CARACOLA

From August 31 to October 6, 2024, the 8 Marvila welcomes Caracola, the new exhibition by Jules Milhau born from his encounter with Lisbon and the exploration of its dizzying climbs and descents which plunge towards the Tagus. The past has invited itself into his present: the lament of sailors in the slums of the slums of Alfama and Mouraria has never left him. An encounter like a saudade, a way of being present in the past or passing through the present. Wherever Jules goes, music guides him.

Raised in the heart of the ancient city of Nîmes, lulled by the rhythm of the ferias, from a very young age, he rubbed shoulders with bullfighters, singers and flamenco dancers.

Agnès Jaoui says of him “that it is difficult to talk about the work of Jules Milhau without mentioning his astonishing precocity. Not only because this precocity is remarkable, but because it raises direct questions about what an artist is and how one becomes one. »

Jules Milhau has always been a painter. Painting is his language. “When I paint, I feel like I’m speaking out loud“. And when we ask him if he is self-taught, he prefers to say that he is an amateur. “Orson Welles liked to remind us that the word amateur means one who loves, who is involved out of passion, I think that suits me well. »

FADO, THE MUSIC OF THE SOUL AND EXILE

His universe is profoundly Mediterranean (Oran, Corsica, Camargue, salt, flamenco, cuisine, etc.) and musical. The wild rhythm of the taconeo marked by the dancer’s heel and accompanied by guitars dictates each of his brushstrokes. Music is a ritual that is part of his creative process. The emotions felt while listening to Fado, this lament more than two hundred years old, allowed him to become one with Lisbon culture.

With Caracola, Jules Milhau celebrates this music of the soul and exile. An exhibition like a bittersweet saudade, the melancholy of a certain departure mixed with the hope of a desired return.

COLLABORATION WITH THE VIUVA LAMEGO FACTORY

Founded in 1849, the Viúva Lamego ceramic factory cultivates a privileged relationship with nationally and internationally renowned artists and architects. This emblematic factory with almost two centuries of history has never stopped opening up to the world by welcoming and supporting architects like Rem Koolhaas and a number of artists in their most ambitious projects, such as those of Joana Vasconcelos, AI WEI WEI, Hervé Di Rosa or Zao Wou-Ki.
Viúva Lamego (literally named “the Widow Lamego”, the factory having been taken over by the wife of the creator upon his death in 1876) is the reference in the production of hand-painted azulejos in Portugal, an art that has been part of the cultural, social and economic heritage of the country since the 16th century.
The exceptional character of the enamel, the mastery of multiple artisanal techniques and the production capacity have forged the international reputation of Viúva Lamego. Regardless of the scale of the project, each tile is unique.

Curator Thierry Guerlain

8 Marvila

Praça David Leandro da Silva 8
1700-007 Lisboa