MFA returns to Faro with photography and author exhibitions in August

The building will be fully occupied by thirteen photography exhibitions by national and international artists, in addition to an exhibition of cartoons by André Carrilho on the ground floor.

During this period, there will also be opportunities to take portraits à la minute, and on August 19th—World Photography Day—look forward to a special program. All admission is free.

There are fourteen good reasons to stop by Fábrica da Cerveja, at Rua do Castelo, 10, from Tuesday to Saturday, from 6 pm to 11 pm, and on Sunday, from 10 am to 1 pm.

This August, after the dips and the heat, CC11 invites you to refresh your gaze at this Photography and Authors Exhibition.

Welcoming visitors on the ground floor of the Fábrica da Cerveja is the most high-performance of the exhibition's exhibits. You can even take a photo à la minute ; it's part of the process.

"The fabulous machine to stop time" is a work with performative and didactic characteristics by João Paulo Barrinha and the main project of his production platform, Walking Camera Project , in which the photographic act is seen as a performance, using photography à la minute .

Immediately following, on the 0.5th floor, the Photography and Authors Exhibition presents, for the first time, the winning project of the 1st edition of the CC11 Photography Award. "Blessed Ground" by Ricardo Lopes is a powerful documentary essay.

During 2024, the photographer followed the impact of industrial gold mining on rural communities in Mozambique.

With their agricultural lands devastated and contaminated, the populations turned to unprofitable and equally polluting manual mining, facing rampant poverty, with all that entails. The lack of a government response fuels a growing sense of a compromised future.

In the next room, delve into the traditions of arbutus brandy distillation, still very much alive in the Monchique and Espinhaço de Cão mountains. "Alambiques & Alquimistas," by João Mariano, is a sensory journey into the heart of the Algarve mountains.

On the first floor, "Very Fragile," by Marc Schroeder, is a delicate return to portrait photography. In 2023, the photographer wandered through Lisbon's Alameda district, asking strangers to take his portraits. Each image reveals the fragile beauty of the fleeting encounter.

In the other room, "Margem Sul" (South Bank), by Luís Ramos, is an exaltation of diversity. The photographer explores this somewhat underappreciated territory of contrasts, revealing life along the river and inland, its blend of people and cultures—from those who arrived in the 1960s to the newly arrived digital nomads—and its diverse landscapes. Where else can you find a beach with industrial silos in the background?

On the 1.5th floor, "Joy Bangla", a 2024 project by Filipe Bianchi, introduces us to the daily life of the Bangladeshi community in the Intendente neighborhood of Lisbon, showcasing their ties to the region.

In the adjoining room, Alberto Picco looks at the city of Setúbal and its industrial remains, transforming ruins and abandoned structures into symbols charged with memory and identity.

The mix of techniques and media in «Crossing Boundaries» refers to an imaginary space and raises questions about the possible limits of photography as a possible mirror of reality.

On the second floor, five exhibitions. In the first room, there is space for a retrospective, featuring "O' Lopes," which traces the career of photojournalist Carlos Lopes (1949-2021), based on a selection by Clara Azevedo and Daniel Rocha that reveals his biting sense of humor and the power of a sharp eye that immortalized unique moments in history and everyday life.

The next room houses 31 photographs from the project "Cante", by Ana Baião, a portrait of those who give body and voice to Alentejo singing, made over the course of a decade, in a selection by curators António Pedro Ferreira and João Mariano.

In the same time period (between 2014 and 2024), but in a different location, Joe Wood emigrated to Lithuania. "Middle Ground" is a photographic journey through the country, exploring transformation, identity, and humanity in a changing world.

Must I suffer the eternal curse of becoming someone else, on the way to myself? This quote from Audre Lorde serves as a motto for the 13 photographers in "Change of Season," who reflect on the processes of transformation, identity, and change.

Adriana João, Ana Alejos, Beatriz Banha, Beatriz Blasi, Carla Rebelo, Carolina Lino, Carolina Tardin, Catarina Cesário Jesus, Cristiana Ortiga, Eugénia Burnay, Joana Hintze, Rita Ruivo and Vera Cruz – thirteen different perspectives, «crossed by a common concern: who are we, when do we change?».

To close this floor, a leap back in time. The Algarve of Asta and Luís de Almeida d'Eça is a dive into the past, more specifically into the photographic archive of this couple who became famous for their tourism photography from the 1960s to the 1980s.

The 3rd floor is entirely dedicated to "From Ukraine with Love," by Adriano Miranda, which brings together photographs and chronicles published in the newspaper Público that provide direct testimony to the war in Ukraine.

More than just a photographic record, this exhibition invites deep reflection on war and pays tribute to all its victims.

And because images in the press aren't made solely by photography, don't miss "Mr. Wolf" by André Carrilho on the ground floor, a selection of illustrations created for the press throughout 2024, depicting the characters and events that marked the year.

This year, with extended opening hours, until 11 p.m., the Photography and Authors Exhibition – MFA Faro is an opportunity to see the work of established photojournalists and young photographers, to experience the themes that mark the present in a different way, to be able to see from within the world of Alentejo singing or the stills of the Algarve mountains.

Experience the dawn of the tourist Algarve in the 1960s and 1970s. All in a single space, the iconic Fábrica da Cerveja, in the heart of Faro's historic center.