I Congresso Luso-Brasileiro de Artes Decorativas
Do contexto da criação ao cenário da fruição
Ordem Terceira de São Francisco do Porto e Universidade Católica Portuguesa
17 - 20 june, 2026
 

Coordination
Gonçalo Vasconcelos e Sousa and Marize Malta
 

Call for abstracts
Until February 8
Papers may be submitted on foreign pieces and collections found in collections in Portugal and Brazil, but not studies on decorative arts unrelated to both countries.

There is an urgent need for reflection and research development in the field of decorative, civil, and religious arts, both in Portugal and Brazil, even though the term now seems outdated and limited to certain periods, and studies in this field have been expanded with contributions from material and visual culture. This broad thematic universe, ranging from the mobile arts to the applied arts, from handcrafted objects to those of collective or unknown authorship, is complex and dialogical, with artists, craftsmen, spaces, patrons, and clients interacting within it. Spanning distinct and simultaneously conditioning geographical areas, they had epochal and social frameworks that often determined a specific enjoyment based on their peculiar aesthetics. We must also consider the issues of their museography and aspects of the conservation and restoration of the works, which allow us to see other perspectives of their identities.

This conference will seek to discuss a variety of topics, ranging from the social uses of objects (and their trajectories) to typological and case studies, from different types of sources to ornamentation, from materials to clientele, from foreign influences to unique innovations on both sides of the Atlantic, seeking to better understand, through the sharing of research, the pieces that populated living environments in both Portugal and Brazil.

This first edition of the conference will be based on the motto that serves as its starting point, which begins with the context of the creation of the works and their creators, extending to the scenarios and contexts of their different types of use, proposing to map and bring together researchers who have dedicated themselves to the study of the decorative arts.

This conference will seek to discuss a variety of topics, ranging from the social uses of objects (and their trajectories) to typological and case studies, from different types of sources to ornamentation, from materials to clientele, from foreign influences to unique innovations on both sides of the Atlantic, seeking to better understand, through the sharing of research, the pieces that populated living environments in both Portugal and Brazil.
 

Subjects:

1 Theoretical Concepts in Decorative Arts
2 Materialities in Decorative Arts
3 Sources for the Study of Decorative Arts
4 Crafts and Industries
5 Commissioners
6 Collections, Museums, and Decorative Arts
7 Conservation and Restoration of Decorative Arts

Local:
Auditório Dr. António Pedro Pinto de Mesquita
Venerável Ordem Terceira de São Francisco do Porto (Rua da Bolsa, 80)