Exhibition | The Miracle of the Sardine
11 May 2025 - 30 December 2025
About this event
The Miracle of the Sardine – Memories and Mysteries of a National Icon
How did the sardine become a symbol of Portugal and particularly of the city of Lisbon? Which events, knowledge and industries contributed to this phenomenon? These are the starting points of the exhibition, which will look at how the sardine – fragile and precious – has become a muse for art, the sea and industrial pursuits. It is also a political object every time a supply crisis destabilises urban provision or the demands of the canning industry, which has reached the position of global leader. The sardine is a common good, especially for maritime communities, representing about half of the value of their fishery.
The miracle of the sardine is that it has always been present in our minds, on the table, in the streets, in the collective imagination of everyone. This exhibition reveals the multiple lives of the sardine, both real and imagined, from Antiquity to the present, adopted by popular and erudite culture. Without overlooking advertising, which has made the most of all its qualities. Each section is defined by an action verb that represents crucial tasks, from the past and the present, where various generations have come together to make the sardine accessible to all. Even today, we are still trying to understand how to preserve it.
