Bauhaus of the Seas Sails: Artistic Residencies and Community Encounters in Lisbon and Oeiras

In the upcoming weeks, the Bauhaus of the Seas Sails project will continue to bring together artists, scientists, and local communities to explore the cultural, ecological, and sensorial dimensions of life by the sea as part of its artistic residencies. Join us in Lisbon and Oeiras this May and June for a series of public events, workshops, talks, and exhibitions that explore our relationship with the sea through the lens of art, science, and community. Check out the full programme details in several locations below.

Radical Watters, Concrete Matters residency in Lisbon

In Lisbon, the residency “Radical Watters, Concrete Matters” hosts Fahrenheit 180 collective, based in Portugal and composed of the Swiss architect Jeremy Morris and the Portuguese-Swiss designer Luca Carlisle who focus on layered material and symbolic landscapes of water and urban infrastructure. Their work interrogates the ecological and social memory embedded in Lisbon’s waterscapes, particularly through the lens of craft and experimentation.

From 14 to 16 May, the duo leads an azulejo-making workshop at BioLAB Lisboa, where participants explore the traditional Portuguese tile craft with an ecological twist. These sessions, held in the late afternoon, open space for creative reflection on the intersection between material heritage and future ecologies.

Later in the month, on 22 and 23 May, Jeremy and Luca will engage with the Marvila community through participatory workshops at the Marvila Library. These gatherings aim to build collective narratives around water, place, and resilience, nurturing a shared language of transformation.

Fahrenheit 180 collective reimagines the typical Portuguese tile through the use of renewable materials

A Call to the Sea in the Oeiras pilot

In Oeiras, the residency “A Call to the Sea” is animated through two dynamic artistic interventions, beginning with the work of Francisca Rocha Gonçalves, whose practice intersects marine science and sensory ethnography. On 16 May, Francisca will host a conversation and guided tour at the Fish Bioacoustic Lab, in collaboration with scientists Clara Amorim and Manuel Vieira. This event, part of the Gulbenkian programme, invites participants to experience the underwater soundscapes of the Tagus and consider the ways fish and humans alike are shaped by acoustic environments. More information can be found here.

On 24 May, as part of the Oeiras Valley Science Festival, artists Diana Policarpo and Bernardo Gaeiras, also part of the “A Call to the Sea” residency at the Lighthouse of São Lourenço do Bugio, creating an opportunity to explore the interactions of humans and non-humans within the Tagus River’s ecosystem. On 24 May at 11.30, Diana and Bernardo will discuss the process of developing their project “Estação Eco-Fluvial do Bugio” – a speculative proposal intertwining art and science that imagines Bugio Lighthouse, in Oeiras, both as a radio station and as an ecological study centre for the Tagus river ecosystem.

The Oeiras programme will continue with Francisca presenting the exhibition and performance “Time Capsules” on the same day, running from 18.30 to 22h. This event offers an immersive and sensorial journey through underwater ecologies, blending installation and performative elements that reflect on memory, marine time, and environmental change. Through ice, sound and holding, it suggests a reflection on time, preservation and the way we connect (or not) with the underwater world. This project was developed as part of the Art & Science Residency A Call to the Sea, which took place at the Vasco da Gama Aquarium in 2024.

Diana Policarpo and Bernardo Gaeiras on their project “Estação Eco-Fluvial do Bugio” – a speculative proposal intertwining art and science

Underwater Ecotones

Finally, on 1 June, the residency culminates with the opening of “Underwater Ecotones”, an exhibition by artist Francisca Rocha Gonçalves, running from 1 to 30 June 2025 at the Aquarium Vasco da Gama. Curated by Inês Valle and Marco Frade, the show blends contemporary art, science, and conservation to explore underwater sound and light ecologies. It invites the public to experience non-human forms of communication in aquatic environments, while drawing attention to threats like noise pollution, climate change, and habitat loss.

The parallel programme includes talks and guided tours with artists, curators and scientists, as well as underwater listening sessions in the Tagus River, which provide an in-depth look at the artistic and scientific content of the project, offering the public the opportunity to learn about the research and creation processes, promoting a direct dialogue with the artists and fostering reflection on underwater communication, marine ecologies and conservation practices.

“Underwater Ecotones” by artist Francisca Rocha Gonçalves will run from 1 to 30 June 2025 at the Aquarium Vasco da Gama