28 Jun — 25 Aug 2024

A RAIA/LA RAYA, by Bárbara Fonte, Catalina Julve Jaume, Jaime González Palencia, Luís Almeida, Mar Ramón Soriano, Joana Duarte and Nuno Félix da Costa.

Curated by Mercedes Vidal-Abarca and Diogo Ramalho

Raia is the name for the Spain-Portugal border, one of the most ancient borders of Europe, with some limits established since the time of the Portucalense County and the Kingdom of Leão. In a broader sense, Raia is also the geographic space, in one and on the other side of the political border, where populations share historical, linguistic, cultural, and economic elements.

Córtex Frontal: Artistic Residencies (Arraiolos), in collaboration with Galeria Plato (Évora), created in 2023-24 a project that would allow for more excellent dialogue between Portuguese and Spanish artists, encouraging the creation of networking and opening opportunities for future collaboration and exposure. It was the first edition of a project that foresees annual continuity. With the coordination of curators Mercedes Vidal-Abarca and Diogo Ramalho. The project was organized into three phases: an open call, artist residencies, and a final exhibition. The first phase involved calling for applications to participate in the project, resulting in the selection of six visual artists from two nationalities. The artistic residency format worked as a creation, experimentation, and investigation tool. After receiving numerous portfolios, the final artists were selected and grouped into three monthly cycles of residence, carried out at the Frontal Cortex facilities (second phase). During this period, each resident developed their project individual and was accompanied by the curators, who worked in collaboration with each artist throughout the process. The last phase of this project consisted of the curatorial definition and dialogue with everyone involved in this first edition of Raia. In partnership with MACE (Elvas) and as part of Farra, the project performs here in the Forte da Graça space.