ABSTRACT
In this visual essay based on interviews, archival material and fieldwork, the author engages with the notion of recuperation – which inherently assumes the existence of a previous crisis – in the arena of Portuguese folk art. When the author looks at the Portuguese context, there is a general belief that folk art has not been given its deserved attention, and that it still occupies a problematic status in Portuguese museology. During the years that followed the Portuguese revolution in 1974 (and until very recently), folk art was seen primarily as craft and not as art. In sum, the universe of Portuguese folk art remains, thus far, in a marginal domain, in terms of location, production and circulation of the objects. Although the author is aware of the risks of essentialising the concept of folk art, they believe in its usefulness in the Portuguese context, specifically in trying to remark and overcome its artistic and academic marginalisation.
