Applications are now open for the 2024 edition of the Affinities project, a cycle of five annual editions resulting from a partnership between the Soares dos Reis National Museum (MNSR) and the Quarteirão Criativo Association. As part of a plan to activate the MNSR’s relationship with its “neighbours”, this project aims to bring together the Museum’s history and collection and the artistic discourses that occupy the Bombarda Quarter, the creative epicentre of the city of Porto.

Curated by jewellery artist Inês Nunes, this edition will be dedicated to Contemporary Jewellery. The choice of theme seems to reflect the dynamism of Bombarda Quarter, which in recent years has established itself as a unique jewellery circuit, bringing together more than 80 national and international designers and brands. For this project, jewellers and artists from different disciplines – with a current and confirmed presence in this quarter – are invited to develop creative and innovative proposals inspired by a set of three works by the artist António Soares dos Reis (on display at the MNSR). Above all, they are looking for idiosyncratic works that reflect the diversity of this artistic community and a contemporary and experimental approach to the material.

Until 30 May, applications for the Affinities competition can be submitted using the form available on the call’s page. This first phase corresponds to a verification of the eligibility criteria by the Quarteirão Criativo Association. Accepted pre-applications must then submit a complete application and deliver the piece by 11 June. The result of this participation will then be presented in an exhibition in the MNSR’s Sala das Pedras between 6 July and 16 November. In turn, the author of the winning piece will be announced at the finissage of the exhibition and will have the opportunity to produce a series of pieces that will be put on sale in the MNSR shop, under conditions to be agreed with the institution itself.