Exhibition
Independence, Art, and Future: multiple biography
Opening Thursday, March 5. 18:00 - 21:00
Opening hours: 5–15 March 15:30–18:30 pm
As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the independence of the Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP), the Portuguese Cultural Institute invited me to curate an exhibition featuring works by Ál Varo Tavares de Guilherme (Luanda, Angola, 1992; lives in Berlin) and Márcio Carvalho (Lagos, Portugal, 1981), whose artistic trajectories intersect with this history.
We are pleased to announce ‘Independence, Art, and Future: Multiple Biography’, an exhibition bringing together a group of works centered on the notions of flight, identity, and biography.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a screening of ‘Metalheart’ (2020, 6:59 min.) and ‘Memória / Calling Cabral’ (2022, 18:16 min.) by Welket Bungué (Xitole, Guinea-Bissau, 1988), followed by an open discussion with the filmmaker and artist on March 15.
Program:
:: Opening 5 March , 6–9 pm
:: Opening times 5–15 March, 3:30–6:30 pm
:: Screening and open discussion with Welket Bungué 15 March, 4 pm
//with:
Ál Varo Tavares de Guilherme e Márcio Carvalho
curated by Guilherme Vilhena Martins
Márcio Carvalho was born in Lagos, Portugal, in 1981. He lives and works between Berlin and Lisbon. He holds a degree in Fine Arts from ESAD (Caldas da Rainha), a Master’s degree in Performing Arts from UDK (Berlin), and is currently a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon. Carvalho has participated in artistic events and projects across five continents, where he has collaborated with artists, curators, and local communities. Notable highlights include the RAVY Biennial (Yaoundé), the Curitiba Biennial, the National Arts Festival (Johannesburg), the Thessaloniki Biennial, the Gemäldegalerie Museum (Berlin), SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin), the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon), the MUCEM Museum (Marseille), and the AfricaMuseum (Tervuren).
Álvaro Tavares Guilherme (Luanda, Angola, 1992) is a self-taught painter and poet. Originally from Angola, he moved to Lisbon as an 8 year old. In 2018, he moved to Berlin to pursue his career as a painter. His work resists neat definition and is strongly influenced by street culture and mythology, often integrating found objects and raw materials. A pioneer of the Neo-Brut movement, Guilherme’s paintings combine rawness and precision. Guilherme has been exhibited multiple times in Germany. In 2023, he debuted at Dittrich & Schlechtriem with the solo show ‘No Church Wild’.
Guilherme Vilhena Martins (Lisbon, 1996; lives in Berlin) is a writer and curator. He has an MA in Philosophy from Freie Universität Berlin and a BA from Nova University Lisbon. His literary work includes three books — Háptica (douda correria, 2020), Voz/ Estudo de Som (self-published, 2022), and Riviera (Bestiário, 2025). He has written essays, chronicles, and exhibition reviews in both Portuguese and English, published on platforms such as Umbigo, Contemporary And, and Frieze, among others, alongside numerous exhibition texts. He has curated several exhibitions in Portugal and Germany, and co-founded EGEU, a Lisbon-based project space active from 2019 to 2023. Since January 2025, he has been gallery manager at Klemm’s, Berlin.