Joana Vasconcelos inaugurated the exhibition 'Jardim do Éden', which is part of the programme for the  'International Congress Baroque Times.  The table´s scenography'. The artwork, Garden of Eden, has previously been displayed at the Venice Biennale, the Electricity Museum, MAC/CCB, the National Palace of Ajuda, and more recently at MICAS in Malta, where Joana Vasconcelos launched the museum's programme.

Garden of Eden is an immersive installation that invites viewers to walk through it. Using luminous flow and synchronous motors, the artificial flowers arranged in a labyrinthine form create a kinetic effect akin to that produced by fibre optics. At the same time, a gentle soundtrack can be perceived – evoking the sounds of dozens of small insects – produced by the mechanical hum of the functioning machines. This journey through the dreamlike paradise reveals the artificiality of nature through an unusual optical experience, made possible only by the requirement for its presentation in an indoor space deprived of natural light. Joana Vasconcelos creates an astonishing simulacrum that invariably leads to questioning, subversion, and the appropriation of an ancestral narrative.

'International Congress Baroque Times.  The table´s scenography' aims to reflect on the role of the Table in the daily and festive life of the 17th and 18th centuries, and to discuss how Baroque lines of thought are projected in contemporary times. The congress will include a programme of Baroque music and visits throughout the Côa Valley region, an archaeological site that was classified by UNESCO in 1998 as a World Heritage Site. More information here.