Encontros do Moinho was a three-day event organized by the Associação Cultural Tirsense, featuring concerts, workshops, lectures, and social gatherings. The program focused on folk music and the revival of the hurdy-gurdy, a medieval instrument with historical roots in Portugal. A highlight was Johannes Geworkian Hellman, an internationally acclaimed hurdy-gurdy player known for blending traditional and contemporary sounds. The event emphasized cultural exchange and the preservation of musical traditions.

Galicia. Processes and Forms is an exhibition and editorial project that traces the past, present and future of Galician design, showing some of its milestones through a series of key professionals and companies that have invested in design as an engine of innovation from the 1920s to the present day. 

Galicia. Processes and forms is a project of the Porto Design Biennale with the support of the Xunta de Galicia through the Axencia Galega de Innovación, the Fundación Artesanía de Galicia and the DIDAC Foundation.

Curated by David Barro
Exhibition Design by Eleonora Fedi

"Project, Theory, and Criticism in 20 Iberian Architects, 1950-1989" is the title of the exhibition that opened at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, resulting from the research project 'Housing in the Iberian Peninsula: architecture, theory, and criticism in the 1960s and 1970s', developed by Researcher Tiago Lopes Dias.

“The contour of a river bank, the horizon line, the line of the ‘glass half full’ are inventions. The oceans are all interconnected, in a continuous mass, as are the rivers and the streams, and so on and so forth throughout the land. If there are no lines, how can we delimit territories? Or, in other words, if everything is connected, if everything moves constantly and appears to us with different degrees of invisibility, what will be its relevant geography? There are so many different waters: fresh and salt water; drinking water, irrigation and cleaning water; water courses that serve as a means of transport and a home for so many forms of life; or water that has devastating force. We are therefore taking a radical approach by choosing a single location — Cabedelo do Douro — to try to discern many of these issues and identify the multiple lines (or stains, or colours) that allow them to be represented and that are connected to so many other places and beings. “ - Ivo Poças Martins

Blue Design Alliance (BDA) is a consortium of higher education institutions with the mission of contributing to the valorization of water, oceanic and river resources, and social and environmental sustainability through design. It focuses on the production of knowledge, research, and skill development related to the blue economy. The BDA institutions ensure training in Blue Design and the circular, inclusive, and sustainable economy, aiming to accelerate the requalification of the territory, making it more resilient through the creation of new jobs and blue careers.

Hands—on Type seeks to explore and reflect on graphic production, the use of moveable types today and the promotion of teaching methodologies based on know-how. From a series of workshops and conferences, a publication will result that builds a parallel narrative between high and low technology in teaching and Design practice. Hands-on Type is promoted by esad–idea, Research in Design and Art and ESAD – College of Art and Design.

The sneaker is unanimously recognised as one of the icons of contemporary culture. In this exhibition, designer and curator Pedro Carvalho de Almeida presents his collection of more than 500 Portuguese sneakers, sheding a light on the athletic footwear brands designed and produced from the 1930's to the new millennium.

Pedro Carvalho de Almeida's collection showcases a brief cultural contextualisation of the social, political and economic significance of the sports brands, together with an in-depth look at companies such as Sanjo and Cortebel. Bringing to life the idea of brand archaeology, this exhibition reveals an impressive archive of design history, visible through the sneakers and their packaging, memorabilia and cutting-edge materials. The more than 100 brands on display embody a curatorial work of exploration, as well as a work of time, into Portuguese designed and manufactured athletic footwear. The exhibition is the result of a partnership between Matosinhos City Council, esad—idea Research in Design and Art and the Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture (ID+).