Yesterday (March 4, 2026), the latest, and now customary, portrait of the last President of the Portuguese Republic, in this case Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, arrived in Belém.
Only this time it is not a normal portrait; insteadof being a painting, the work was sculpted from newspapers from the previous 10 years, the duration of the last presidency.
Vhils is the author of the official portrait
The Portrait Gallery of the Museum of the Presidency of the Republic thus has a new artistic format, created by artist Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, who marked the end of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s termof office with a contemporary approach.
The “portrait,” which could be called “History Sculpted in Paper,” was created using a manual “excavation” technique, with national newspapers featuring notable news stories from the last 10 years of political and social life serving as the main raw material for the well-known artist.
The distinctive piece, which took six months to produce, evokes the collective memory of the last presidency and is imposing in size, measuring 195 cm high by 120 cm wide.
Useful information:
Address: Praça Afonso de Albuquerque 1A (Belém)
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets: from €3.50