Vizinhos em Lisboa asks Joana Vasconcelos about Real Embarcação tiles

The Vizinhos em Lisboa association has asked visual artist Joana Vasconcelos to clarify the origin of the tiles used in her work "Real Embarcação", warning of possible risks to cultural heritage and of encouraging the market for stolen tiles.

Vizinhos em Lisboa seeks details on Real Embarcação tiles

In an email sent to the artist on Wednesday, the association said it was seeking “public and transparent” information about the provenance of the tiles used in the installation, currently on display in the exhibition The Absurd and the Dreamlike at the Citadelle de Villefranche-sur-Mer in France, until 31 October.

According to Vizinhos em Lisboa’s request, which was shared with Lusa news agency, the move followed the publication of a social-media video in which Joana Vasconcelos describes the work as being made from “hand-painted ceramic tiles”, reinterpreting “a familiar Portuguese icon”.

In the document, the association acknowledges “the artistic value” of the artist’s career and “the international relevance she brings to Portuguese art”. However, it says that clarifying the origin of the tiles used in the Real Embarcação installation is “relevant and urgent”.

The group notes that historic Portuguese tiles form part of cultural heritage protected by the Framework Law on Cultural Heritage. It also points out that, since 2017, Lisbon City Council has required permission for the removal and transport of tile panels and tiles from façades and interiors, owing to their heritage value.

Concerns over heritage removal and the stolen-tile trade

Among its questions, the association asks whether the tiles used came from historic façades or interiors. If so, it asks whether incorporating them into the work “contributes to the permanent uprooting of these elements from their original context, culturally and historically impoverishing the buildings and places from which they were removed”.

Should the materials have been bought through auction houses, antique dealers or other commercial channels, the association also asks whether such demand could represent “an additional incentive for the market in tiles stolen from or illegally removed from Lisbon buildings”. It warns that this could fuel “the spiral of theft and vandalism”.

Vizinhos em Lisboa further cautions that the installation could become a “precedent or symbolic justification” for future removals of tile heritage for artistic or commercial purposes.

In its request to the artist, the association also calls for “detailed” information on the provenance of every tile used, including documentation of origin, acquisition dates and, where relevant, evidence of the legal permissions for their removal.

Responding by email to an enquiry from Lusa, the artist’s studio said that Real Embarcação includes “remaining parts of tile panels from a private home” which “had been kept in storage for several years before being donated to the Studio by their owner”. It said the tiles had been used “with the utmost respect for their historical, cultural and heritage value”, with the aim of giving them “a new artistic context”.

Joana Vasconcelos also states that “safeguarding Portuguese cultural heritage is a collective duty and a shared responsibility”. She argues that her use of tiles seeks to “recognise and value this element as a major expression of Portuguese material culture”, in an approach she considers compatible with heritage protection “when developed responsibly, with respect for the legal framework and appreciation of the materials used”.

Joana Vasconcelos cites legal compliance and respect for heritage

The artist adds that her studio “conducts its work in compliance with the legal framework and uses materials obtained in accordance with applicable legislation”. She thanks the association for “the interest shown”, arguing that heritage protection relies on “an informed and participatory society” and on a commitment founded on “dialogue, rigour and responsibility”.

The association’s statement also says that the images released show people “walking directly on the tiles” while the work was being installed. It asks whether this practice “irreversibly compromises the physical integrity of 17th- and 18th-century ceramic pieces”, whose fragility it says is widely recognised by conservation specialists.

At the end of the document, the association argues that “transparency on these issues does not diminish the artistic value of the work; rather, it reinforces the responsibility that every creator assumes when working with materials of collective heritage value”.

Vizinhos em Lisboa is a residents’ association dedicated to representing and defending the interests of people living in the Lisbon municipality in areas including urban planning, built heritage, mobility, the environment and quality of life, according to its website.