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The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum reopens its doors after a major transformation
Lisbon has recovered one of its great cultural landmarks with the reopening of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum today, July 18, after being closed for eighteen months for an ambitious renovation. The project has modernized the exhibition spaces and enhanced the visitor experience, while preserving the architectural essence of one of the most emblematic buildings of Portuguese modernism.
Opened in 1969 and designed by architects Ruy Jervis d'Athouguia, Pedro Cid, and Alberto Pessoa, the museum is part of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation complex, a sprawling park of over seven hectares that brings together some of the most representative buildings of mid-20th-century Portuguese architecture. The renovation has respected the building's original character while adapting the museum to the museographic and technological needs of the 21st century.
The museum houses the extraordinary collection assembled by the businessman, philanthropist, and collector Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869–1955), considered one of the great patrons of the arts of the last century. Its holdings comprise over 6,000 pieces and offer a journey through more than four thousand years of art history, from Egyptian antiquities and Islamic art to Chinese porcelain, paintings by the great European masters, sculptures, ceramics, tapestries, jewelry, and decorative arts.
The reopening coincides with a particularly significant date: the 70th anniversary of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, established in 1956 with the mission of promoting knowledge, education, science, and culture. To commemorate this anniversary, the institution has designed a wide-ranging program that will take place over the coming months and will include exhibitions, concerts, film series, lectures, and activities aimed at audiences of all ages.
The opening day will culminate in an extraordinary concert in the Foundation's Grand Auditorium. The Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Carlo Rizzi, will share the stage with Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in a program dedicated to great European opera, featuring works by Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Antonín Dvořák, and Giuseppe Verdi, among other composers.
The concert will be free of charge through online ticket reservation, with a maximum of two tickets per person and until the venue is full, becoming one of the central events of a celebration that marks the beginning of a new stage for one of the most influential cultural institutions in Portugal.
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