Stone Alive

The project connects two museums with unique historical collections which are little known to the general public: the Museu Geológico Lisboa (founded in 1859) and the Musée de Minéralogie MINES Paris (1783). These museums are both devoted to research and located in historical buildings in Paris and Lisbon. The project pays tribute to these two European museums and the role they played in the cultural history of both capitals, and aims to draw the public’s attention to the innovative potential of these collections. The exhibition launches a reflection on the cross-pollination between scientific and artistic research focused on stone – as the primordial symbol of both artistic practice (being by excellence the ‘material of art’) and the production of scientific knowledge (covering domains such as geology, astronomy, geodesy, archaeology, etc.). These themes are applied in the contemporary context, in which stone is a living material, being constantly reinvented – through scientific and artistic practice – between the natural and the artificial, between the virtual and the real. The exhibition raises the question: what is the relevance of stone today? Each of the artists will apply certain aspects of stone and aspects of the history of the two museums to their own cultural context.

For more information about Fernanda Fragateiro