METAL

What began with a painting exchanged for a fence, a child who found refuge in literature, and a family mining business with a keen interest in the performing arts eventually became MUZEU – Thought and Contemporary Art: a third space, a political museum, a cultural centre and a public space where literature, art and philosophy carry forward a legacy of forty years of collecting and the passion of its founder, José Teixeira. Whether on the campus, in the museum or in the gallery, MUZEU “exists to give back to the community”, in his own words.

MUZEU is the first museum to include the word “thought” in its name, already signalling the ideals underpinning the group of companies behind it. But to fully understand MUZEU, one must begin elsewhere: somewhere like the community laundry at dstcampus, an unplanned stop on the guided tour to which METAL was invited. Beneath a corrugated metal roof and a few coloured lights were a library, several washing machines and a sign inviting neighbours to use the space while explaining the meaning behind those points of light.

For Teixeira, the laundry is not simply a place to wash clothes, but a community space where conversations happen, ideas flourish and new ways of thinking emerge. Born from memories of the cold winters of his childhood, the sharp yet comforting sound of rain falling on the aluminium roof, and the smell and colour of the pink soap used by women washing their clothes, it is ultimately a reminder of the possibility of emancipation that only art can provide.

On the same sign, he recalls the artisanal and artistic work of his village blacksmith, who worked metal over the fire until it became red, alive and malleable, before transforming it into something sharp, useful and beautiful. Like the blacksmith, he feels responsible for an unspoken social duty towards the community, his workers and the development of critical, free citizens. For Teixeira, “cultured people are freer”. Walking through the space makes his philosophy tangible: art is present in every inch, beginning at the entrance, where a large sign displays a quotation from Bernardo Soares.

Among the factories making up the campus lies a miniature city surrounded by public artworks expressing global causes, convictions and identities, from José Pedro Croft’s Memorial to Child Labour (2022) to Angela Ferreira’s large-scale installation, a tower broadcasting a speech by Nelson Mandela. Here, people work, live and enjoy life.

Literature from a travelling library, performances by the Braga Theatre Company and conversations held in the laundry helped shape Teixeira’s life. In his mission to give back what he received, his ultimate goal is “to find the essence of the stone, break it carefully and nobly, and share it with others”. At dstschool, the stone metaphor takes its fullest form: a school of thought in the tradition of Frankfurt or Harvard, housed in a building where every classroom is named after a writer, artist or philosopher. In addition to the Clarice Lispector library, there is a stage where theatre companies perform, while classrooms along a vibrant red corridor surrounded by works of art provide spaces in which new knowledge can be acquired and shared.

In the heart of Braga, the ZET art gallery bears Zé’s own name and identity. It is the “more commercial” part of dstgroup, in the words of director and curator Helena Mendes Pereira, but shares the same principle: a mission to democratise access to art and encourage debate about contemporary reality. They create room for an idea to be considered before it finds expression in political artworks in various forms and media, such as those of Brazilian multidisciplinary artist Isa Toledo. Her installation Bem-Haja — a Portuguese expression of gratitude, a gentle way of wishing well to someone who has done something for us — explores memory and uprootedness through empty shelves and a finely tuned sensitivity.

Teixeira’s patronage extends to MUZEU, “the public voice of dstgroup” and a continuation of his revolution. In a moment of coming full circle, the building — designed by José Carvalho Araújo, an architect and friend of Zé, with a clever brand concept born of an epiphany experienced by Zé’s daughter, Bárbara Forte — was once the headquarters of the Braga Theatre Company. At number 62, Praça do Município, past and present coexist. Now, in the “third square”, the most significant surviving stretch of Braga’s medieval wall introduces visitors to Zé Teixeira’s soul and vision through the motto “Be realistic, demand the impossible”.

Helena Mendes speaks of him with the utmost care and respect, perhaps the clearest reflection of the relationship they have built. A fan of Kiefer, Teixeira “chooses every work of art”, and established masters are displayed alongside emerging artists because the collections “have no chronology or hierarchy”, as Mendes explained to the group. An avowed feminist, she is also committed to making MUZEU a space of parity. Among its 1,100 works, the number of pieces by women and men artists is almost equal.

Inside the five-storey building that now houses Teixeira’s personal collection, Mendes explains that she “chooses politically engaged people”. There was therefore no doubt about the decision to bring Handle with Care / À manipuler avec soin from Manif d’art – the Quebec City Biennial. Elias Nafaa’s work confronts war through an installation made up of replica weapons that instinctively make visitors step back.

Back at the laundry, a sign recalls Zé saying that he once did not know that “dancing meant going all the way”. His desire to amplify the public voice led him to create a community founded on the values of kindness and beauty, whose essence lies in fostering critical thought and literacy in the arts and humanities. Taking an idea seriously enough to let it change the way you move through the world is perhaps what going all the way means — and much more.