Lisbon in fall has its own light: low, golden, and slightly theatrical against the pastel facades and the wide Tagus. This season, the best reason to be there is not a restaurant or a rooftop. It is VENUS, an exhibition at MAAT that pairs the sculptures of Joana Vasconcelos with the haute couture of Valentino Garavani. For anyone who cares about fashion as a cultural language, it is the most compelling room in the city right now.
Two Artistic Languages, One Shared Commitment
Titled Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos, VENUS began as an invitation to the Portuguese artist to open a dialogue between her work and the creative legacy of one of the most celebrated fashion designers of our time. The premise is not homage in the usual sense. The exhibition looks for connections, resonances, and points of contact between two very different trajectories, united by a shared preoccupation: women’s place in society and the continuous reinvention of the forms through which that condition is manifested, questioned, and reimagined.
It first appeared in early 2026 at PM23, the Rome cultural venue of Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti. The Lisbon edition is not a simple transfer. It arrives at MAAT in a new configuration with an updated selection of works, built around an immersive setting designed specifically for this space.
Thirteen Sculptures, Thirty-Nine Creations
The numbers frame the scale. Thirteen large-scale sculptures by Vasconcelos face thirty-nine creations by Garavani, and the pairing is deliberate rather than decorative. Anyone who knows her work will understand why the match makes sense. Vasconcelos, born in Paris and raised in Lisbon, built her reputation on monumental pieces that turn domestic craft (crochet, textiles, ornament, everyday objects) into spectacle. Her best-known works treat so-called feminine techniques with the seriousness and ambition usually reserved for architecture.
Placed beside the red, the drape, and the exacting construction of Valentino couture, those sculptures read differently. Craft becomes the common ground. A gown and a sculpture both depend on structure, volume, and the patience of skilled hands, and the show makes that visible. As the curatorial text puts it, sculpture and haute couture “observe, complement and challenge one another.”
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Empowerment as Something You Can Walk Through
What separates VENUS from the typical fashion exhibition is its refusal to stay abstract. The wall text describes a universe in which female empowerment emerges “not as an abstract concept, but as a visible, tangible and concrete experience that we are invited to share.” That ambition is carried by the staging. The immersive scenography turns the galleries into a journey rather than a sequence of vitrines, so the garments and sculptures share space, scale, and sightlines.
It is a useful corrective at a moment when fashion exhibitions can feel like extended brand presentations. Here the designer’s archive is treated as one voice in a conversation, and the artist is given real authority to interpret it.
Why MAAT Is the Right Stage
The setting matters. MAAT, the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, sits on Lisbon’s riverfront in Belém, in a sweeping, wave-like building by Amanda Levete and her studio AL_A. Its curved roof can be walked on, and the views over the Tagus are part of the visit. Arriving at a show about form, femininity, and reinvention through a building that is itself a study in fluid form feels entirely fitting. At the same time, the opening coincided with another event – the Lisboa Fashion Week for Spring Summer 2027 and the Portuguese Shoes presentation by APICCAPS.
The location also makes for an easy full day. Belém is home to the Jeronimos Monastery, the Belem Tower, and the original pastel de nata bakery, so VENUS can anchor an itinerary that balances history with contemporary culture. Not to forget the unparallel views from the museum’s restaurant.
The Case for Going This Fall
Lisbon has spent years building its reputation as a destination for design, architecture, and art, and VENUS adds a fashion moment of real substance to that mix. For readers who follow Valentino, it is a rare chance to see Garavani’s work reframed through a sculptor’s eye. For those who come for art, it is a major presentation by one of Portugal’s most internationally recognized artists, on home ground.
Fall is also the right time to go. The summer crowds have thinned, the temperatures are mild, and the city is at its most walkable. Book the museum for the morning, spend the afternoon along the river, and you have the best argument for Lisbon this season: a city confident enough to host a global conversation about fashion and art, and to make it feel personal.
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VENUS: Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos is on view at MAAT, Lisbon through July 2027. Visit maat.pt for current dates and tickets.
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