In the heart of the Alentejo, in Santiago do Cacém, there is an invitation to cross sensory and emotional boundaries. The exhibition SOUTH – Spectres Beyond The Tagus, curated by Ricardo Gritto, opens on September 27, 2025 and presents itself as an immersive journey, where art is not just contemplated, but felt in depth.
More than an exhibition tour, this show proposes an ecological, ethical and emotional experience, divided into thematic nuclei that are each gateways to different dimensions of human existence and the planet.
A Circuit in Seven Cores
The exhibition unfolds in seven moments, like seven chapters of a sensory book.
The Woods – The paintings evoke the primordial soil, recalling the urgency of restoring nature and listening to its silent voice.
Air – The breath of life, the human gesture in dialog with the world, in an integration that is both physical and spiritual.
Desert – The fragility of the ecological balance and the austere beauty of landscapes that reveal both absence and resistance.
Territory – Caring for the region and its communities, the responsibility to preserve not only the land, but also the identity that flourishes on it.
Love – The human exchanges, bonds and intimacy that are revealed in proximity.
Others – Global interconnection, reminding us that every gesture is reflected far beyond our visible borders.
Hope – Perseverance and the creation of possible futures, sustained by imagination and collective will.
Each section is an invitation to reflection and participation, transforming the visitor into an active part of this aesthetic and ethical narrative.
Alfredo Moreira da Silva: A Legacy of Regenerative Creation
At the heart of this exhibition is Alfredo Moreira da Silva‘s artistic practice, where painting, hospitality and care are intertwined. The pictorial gesture, the botanical space and the culinary experience converge to form a single concept: that of regenerative creation.
His legacy is profound and spans four generations of environmental engineers, landscape architects, botanists and humanist thinkers. A legacy that is not limited to technique, but which inspires reflection on the aesthetic and ethical responsibility of human beings towards the planet.
Alfredo reminds us that art can be as vital as life itself, when it is put at the service of care and regeneration.
An Experience that Unites Art, Nature and Humanity
The SOUTH – Spectres Beyond The Tagus exhibition celebrates not only an artistic journey, but above all a living dialog between art, nature and human experience. Each room is a territory, each work an invitation, and each visitor is called to immerse themselves in the poetics of regeneration.
More than a retrospective, this is a celebration of the power of creation as a gesture of hospitality and care. It’s an opportunity to reflect on how we inhabit the world, how we care for our surroundings and how we can, through art, imagine possible futures.
An Invitation to Immersion
The opening, on September 27, 2025, marks the beginning of a sensory and transformative journey. A journey where contemplation becomes participation, and where every glance can be the beginning of a new awareness.
In Santiago do Cacém, this exhibition is not just an art show – it is a meeting place between the past and the future, between creation and care, between humans and the planet.
