Agenda Detail

The Matosinhos City Council and the Cupertino de Miranda Foundation are honoured to invite you to the opening of the exhibition “Roots and Horizons: Isabel Meyrelles”, composed of works from the Cupertino de Miranda Foundation’s collection.

The opening will take place on 20 September at 4:00 pm at the Matosinhos Municipal Gallery.

The exhibition will be open to the public until 30 November 2025.

Sculptor, poet, and translator, Isabel Meyrelles symbolically returns to her birthplace with this exhibition at the Matosinhos Municipal Gallery. Born on 29 April 1929, Isabel Meyrelles has lived in France since the late 1970s, but her art maintains a strong connection to the land where she was born.

One of the few female figures in the Portuguese surrealist universe, Isabel Meyrelles also played an essential role in the Portuguese cultural scene alongside Natália Correia, as co-founder of the emblematic restaurant O Botequim — a refuge of freedom and creativity in Lisbon. In addition to sculpture, the artist was also a poet and translator, admitting that she only wrote in moments of melancholy.

This exhibition presents several of the artist’s sculptures in terracotta and bronze, revealing the depth and dreamlike strength that characterises her work. Each sculpture transports the visitor to an intimate and surreal dimension, where memory, poetry, and creative freedom coexist.

Thus, “Roots and Horizons” celebrates Isabel Meyrelles’ reunion with her origins — Matosinhos — fulfilling the dream of exhibiting in her birthplace, bringing together works that engage with her memories and the libertarian spirit that has always guided her. An opportunity to revisit the artistic, poetic, and literary strength of Isabel Meyrelles, and to honour her unique contribution to Portuguese culture and creative freedom.