Centro de Arte Moderna, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
CAM is an art and culture centre with a collection of contemporary and modern art which includes the largest representation of Portuguese artists to date.
The idea of creating a new venue at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation for the experience of Modern and Contemporary art emerged towards the end of the 1970s. Soon after, José de Azeredo Perdigão, founding president of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and the board entrusted Sir Leslie Martin and his collaborators with the design of a multifunction building, which would house the collection of Modern and Contemporary art that started being amassed in the late 1950s, but work as a venue to create and present new formats and showcase the work of emerging artists.
Inaugurated in 1983, CAM (Centro de Arte Moderna) was not meant to be just a museum, which the name implies. It naturally became the headquarters of ACARTE, an avant-garde multidisciplinary programme launched in the following year by Madalena Perdigão.
After a major renovation by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, in collaboration with landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic, CAM will reopen to the public in September 2024. A selection of works from the Collection will be on rotation and shown in different contexts. CAM will continue to feature new projects by contemporary artists and will also have a new space dedicated to sound art, and another to works on paper. A Live Arts programme will complement the exhibitions programme, reflecting the eclectic artistic production of our times, by artists living in Portugal and everywhere around the world.