Estrela de Seis Pontas, by Pedro Medeiros

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DATE

21 Jan 2026

AUTHOR

João Pedro Soares

Estrela de Seis Pontas, by Pedro Medeiros

AUTHOR

João Pedro Soares

Pedro Medeiros presents the photography exhibition Estrela de Seis Pontas (Six-Pointed Star) at the Lisbon Municipal Archive, curated by Filipe Ribeiro and Sofia Castro.

Based on a methodology rooted in the architectural layout of the Lisbon prison itself, where six wings radiate from a central point, structured according to a panoptic logic, a series of black and white photographs encourages an understanding of the prison as an institution, an architectural space and a poetic-symbolic place. Medeiros' photography offers an incisive and detailed gaze, highly sensitive to an idealised and vertical aesthetic, which leaves no room for euphemism, awareness or gentleness.

But, recalling the methods and lessons of great masters, echoing Robert Bresson or Frederick Wiseman, if these images presented by Pedro Medeiros abstain from passing judgement, and are organised according to an evidently careful work ethic, they also open up space through the framing, through the gaps of light between the bars, in front of the aeroplane stuck between the barbed wire and the concrete wall, in the enormous scar on a seated body, or in the skull and dagger that mark the entrance, offering clues for interpretation; they take shape as documents in a visual/documentary archive of the Portuguese prison system, where violence, trauma, hope and education coexist side by side.

That is why there is no sequential or categorical organisation in the exhibition; it is not grouped by ‘themes’ – the theme is prison. This implies diving into a paradox in which carpentry and electricity workshops exist mediated by the guards' guns, with two bullets embedded in the glass of the constant gaze of the surveillance centre, and in which the study room and the outdoor park are flanked by barbed wire, facing the constant flow of planes bringing more tourists to the capital. The steps of the prison, increasingly worn, and Avenida da Liberdade so close by.

The gaze, assaulted by Medeiros' images, was fixed on them and also freed to reflect on the judicial system, protected to question the future possibilities of the prison establishment, constantly hidden or made invisible to the majority of the population. These were the brief reflections provoked by Pedro Medeiros' captivating photographic work.

The exhibition is on display at the Lisbon Municipal Archive until February 21. On that day, at 3:00 p.m., a guided tour will be led by the photographer and curators. Admission is free.

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