When two bodies face each other in the Staring Contest, the tension that is created between them is all too evident. There's no room for compromise.

In this curatorial project, the community is proposed to suggest one or more objects that may be game partners of the work on display.

For this seventh moment, from October 25th to December 21th, a partner is being sought for the work Hold, by Vera Mota.

Proposals by October 12, 2025 through the email
danielmadeira@anozero-bienaldecoimbra.pt
Sculpture, painting, drawing, installation, text

Regulation of Open Call of the curatorial project Staring Contest

The Círculo de Artes Plásticas, in the use of its attributions, presents to the community the Open Call to occupy the MUSEU, a project by the artist Francisco Tropa, located in Praça Cortes in Coimbra, next to the bridge of Stª Clara, as a way of encouraging the cultural production of contemporary art. Throughout the year 2025, exhibitions will be held with the participation of artists selected through 3 (three) public calls.

1. OBJECTIVE

This Public Notice seeks to select one (1) proposal that is in line with the curatorial excerpt of the exhibition “STARING CONTEST”, to be shown from June 7th to October 5th, 2025.

Any object must have a maximum size of 100 × 100 cm (these are the measures of access to space). The proposal may be larger, as long as it is fragmentable so that it can be placed).

2. OF THE DEADLINE, FORM AND CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

2.1 Entries must be made at the email address: danielmadeira@anozero-bienaldecoimbra.pt

2.2 Registration deadline until 12/10

2.3. To participate in the selection of projects, the proposer must be at least 18 years old.

3. OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE PROPOSAL

3.1 Documents to be forwarded

• Proposal image
• Conceito

3.2. The Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra will provide physical space, transportation, insurance, equipment for assembly, assembly, disassembly, dissemination and promotion of the exhibition.

3.3 The participant who has their work selected will receive an amount of € 100.00 + VAT, if applicable, upon presentation of an invoice.

4. OF THE CLASSIFICATION

4.1. Proposals will be selected by the CAPC curator.

4.2 The selected proposals will be announced to the public as of June 2, 2025 by the CAPC media.

4.3. Approved project execution contracts will be executed starting in June 2025, as scheduled.

5. OF THE EXHIBITION SPACE (MUSEUM)

The MUSEU is a work conceived and designed by Francisco Tropa in 2001 built with the full patronage of Construtora San Jose for the 1st edition of Anozero – Coimbra Biennial, an organization of the Círculo de Artes Plásticas, Coimbra City Council and University of Coimbra, in the year 2015. The museum sculpture/equipment is in itself a work of art and has an operating program determined by the artist:

MUSEUM, 2001–15

MUSEU is an artistic experience designed to test our preconceived ideas about what a museum is, how it works, and what its objectives are. It does so by reducing the scale of a museum, in terms of architecture and collaborators, until it can be understood at a glance; exposing its operation to the public; and, finally, calling for the direct participation of the public in its activities.

MUSEU is a small rectangular construction, not much larger than a garden shed or a gazebo. It has two entrances, placed facing each other, that lead to a corridor with glass walls, ending in two rooms, one on the right and the other on the left. Without any doors or windows, the only opening is a skylight.

With varying frequency, the building exhibits two objects proposed by residents of the city where it was built, one in each room. An advertisement is published in the local newspaper inviting residents to suggest an object to be exhibited, and to explain the reasons for their choices in a short text. The proposed objects can be of any type: they don't have to be works of contemporary art, they don't even have to be works of art. The only limitation relates to practical issues: it must be possible for objects to fit into both rooms through the skylight.