Carlos Barroco and Portuguese Handicrafts

Carlos Barroco (Lisbon, 1946-2015) was a multifaceted figure with diverse interests, best known as a visual artist and gallery owner. In 1985, he founded the Novo Século gallery, which enabled him to pursue, professionally, his true passion: artistic expression in its many forms, from folk art to contemporary art, from manual work to industrial production. This exhibition, which also serves as a tribute to the life and work of Carlos Barroco, aims to highlight the importance of his contribution to the field of Portuguese handicrafts, emphasising the value of his approach and perspective. It showcases a significant part of his collection of clay figurines, alongside a small selection of works he produced – where clear references to folk art can be seen – as well as some visual documentation he created during his visits to artisans. His dedication to Portuguese handicrafts resulted, in addition to building a collection primarily made up of clay figurines, in a set of texts, exhibitions, photographs, and videos that now serve as valuable textual and visual documents on this field.