simultaneously disciplinary and poetic materiality. Spreading over more than six decades, Bartolomeu Costa Cabral's unique career was affirmed in 2019 by the retrospective exhibition presented in Tomar, in the Convento de Cristo, entitled “A Ética das Coisas”, and by the donation of his estate to the Marques da Silva Foundation.

The 2018 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP award for architecture was, by unanimous decision of the jury, gathered on July 11, 2019 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, bestowed to architect Ricardo Bak Gordon.

The jury was chaired by Ricardo Carvalho and consisted of Celso Martins, Paulo Tormenta Pinto, Rui Mendes and Luísa Soares de Oliveira who, in the meeting’s minutes, justified their choice as follows:

The 2018 AICA/MC/Millennium bcp Architecture Award to Ricardo Bak Gordon for his career and the way he “works with the fundamentals of the discipline”. The jury considered that “hand drawing is [for Bak Gordon] a primordial tool and possesses a singular and authorial value”, furthermore highlighting that “this discipline converges modern European and Brazilian tradition with the realism of the common”. The jury also emphasizes, considering the architect's body of work as a whole, the school project in Romanshorn, Switzerland, and the exhibition presented in 2018 at CCB’s Garagem Sul, entitled Building Stories/ Histórias Construídas.

The 2017 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP awards for visual arts and architecture were, by unanimous decision of the jury, gathered on September 20, 2018 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, bestowed to architect Inês Lobo and artist Fernanda Fragateiro.

The jury was chaired by Ricardo Carvalho and consisted of Ana Tostões, Catarina Rosendo, João Rodeia and Nuno Crespo who, in the meeting’s minutes, justified their choice as follows:

The 2017 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Architecture Award was granted to Inês Lobo. ‘With this award the jury seeks to highlight the unique professional career of the awardee, inseparable from her ability to devise strategies ranging from small to large scale, from research to building and city design, from the quality of construction to the social dimension of architecture, from collaborative transversality to curatorial action, a very unusual situation in the contemporary Portuguese architecture panorama.’

The 2016 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts and Architecture awards were by unanimous decision of the jury gathered on June 5, 2017 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, granted to artist Daniel Blaufuks and architects Célia Gomes and Pedro Machado Costa (a. s* - atelier de santos).

The jury was chaired by Margarida Medeiros and consisted of André Tavares, Manuel Costa Cabral, Victor dos Reis and Inês Lobo.

The 2016 Architecture Award was granted to Célia Gomes and Pedro Machado Costa (a. s* - atelier de santos) for the work undergone in Escola Secundária Luís de Freitas Branco, in Paço de Arcos.

The 2015 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Visual Arts and Architecture awards were by unanimous decision of the jury gathered on June 5, 2017 at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, granted to artist Jorge Queiroz and Atelier SAMI (Inês Vieira da Silva and Miguel Vieira)

The jury was chaired by Margarida Medeiros and consisted of André Tavares, Manuel Costa Cabral, Victor dos Reis and Inês Lobo.

The 2015 Architecture Award was granted to SAMI (Miguel Vieira and Inês Vieira da Silva), for the work Casa E/C, in São Miguel Arcanjo, São Roque do Pico, Pico Island.

On the twenty-second day of December 2015, at 2:30 pm, the Jury of the 2014 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Award convened at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed by Bruno Marchand, Catarina Rosendo, Luís Santiago Baptista and Susana Ventura and chaired by Sérgio Fazenda Rodrigues, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant The 2014 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Architecture Award to architect José Neves

The 2014 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP 2014 Architecture Award was granted to the architect José Neves for the work of Cinema Ideal at Rua do Loreto in Lisbon: "Cinema Ideal is (...) a subtle work, which does not impose itself, and yet brings with it this power of transformation (of revolution), which gradually has to be felt by the city, in the public space, as a place of gathering for cultural and social life." José Neves has developed a consistent and sober professional activity, combining the architectural practice with a reflection on the contemporary city. In this sense, the work of Cinema Ideal emerges as a swiveling point between a pressing problem, the rehabilitation in the historical centers, the definition and feasibility of commissions, the proposal of a neighborhood cinema with a carefully curated program, a certain disciplinary conception, based on formal restraint and constructive solidity, and his own interests, particularly cinema. For all this, this project acquires an exemplary dimension in the context of the architect's practice and the architectural and urban problems of the present."

On the twenty-second of January 2015, at 2pm, the Jury of the 2013 AICA/SEC/Millennium bcp Award gathered at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed of Ana Tostões, Bruno Marchand, Helena de Freitas and Luís Santiago Baptista and chaired by João Silvério, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2013 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Architecture Award to architect João Pedro Falcão de Campos.

The option of awarding the prize was justified by the consistency of his work and the scope of his performance. "The Award is granted to an architect who handles new work, rehabilitation, architecture or public space with the same rigor. Its constructive, programmatic and conceptual coherence was recently evident in exemplary interventions conducted in the heart of Lisbon – such as the assisted pedestrian route from Baixa to Castelo or the work of the Banco de Portugal's headquarters (carried out in partnership with Gonçalo Byrne) – which reinforced the memory and identity of Baixa Pombalina, restoring its institutional, representative and cultural centrality. On the pedestrian route’s path, assuming an integrated perspective of action, the logic of the urban spaces crossed is valued and the comfort of the citizen ensured. At Banco de Portugal's headquarters, he manages a complex program, articulating the opening of the city-block sized building to the municipality, with demanding technical solutions, and defining the great strategic decisions that were carried out by complex demolitions, the positioning of infrastructure networks, careful restoration and the integration of the archaeological finds."

On the eighth of October 2014, at 11am, the Jury of the 2012 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Award gathered at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed of Helena de Freitas, Nuno Grande, Sérgio Mah and Michel Toussaint and chaired by Sara Antónia Matos, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2012 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Architecture Award to architect José Adrião.

In the meeting’s minutes, the option of granting the Architecture Award to José Adrião was justified as follows: "In his intervention on preexisting places, the work of José Adrião has been able to affirm, with discretion, his contemporary condition in dialogue with previous material and immaterial memories, relating landscape, city and building. In this context, it differs from the common practices of Urban and Architectural Rehabilitation, which today run through political rhetoric and real estate promotion in the main Portuguese cities, which have led to excessive tourist "gentrification" of the historic centers. The housing buildings in Lisbon, rehabilitated by José Adrião, in neighborhoods such as Campo de Ourique, Lapa and Baixa Pombalina – the latter having obtained the Vilalva Prize 2011 – demonstrate this ability to transform the spaces, without obliterating their noblest characteristics, or even the most common ones, sedimented by time

On the nineteenth of December 2012, at 11 am, the Jury of the 2011 AICA/SEC/Millennium BCP Award convened at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes in Lisbon. Composed by Raquel Henriques da Silva, Sérgio Mah, Diogo Seixas Lopes, Jorge Figueira and chaired by Delfim Sardo, the jury unanimously decided, after debate on criteria and methodology, to grant the 2011 AICA/MC/Millennium BCP Architecture Award to architect Miguel Figueira.

As an architect of the Municipality of Montemor-o-Velho, he has developed in recent years an exemplary work both in the rehabilitation of public space and in the creation of new programs capable of relaunching this small agglomerate of so many potentialities, now highlighted. Extraneous to large commissions and the authorial status associated with the private studio, Miguel Figueira demonstrates that the practice of architecture in the public sphere can improve conditions for the local community, but also launch global impact programs such as the Montemor-o-Velho High Performance Center. Completed in 2011, this nautical center, stage of European Canoeing Championships, guaranteed equipment of excellence for the region. The enthusiasm and persistence, combined with the conceptual and constructive rigor that the whole of his works denotes, emphasize Miguel Figueira’s singularity.

On 21st March 2011, the jury of the 2010 AICA/Ministry of Culture Awards (Visual Arts and Architecture) held a meeting. The jury was composed by Manuel Graça Dias (President of AICA’s Portuguese Section (SP/AICA)), who presided over the meeting, Leonor Nazaré (Vice-President of SP/AICA), as secretary, and art critics Ana Vaz Milheiro (architecture), and Lúcia Marques and Paulo Pires do Vale (Visual Arts).

The 2010 AICA/MC Award for Architecture was issued to architect Francisco Castro Rodrigues (b. Lisbon, 1920).

The jury highlighted the body of work of this architect of great cultural relevance in the Portuguese scene, albeit not very well known by younger generations, since most of his works are located in Lobito, Angola – a city in which he instilled an urban quality from the 1950s onwards. Francisco Castro Rodrigues stood out as early as 1947, when he headed the group who re-founded Arquitectura magazine. The meetings were held in his own home together with his wife, the actress Maria de Lurdes de Castro Rodrigues, and he translated and published The Athens Charter (Le Corbusier, 1941) in the magazine – a crucial document for the introduction of the concept of Modern Architecture in Portugal.

Being an anti-fascist fighter, and therefore persecuted by the regime police, he found in Lobito an environment more conducive to developing a body of work that was consistent, modern, often playful and expressionistic, and using new materials and exploring their potential.

His first building was Casa Sol (1953), where he collaborated with visual artists – a collaboration that would become consistent throughout his career (tiled panels on the gables, painted by Manuel Ribeiro de Pavia). His multi-family residential block Universal (1961), with its complex façade of grilles, brise soleils, terraces, recesses and shadows; the Flamingo Outdoor Cinema (“Cine-Esplanada Flamingo”) (1963) – a cosmopolitan construction, with an ambitious concrete roof suspended at 16 metres; or the Lobito high school (1966), undoubtedly his most radical work: all of these convey Castro Rodrigues’ desire to adapt new construction techniques to a tropical climate. With his well-aired Sumbe Cathedral (1966), he achieved an innovative religious space, with visual contributions from Clotilde Fava and Louis Dourdil.

In 2009 Eduarda Dionísio (together with Casa da Achada) published the book Um Cesto de Cerejas (A Basket of Cherries), where she compiled a series of conversations she had with the Architect – and thus bringing to light a lot of his long and rich professional and personal trajectories. Also published in 2009, the book Moderno Tropical: Arquitectura em Angola e Moçambique, 1948-1975 (Modern Tropical: Architecture in Angola and Mozambique, 1948-1975) by Ana Magalhães and Inês Gonçalves (published by Tinta da China) shows a large portion of Castro Rodrigues’ architectural body of work, even electing a stunning photo of the “modern ruin” that is today’s Flamingo Outdoor Cinema as the cover image.

After Angola gained independence, Francisco Castro Rodrigues collaborated in the reconstruction of the new country, namely by organising an Architecture Degree. In 1989, he returned to Portugal, to Azenhas do Mar, where he has lived ever since.

The jury, composed by Manuel Graça Dias, Leonor Nazaré, Celso Martins, Nuno Grande and Diogo Seixas Lopes issued the 2009 AICA/Ministry of Culture Award for Architecture posthumously to architect Paulo Gouveia. The Azorean architect passed away last year.

Paulo Gouveia (1939-2009), born in Angra do Heroísmo, is the author of a body of work fully inserted within a post-modernist creative current, which reveals a personal interpretation of popular local culture through a pragmatic, vernacular, organic, visual and poetic discourse. Among many other emblematic works, he has left us the Wine Museum and an extension of the Baleeiros Museum, in Azores, which opened in 2009.

2009 was also the year of publication of his book Angra do Heroísmo: Arquitectura do Século XX e Memória Colectiva (Angra do Heroísmo: Architecture in the 20th Century and Collective Memory), published by the Institute of Azorean Culture as a result of his PhD dissertation which he defended at Évora University.

The jury highlighted that Paulo Gouveia “was an architect from the Azores who always showed great ease with the themes of universal culture, a scholar who always knew how to look at popular culture, namely at the emigrated inheritance left by the Azorean diaspora”.

On 17th March 2009, the jury of the 2008 AICA/Ministry of Culture Awards (Visual Arts and Architecture) held a meeting. The jury, composed by Manuel Graça Dias, who presided over the meeting, Leonor Nazaré, as secretary, João Pinharanda, Ana Vaz Milheiro and José Manuel Fernandes, decided the following:

2008 AICA/MC AWARD – ARCHITECTURE

The 2008 AICA/Ministry of Culture Award for Architecture was issued to the duo of architects Alexandre Alves Costa (b. 1939) and Sergio Fernandez (b. 1937).

The work of these two architects, who are based in Porto, has for many years been characterised both by the quality and contemporaneity of their proposals, and by the historical thoroughness and attention in their work on established heritage buildings which they have been invited to work on, mostly as a result of open public competitions.

From the realist, poetic and thorough Project of Heritage Recuperation and Development of the village of Idanha-a-Velha to which they have dedicated the last 15 years; to the recent restoration and modernising of Cine-Theatre Constantino Nery in Matosinhos, which opened in 2008; to the remarkable work of consolidation, archaeological framing and proposal for promotion of the Convent of Santa-a-Clara a Velha in Coimbra, which will open to the public this year; the contribution of these two architects and the teams they have led has been crucial for a completely new understanding of the role which architectural heritage can and should play in contemporary societies. Their work stands out also when producing brand new buildings, which raise and question the current issues present in current architecture and design, as demonstrated by the brand new Residential Complex in Viana do Castelo (2005), which was elegantly designed alongside the historic centre.

Alexandre Alves Costa and Sergio Fernandez have also played a remarkable role in teaching architecture, particular as lecturers at the Faculty of Architecture of Porto University, where they have influenced many generations with their sensitivity and knowledge.

Textos Datados (Dates Texts) was published in 2007, and it comprises a series of relevant reflections by Alexandre Alves Costa. Só Nós e Santa Tecla (Only Us and Saint Key) was published in 2008 – a critical album written by various authors on one of the most interesting works of modern Portuguese architecture, Casa Alcina, designed in 1971 by Sergio Fernandez.

On 29th April 2008, the jury of the 2007 AICA Awards held a meeting. The jury, composed by Rui Mário Gonçalves, Leonor Nazaré, João Pinharanda, Nuno Crespo, Ana Tostões, Michel Toussaint and Ricardo Carvalho, decided the following:

2007 AICA AWARD – ARCHITECTURE

The 2007 AICA Award for Architects was issued to João Mendes Ribeiro for his work as an architect and set designer. These two roles come together coherently to adapt to the particular features of the location, or the programme/stage play, in each case. The artist thus takes great care in materialising his concepts which, in theatre, show a very effective moderation of resources and, in his architectural works, show a constructive attention to detail combined with a subtle dramatisation which visually values each component. One of his works worth highlighting is his involvement in renovating the Chemistry Laboratory in Coimbra, which is exemplar for its ability to renovate and show off the old building’s evolution throughout different eras, while simultaneously adapting it to a modern Science museum.

On 13th February 2007, between 6.30pm and 8pm, the jury of the 2006 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts, on Rua Barata Salgueiro, number 36, in Lisbon. The jury was composed by associated Art and Architecture critics João Pinharanda, who presided over the meeting, Rui Mário Gonçalves, Nuno Crespo, Ana Tostões and Ricardo Carvalho.

The meeting opened with a retrospective look at the main anthological exhibitions by Portuguese artists and architects, and at works built and in full working use in the period covered by the awards. The jury also considered the creative paths of the respective artists. After this moment of considering and reflecting, the jury unanimously issued the following 2006 AICA-MC Awards:

Architecture Award: Paulo David. This award recognises the dynamism of his public works in an insular, national and international context. Having developed his work in a peripheral space, the jury highlighted his recent Cultural Centre Casa das Mudas (Calheta, Madeira Island).

On 20th February 2006, between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, the jury of the 2005 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts, on Rua Barata Salgueiro, number 36, in Lisbon. The jury was composed by Art and Architecture critics Rui Mário Gonçalves, who presided over the meeting, João Pinharanda, Ana Tostões, Leonor Nazaré, Michel Toussaint and Lúcia Marques.

The meeting opened with a retrospective look at the main anthological exhibitions by Portuguese artists and architects which influenced 2005 on a national and international scale. The jury also considered the artists’ respective creative paths, and unanimously decided to issue the following 2005 AICA-MC Awards (in the amount of 10,000 Euros each):

Architecture Award: Manuel and Francisco Aires Mateus, for their professional curriculum demonstrated by the exhibition Aires Mateus: Architecture which took place at the Belém Cultural Centre, and also confirmed by the recent inauguration of Sines Cultural Centre. 

The jury of the 2004 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting on 25th January 2005 at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon. The jury unanimously issued the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards to Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia and Helena Almeida, respectively.

The jury decided to issue the Architecture Award to Ruy Jervis d’Athouguia on occasion of his exhibition that took place at the Galveias Palace in 2004. This exhibition facilitated a re-evaluation of the crucial role of this architect and his generation in the assertion of modern architecture. To him we owe the Padre António Vieira High School, the Bairro de S. Miguel and Teixeira de Pascoaes Schools and, above all, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Headquarters and Museum, designed in partnership with Pedro Cid and Alberto José Pessoa, which time has confirmed as a great contemporary work.

The jury of the 2003 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting on 4th February 2004 at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon. The jury unanimously issued the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards to António Belém Lima and Luís Noronha da Costa, respectively.

The jury, composed of Ana Vaz Milheiro, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves, João Pinharanda and Leonor Nazaré, highlighted the recent residential complex Habireal from the body of work by architect Belém Lima. The award-winner hails from Pioledo’s atelier, whose unique activity has, for two decades, placed the city of Vila Real on the map of contemporary architecture.

On 23rd January 2003, at 6pm, the jury of the 2002 AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The jury consisted of art critics Carlos dos Santos Duarte, João Rocha de Sousa, Luísa Soares de Oliveira, Manuel Graça Dias and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to the duo of architects Nuno Mateus and José Mateus (ARX, Portugal) for their extension and renovation of Ílhavo’s Maritime Museum. This project reveals their experimental tendencies which are patent in the strength of interiors, light and space, surpassed only by the dynamism of their volumetric composition and urban quality of the object, which has regenerated the site, turning it into a location. 

On 25th January 2002, around 5.30pm, the jury of the AICA-MC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts, number 56, Rua Barata Salgueiro, in Lisbon, to issue the Awards for 2001. The jury consisted of art critic Rui Mário Gonçalves, who presided over the meeting, architect Carlos Duarte, João Pinharanda, architect Ana Tostões and Luísa Soares Oliveira, all of whom are AICA members.

After considering various options, the jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to designer Daciano da Costa, on occasion of the retrospective exhibition of his body of work at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The jury emphasised the contribution of his work and his educational activities towards the quality and improvement of architecture in Portugal. The jury also decided to make a mention in the minutes of another great promoter of Design in Portugal, architect António Sena da Silva, who passed away in 2001.

On 16th March 2001, around 5pm, the jury of the 20th AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Fernando de Azevedo (present on behalf of the President of the Portuguese Section, Rui Mário Gonçalves), Fernando Pernes (on teleconference, as he was unable to travel away from Porto), Carlos Duarte and Nuno Portas. The members present thus re-formed the jury present at the first awards, issued in 1981, as requested by José-Augusto França, who is retiring from the position of President of the jury in the year he had stipulated, 2000.

The Architecture Award was issued unanimously to the Directorate of Aveiro University for its campus, integrated in the project by the Studies Centre of the Faculty of Architecture of Porto University. This project is distinguished for the quality of many of the buildings that constitute the campus, as well as for the coordinating plan which sets it apart from other similar projects. This award intends to emphasise, for the first time, the exemplarity of a public institution taking on a project of this magnitude. The end result cannot be separated from the individual contribution provided by some of the most renowned Portuguese architects across several generations, some of whom have already been awarded by AICA.

On 27th March 2000, the jury of the 1999 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of Fernando Pernes, on teleconference, Carlos Duarte, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves and José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to Manuel Graça Dias and Egas Vieira, who work together. Highlighted from their body of work was the Portuguese Pavilion at the Seville Universal Exhibition in 1992; the new headquarters for the Portuguese Architects Association; the South Gate and Cracking at Expo 98; and, in 1999: the lecture buildings and South Auditorium at the Institute of Higher Education for Health; and the winning project of the competition for the new headquarters of the newspaper Expresso. These works are characterised by a creative energy and formal exuberance which translate into images of great impact, often deliberately provocative.

Finally, the jury referred the continuous and effective work of Graça Dias in the dissemination and critical analysis of contemporary Portuguese architecture, namely through the means of radio and television.

On 22nd February 1999 the jury of the 1998 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of Fernando de Azevedo, Manuel Graça Dias, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves and José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to Manuel Salgado for his entire body of work, of which was highlighted the project for an office building in Rua Castilho (Valmor Award, 1980), the Belém Cultural Centre project (completed in partnership with architect Vittorio Gregotti in 1989/93), and his most recent urban work detailed in the Detail Plan (PP2) for the Expo 98 space, as well as his public spaces plan for that area.

Manuel Salgado was also the author of projects for various temporary architectural structures for the Lisbon International Exhibition (from kiosks and restaurants to some of the country pavilions in the south area), as well as the project for Camões Theatre.

The design of Expo 98, a project of huge visibility which the millions of people who visited the exhibition were able to enjoy (and are still able to enjoy now in Parque das Nações), is a work of remarkable quality which will have greatly contributed to the success of the event. Manuel Salgado will continue to be linked to the design of the site in the near future, since the construction work for the public spaces envisaged for after the Expo (which were also designed by him) will begin soon. 

On 27th April 1998 the jury of the 1997 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting to issue the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards. The jury consisted of Margarida Acciaiuoli, Sílvia Chicó, Manuel Graça Dias, José Lamas and José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to Raul Chorão Ramalho for his exhibition that took place at the Casa da Cerca in Almada in 1997. This exhibition demonstrated the quality, coherence and the permanence in time of examples such as the Restelo Shopping Centre (Rua Duarte Pacheco Pereira) in Lisbon, or the Pedro Nolasco School in Macau, to mention but two examples of a body of work which, while safeguarding the author’s modernity of style, was quietly built in various parts of the world, from Madeira to Macau, from Portugal to Brazil.

On 4th March 1997, around 6.30pm, the jury of the 1996 AICA-Ministry of Culture Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The jury consisted of the following critics: José-Augusto França (Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section), José Lamas, José Manuel Fernandes, Rui Mário Gonçalves and Cristina Azevedo Tavares.

The jury unanimously decided on the winners of the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards.

The Architecture Award was issued to architect Amâncio Guedes (Pancho) for his architectural body of work in Lourenço Marques (1953/65), and above all for his innovative and original style which is still a crucial reference for modernity, and which shows a capacity for articulating cultural traditions with deeply diverse roots.

On 15th March 1996 the jury of the 1995 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting. The jury consisted of the following critics: José-Augusto França (Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section), Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Fernando de Azevedo and Sílvia Chicó (President of the Portuguese Section).

The jury decided on the winners of both the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards.

The Architecture Award was issued to architect Eduardo Souto e Moura for his house in Teatro Street, number 156, Porto. This magnificent building encompasses the full maturity of formal atmosphere, a quality demonstrated in all of his works, through which it follows a path particularly sensitive to the characteristics of the surroundings, the materials and the spaces.

On 11th July 1995 the jury of the 1994 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon.

The meeting was presided over by the Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section, Professor José-Augusto França, and attended by Nuno Portas, Fernando de Azevedo, Manuel Graça Dias and Sílvia Chicó.

The Jury unanimously issued the Architecture and Visual Arts Awards to architect Fernando Távora and painter Júlio Pomar, respectively.

The award to architect Fernando Távora was justified by his consistent body of work confirmed by his recent involvement in the Refoios School (Ponte de Lima), and which has been developing throughout the last few years. His biographical exhibition at the Belém Cultural Centre is a testimony of his radiant and erudite passion for architecture.

On 16th March 1994 the jury of the 1993 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Sílvia Tavares Chicó, Carlos Duarte and Pedro Vieira de Almeida.

The jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to architect Frederico George, recently deceased, and therefore under an exceptional circumstance. This award recognises his spirit, his knowledge, and his relevant educational commitment, particularly for his efforts in establishing the profession of Designer in Portugal, and also for his defence of integrating the three art forms. All this was confirmed in the exhibition dedicated to him in 1993, which inaugurated the Sala do Risco in the Lisbon Council.

On 25th March 1993 the jury of the 1992 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Nuno Portas and Fernando Pernes.

It was unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to an artist of a more recent generation, but who has had a significant body of work built and published – architect J. L. Carrilho da Graça. His work is characterised by a progressive distillation of his unique language, with modernist roots, and which reacts against the decorative laxness which characterises much of the dominant public and real estate promotion. Carrilho da Graça’s work is also recognisable for his personal interpretation of the values of location which he cleverly integrates in his work.

On 30th January 1992 the jury of the 1991 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida and Sílvia Chicó.

From a perspective of not necessarily issuing the award as a career tribute, the jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to architect Henrique Chicó for his building at number 40 in Braancamp Street. Although potentially controversial, the building addresses the issue of integrating a modern project within pre-existing architecture, and confronting the tensions of style provoked by this particular urban assimilation.

On 21st January 1991 the jury of the AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The meeting was presided over by José-Augusto França, and attended by Fernando de Azevedo, Nuno Portas, Pedro Vieira de Almeida and Rui Mário Gonçalves, as secretary.

The jury unanimously decided to award Manuel Tainha for Architecture, particularly for his work on the Psychology Faculty, where he demonstrated consistent technical diligence in a project developed remarkable coherently, intimately articulated with an investigation of individual language, and for the educational insight of his ethical and professional contribution.

On 12th February 1990 the jury of the 1989 AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. José-Augusto França presided over the meeting, and Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Rui Mário Gonçalves and Nuno Portas were in attendance.

The jury issued the Architecture Award to architect Pedro Ramalho, whose body of work has for two decades been characterised for its constructive dynamism and original interpretation of the projects, without submitting to established dogmatisms. These attitudes are clearly demonstrated in social housing projects such as Porto and Guimarães, in institutional buildings such as the Matosinhos Public Swimming Pool or the Águeda Council, and more recently on a residential scale with the remarkable house in Foz do Douro Casa C. Sousa, which is representative of his critical and uninhibited understanding of modern tradition

On 13th January 1989 the jury of the AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The Jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Fernando de Azevedo, Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida and Rui Mário Gonçalves, as secretary.

The Architecture Award was issued unanimously to Gonçalo Byrne, due to his consistently intelligent approach to understanding urban values and his sensitive formal invention of architectural objects. These qualities are exemplified by his cooperative housing building recently completed in Restelo, as well as his proposal for the Belém Cultural Centre competition.

On 23rd January 1988, around 6pm, the jury of the AICA-SEC Awards held a meeting at the National Society of Fine Arts. The Jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Sílvia Tavares Chicó, Carlos Duarte, Fernando de Azevedo and Rui Mário Gonçalves, as secretary.

Looking back on 1987, the jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to Manuel Vicente for his remarkable work that won the competition organised by the Lisbon Ishmaelite Centre, and also as recognition for his entire body of work patent in numerous projects in Portugal and Macau. In particular, his work strands out for the thorough research carried out, as well as the didactic qualities it has displayed in the area of Education.

On 16th January 1987, the Awards Jury met at the National Society of Fine Arts. The Jury consisted of critics José-Augusto França, who presided over the meeting, Carlos Duarte, Sílvia Chicó, Fernando de Azevedo and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The Jury decided to issue the 1986 Architecture Award to architect Vítor Figueiredo for his project on the residential complex in Alto do Zambujal, and for the entirety of his work which has mainly been dedicated to social housing, where he has developed a coherent aesthetical discourse of unquestionable strength and dignity, and for which he has conducted systematic research of paramount interest about the technical and economic issues that affect this sector.

On 15th February 1986, the jury members of AICA’s Portuguese Section held a meeting to issue the 1985 Awards. The Jury consisted of art critics José-Augusto França (President), Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, Nuno Portas and Rui Mário Gonçalves.

The Jury unanimously decided to issue the Architecture Award to architect Nuno Teotónio Pereira, thus celebrating a long career which has always been innovative and meticulous, as well as his ability to set trends in architecture. This choice is further justified by the recent conclusion of one of the stages in the Restelo complex (Lisbon).

On 9th January 1985, around 7pm, a meeting was held by the jury responsible for issuing the 1984 AICA’s Portuguese Section Awards for Visual Arts and Architecture.

The Jury consisted of José-Augusto França, Honorary President of AICA’s Portuguese Section, Sílvia Chicó, President of the Portuguese Section, Fernando de Azevedo, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, and Nuno Portas, who voted by post.

The Jury unanimously decided to issue the Visual Arts Award to painter Júlio Resende, and the Architecture Award to architect Alcino Soutinho.

The choice for the Architecture Award rests on the recently-completed work at the Council Library Museum at the S. Gonçalo Convent in Amarante. This work was inserted in a pre-existing architectural complex, and it constitutes an expression of aesthetic exploration and formal investigation of recognised coherence and inventiveness, presented mainly in function of spatial values.

At 10pm on 22nd December 1982, at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, a meeting was held by the Jury responsible for issuing AICA’s Portuguese Section National Awards for Visual Arts and Architecture. The Jury was presided over by José-Augusto França, honorary president of AICA’s Portuguese Section, and composed by Rui Mário Gonçalves, Carlos Duarte, Pedro Vieira de Almeida, all members of the Association and, representing Fernando Pernes, AICA’s acting president, was Fernando de Azevedo.

Carlos Duarte and Pedro Vieira proposed architect Raul Hestnes Ferreira as a candidate for the Architecture Award, for his consistent architectural presence throughout his career, and for the works he produced, namely in 1982, with the near-completion of the SAAL das Fonsecas Quarter in Lisbon, the Benfica Secondary School, and a residential area in Beja. This proposal obtained the support of the other Jury members, therefore unanimously issuing the National Award for Architecture to Raul Hestnes Ferreira

The Jury was presided over by José-Augusto França, honorary president of AICA’s Portuguese Section, and composed by Fernando Pernes, acting president of the Association, and by Fernando de Azevedo, Carlos Duarte and Nuno Portas, all members of the Association. The meeting was held at the National Society of Fine Arts, on 5th June 1982, to issue the two awards for visual arts and architecture, each in the value of 100,000 escudos, funded by the Ministry of Culture in office on 25th May 1982.

The panel turned to the Architecture Award, to be issued to an artist for his/her work presented in 1981. The jury decided to issue the award to architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, for his project on Quinta da Malagueira, which constitutes phase 1 of an important project to expand the city of Évora (also led by this artist). As is the case with his extensive previous works, which are internationally renowned for the originality of their language and connection with the roots of Portuguese architecture, the project recognised by this award defines a creativity undoubtedly deserving of the greatest national recognition.