Mónica de Miranda is a Portuguese artist, living and working between Lisbon, Portugal and Luanda (Angola). Born in Porto, Portugal in 1976.
Mónica de Miranda is a Portuguese/Angolan visual artist, filmmaker and researcher whose interdisciplinary and research-based practice critically looks at the convergence of politics, gender, memory, space, and history. Her work encompasses drawing, installation, photography, film, and sound, on the boundaries between documentary and fiction. Mónica investigates strategies of resistance, geographies of affection, storytelling, and ecologies of care.
Among her collective exhibitions : African Cosmologies- Foto fest (Houston, USA,2020), South circular, Maat (Lisbon, 2019); Utopia and Dystopia in Contemporary Landscapes at Bienar du Sur, MAAC ( +Guayaquil, Ecuador,2020 ); Taxidermy of the future, Biennale Lubumbashi (Congo, 2019); Architecture and Manufacturing, at MAAT in Lisbon (2019); Panorama, Banco Económico (Luanda, 2019); Doublethink: Doublevision, Pera Museum (Istanbul, 2017); Daqui Pra Frente, Caixa Cultural (Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, 2017-2018); Vila Franca de Xira Biennial Photography (2017); Dakar Biennial in Senegal (2016); Bienal de Casablanca (2016); Addis Foto Fest (2016); Encontros Fotográficos de Bamako (2015); MNAC (2015); 14ª Bienal de Arquitectura de Veneza (2014); Bienal São Tomé e Principe (2013); Estado Do Mundo, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (2008).
She is the founder and artistic director of Hangar (2014), an art and research centre in Lisbon. Hangar’s programmes provide spaces for artists, curators, and researchers, mainly from the global south, to co-create and build social and creative networks that benefit their communities.
Her work has been presented at major international events such as: 1st Malta Biennale; 3rd Lagos Biennale; 6th Lubumbashi Biennale; 12th Berlin Biennale; 12th Dakar Biennale; 5th International Biennial of Casablanca; Bamako Encounters – 13th African Biennale of Photography; 14th Venice Architecture Biennale; BIENALSUR 2021; Houston FotoFest 2022; 18th Fotografia Europea, Reggio Emilia. As artist and co-curator of the project Greenhouse, Mónica de Miranda represents the Portugal Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 2024.
Solo and group exhibitions have taken place at: Wexner Art Center, Ohio; Photo Ireland, Dublin; Caixa Cultural, Rio de Janeiro; Bildmuseet, Umeå; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; Gulbenkian, Lisbon; MUCEM, Marseilles; AfricaMuseum, Tervuren; MAAT, Lisbon; MUAC, Mexico City; Barbican, London; Autograph, London; Frac des Pays de la Loire, Nantes; Uppsala Museum, Sweden; MNAC, Lisbon; Camões Cultural Institute, Luanda, among others.
Mónica de Miranda received the Soros Arts Fellowship (2024) and La Caixa Foundation Fellowship (2022). She won the Expanded Photography Prize in Torino (2024) and was nominated for the Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability (2024), EDP Foundation’ New Artists Award (2019) and Novo Banco Photo Prize (2016).
Mónica de Miranda is also a researcher FCT (2013-2024) in the Center for Comparative Studies at University of Lisbon where she coordinates the cluster Post-Archive: Politics of Place, Memory and Identity.
Education
2018
Post Doctoral Research Visual Arts, Foundation of Science and Technology Center of Comparative Studies at the University of Lisbon, PT
2014
PhD in Visual Art. University of Middlesex. London, UK.
2000
Master’s Degree in Art and Education. Institute of Education. London, UK.
1998
Visual Art Degree. Camberwell College of Arts. London, UK.
Solo shows
2025
Weaving Landscapes. Casa-Museu Bissaya Barreto. Coimbra, Portugal.
2025
Where the Earth Remembers. Kubik gallery. Porto, Portugal.
2025
Le sel noir – Perspectives of black contemporary art. Städtische Galerie. Karlsruhe, Germany.
2025
Depht of Field — Profundidade de Campo. Galerias Municipais do Porto. Porto, Portugal.
2025
Depht of Field — Profundidade de Campo. Escola das Artes — UCP, Porto, Portugal
2024
Greenhouse. Portugal Pavilion. 60th Biennale di Venezia. Venice, Italy.
2024
As if the world had no West. Exposed Torino. Turin, Italy.
2024
The Sun Does Not Rise in the North. First Malta Biennale. Valletta, Malta.
2023
The Island. Turku Art Museum. Turku, Finland.
2023
The Sun Does Not Rise in the North. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2023
Path to the Stars. Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC). CDMX, México.
2022
Path to the Stars. Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden, Germany.
2022
Construir o tempo. Camões - Centro Cultural Português. Curated by Suzana Sousa. Luanda, Angola.
2022
Mirages and Deep Time. Galerias Municipais. Curated by Azu Nwagbogu. Lisbon, Portugal.
2022
The Island. Autograph. London, UK.
2022
No longer with memory but with its future. Fundazione Nueva Icona. Oratorio San Ludovico. Curated by Paula Nascimento. Venice, Italy.
2022
Shadows Fall Behind. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2020
All That Burns Melts Into Air. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2020
Contos de Lisboa.Arquivo Municial de Lisboa/Fotográfico. Lisbon, Portugal. Curated by Bruno Leitao and Sofia Castro.
2019
Geografia Durmente. Galeria Municipal de Arte. Almada, Portugal.
2018
Tomorrow is another day. Curated by Cristina Tejo. Carlos Carvalho. Lisbon, Portugal.
2018
Panorama. Banco Economico. Luanda, Angola.
2018
Transfer. Académie des beaux-arts de Kinshasa. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa.
2017
Between Departure And Arrival. Palacio de D. Manuel. Évora, Portugal.
2017
Fora de cena. Sao Luis Teatro Municipal. Lisbon, Portugal.
2017
Atlantic. A Journey to the center of the earth.Galería Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2017
Panorama. Tyburn Gallery. London, UK.
2016
Hotel Globo#2.Espaço Espelho d'Água. Lisbon, Portugal.
2016
Arrivals and departures. Palácio D. Manuel. Évora, Portugal.
2015
Hotel Globo. Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado. Lisbon, Portugal.
2014
Arquipélago. Galeria Carlos Carvalho. Lisbon, Portugal.
2013
Erosion. Appleton Square. Lisbon, Portugal.
2012
An Ocean Between Us. Plataforma Revólver. Lisbon, Portugal.
2008
Novas Geografias. 198 Gallery. London, UK.
2008
Novas Geografias. Plataforma Revólver. Lisbon, Portugal.
2008
Novas Geografias. Imagem HF. Amsterdam, The Neatherlands.
Group shows(selected)
2026
Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica. Art Gallery - Barbican Centre. London, UK.
2026
Alliance, Infinity, Love – in the Face of the Other. 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026. Hamburg, Germany.
2026
Jardins da Princesa. A project by Mónica de Miranda and Hangar – Centro de Investigação Artística. Parque Agrícola da Quinta da Princesa, Seixal, Portugal.
2026
What Silence Keeps. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2026
As paisagens mudam de lugar. Centro de Arte e Cultura da Fundação Eugénio de Almeida. Évora, Portugal.
2026
Lifelines. Gallleri Futura. Stockholm, Sweden.
2025
Kochi-Muziris Biennale. Fort Kochi, India.
2025
Living Place: The Burle Marx Legacy. MAC/CCB. Lisbon, Portugal.
2025
People in Motion. Monastery of Leça do Balio. Porto, Portugal.
2025
People in Motion. Monastery of Leça do Balio. Porto, Portugal.
2025
Si pudiera elegir mi paisaje. Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporánea. Valencia, Spain.
2025
Paysages Mouvants, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
2025
Sharjah Biennal 16: to carry, Sharjah, UAE
2025
Unsettled Grounds, G.A.S. Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria
2024
RE/SISTERS. FOMU, Antwerp, Belgium.
2024
REVERBERATIONS. Mattatoio, Pelanda, Rome, Italy.
2024
Way of the forest. COLOMBOSCOPE. Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2024
As If the World had no West. Torino Foto Festival. Torino, Italy
2024
Path to the Stars. Wexner Center of Arts. Ohio, USA
2024
Soulscapes. Dulwich Picture Gallery. London, UK.
2024
A Thousand Tales. Lagos Biennial. Lagos, Nigeria.
2023
RE/SISTERS. Barbican Center. London, UK.
2022
1st Biennial of African Photography, Ozangé. La Térmica. Malaga, Spain.
2022
12th Berlin Biennale. KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Berlin, Germany. Curated by Kader Attia.
2022
Europa Oxalá. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Curated by António Pinto Ribeiro, Katia Kameli and Aimé Mpane. Lisbon, Portugal.
2022
Beyond Homogeneity. Syker Vorwerk - Center for Contemporary Art. Curated by Alejandro Perdomo Daniels. Syke, Germany.
2021
O Silêncio da Terra. Galeria do Paço. Braga, Portugal.
2021
Long Story Short. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2021
Transperiphery Movement: Global Eastern Europe and Global South. Allied- Kyiv Biennial . The House of Cinema, Conference Hall. Curated by Eszter Szakács and Zoltán Ginelli.
2021
Otro orden. Derribando fronteras. Curated by Diana Wechsler. Fundación Francis Naranjo, Canary Islands, Spain.
2021
Contra la Raza. Photo España . Matadero Madrid, Spain.
2021
BUM BUM BA YE [Under Pressure]. Sabrina Amrani, Madrid, Spain.
2021
The Folds. Hangar. Lisboa, Portugal.
2021
Diafragma. Covilha International Photo Festival. Covilha, Portugal.
2021
O Silêncio da Terra. Nogueira da Silva Museum . Braga, Portugal.
2021
O Silêncio da Terra. Paço Gallery. The University of Minho, Portugal.
2021
Transperiphery Movement. OFF Biennale. Budapest, Hungary.
2021
Entretecido/Interlace.Pavilhao Branco, Lisbon, Portugal.
2021
Um Território em Seis Ecologias. Museu de Almada, Almada, Portugal.
2020
Ver Versus Ver II.Sabrina Amrani, Madrid, Spain.
2020
Dissonances. MNAC Collection: Acquisitions and Donations 2010-.Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado (MNAC). Lisbon, Portugal.
2020
ProjectMAP 2010-. Map or Exhibition. Museu Coleçao Berardo. Lisbon, Portugal.
2020
Ground Control. Bildmuseet. Umeå, Suecia. Curated by Clelia Coussonnet.
2020
Earthkeeping/Earthshaking- Art, Feminisms and Ecology. Galeria Quadrum. Lisbon, Portugal.
2020
Ver Versus Ver. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2020
African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other.Fotofest Biennial. Houston, USA.
2019
Taxidermy of the future.Museu de História Natural de Luanda (SIEXPO). Curated by Bruno Leitao and Paula Nascimento. Largo do Kinaxixe, Luanda.
2019
Bienal Sur. Curated by Fernando Farina and Marina Aguerre. Guayaquil, Equador.
2019
Biennale de Lubumbashi. Part of the exhibition Taxidermy of the future with Kiluanje Kia Henda and Grada Kilomba. Curated by Paula Nascimento and Bruno Leitao. Lubumbashi, Congo.
2019
South Circular. MAAT. EDP Foundation New Artist Award. Lisbon, Portugal.
2019
Walk&Talk festival. Curated by Sérgio Fazenda Rodrigues. Circuito das Artes. Açores, Portugal.
2019
Bitting Nations. Cine-concerto Video Lucem. Algarve, Portugal.
2019
Studiolo XXI. Deseho e afinidades. Curated by Fátima Lambert. Eugénio de Almeida Foundation. Évora, Portugal.
2019
Fiction and Fabrication. Photography of Architecture after the Digital Turn. Curated by Pedro Gadanho and Sérgio Fazenda Rodrigues. MAAT. Lisbon, Portugal.
2017
Being Her(e). Galeria Banco Economico. Luanda, Angola. (Curated by Paula Nascimento and Violet Nantume).
2017
UNTITLED. Tyburn Gallery. London, UK.
2017
Doublethink : Doublevision. Pera Museum. Istanbul, Turkey.
2017
Prelude to a Landscape.Galeria Carvalho. Lisbon, Portugal.
2017
Daqui Pra Frente.Curated by Michelle Sales. CAIXA Cultural. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2017
Le jour qui vient. Galerie des Galeries. Paris, France.
2017
A Represntaçao da Figura Humana em Angola. Galeía This in Not a White Cube (TINAWC). Luanda, Angola.
2017
The other when we are not looking. FCT/UNL. Almada, Portugal.
2017
Bienal de Fotografia Vila Franca de Xira. Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal.
2016
Addis Foto Fest.Lisbon, Portugal.
2016
The other when we are not looking.Lisbon, Portugal.
2016
Technologies of Violence.Centro de Art Santa Mónica. Barcelona, Spain.
2016
Biennale Internationale de l’Art Contemporain de Casablanca. Casabalanca, Morocco.
2016
Bienal de Fotografia Vila Fraca de Xira.Villa Franca de Xira, Portugal.
2016
Contemporary African Art and Aesthetics of Translations. Dak'Art Biennale de l’art Africain Contemporain. Dakar, Senegal.
2015
Uma Delicada Zona de Compromisso. Quadrum Galeria de Arte. Lisbon, Portugal.
2015
Telling Time.Rencontres de Bamako - Biennale africaine de la Photographie. Musée National du Mali. Bamako, Mali.
2014
Ilha de São Jorge. 14th Biennial of Architecture of Venezia. Venezia, Italy.
2014
Coleção Carpe Diem Limited Editions. Galeria Fonseca Macedo. São Miguel, Açores, Portugal.
2014
A visão incorporada-Performance para a câmara. Museu do Chiado (MNAC). Lisbon, Portugal.
2013
Line Trap. Bienal de São Tomé e Principe. São Tomé e Principe.
2013
Além Margem(s).Plataforma Revólver. Lisbon, Portugal.
2012
L’Art est un sport de combat. Musée des Beaux Arts de Calais. Calais, France.
2012
Do silêncio ao outro Hino. Centro Cultural Português. Mindelo, Praia, Cape Verde.
2012
12º Programa de Exposições. Once upon a time. Carpe Diem Arte e Pesquisa. Lisbon, Portugal.
2011
L’art est un sport de combat. Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle. Calais, France.
2011
Os Livros Dos Outros. Centro de Artes e Cultura de Ponte de Sor. Ponte de Sor, Portugal.
2010
Tirésias - Video de Artistas Made in Portugal.Centro Cultural de España. Montevideo, Uruguay.
2010
She Devil 4. Studio Stefania Miscetti. Rome, Italy.
2010
This location. Mojo Gallery. Dubai, UAE.
2008
Mundos Locais. Centro Cultural de Lagos. Lagos, Portugal.
2008
Do you hear me. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Lisbon, Portugal.
2008
United Nations. Singapore Fringe Festival. Singapore.
2006
Independents Biennial. Liverpool, UK.
Residencies
2026
Sertão Negro Studio Residency. Goiânia, Brazil.
2024
Black Artists Retreat (BAR), LUMA Arles, France
2018
Maputo Artist residency. Centro Cultural Portugês em Maputo. Maputo, Moçambique.
2018
Artist residency| Festival Walk and Talk. Sao Miguel, Açores Azores.
2018
Pequim Artist residency. Red gate gallery | Hangar. Pequim, Beijing, China.
2014
Archipelago. French Institute. Port Louis, Mauritius.
2009
Verbal Eyes. Tate Britain. London, UK.
2008
Muyehlekete. Museu Nacional de Arte. Maputo, Mozambique.
2008
Living Together. British Council/Iniva. Tiblisi/London. Georgia/UK.
Awards
2024
Winner, first edition of EXPOSED Grant for Contemporary Photography
2024
Finalist, Foundation Louis Roederer Photography Prize 2024 — Thinking Sustainability
2023
Premio Idealista. Spain.
2019
Finalist. EDP Foundation, New Artists Award. Portugal
2016
Finalist. Novo Banco Photo Prize. Portugal
2016
Nominated. Prix Pictet Photo Award. France
Public collections
Arquivo Municipal de Lisboa. Portugal
Centro Cultural de Lagos. Portugal
Colección Alma Colectiva. Guadalajara, Mexico.
Colección KELLS College . Santander, Spain.
Coleção António Cachola, Elvas, Portugal Barbican.
Coleção CML. Lisbon, Portugal.
Coleção Marin. Gaspar_Colecção de arte contemporânea. Alvito, Portugal.
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Portugal
Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia (MAAT). Portugal.
Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado (MNAC). Portugal
Nesr Foundation. Luanda, Angola.
PLMJ. Lisboa, Portugal.
Soho House Colection, Londres London, UK.
Publications
2025
Si pudiera elegir mi paisaje. Isabel Perez Ortiz, Maria Tinoco Suarez. Generalitat Valenciana.
2024
Greenhouse: Art, Ecology and Resistance by Monica de Miranda (eds. Monica de Miranda, S. Vaz Borges, V. Gala) Milan: Skira
2024
Creole Garden (eds. Monica de Miranda) Lisbon: Hangar Books
2023
The Island (eds. Mónica de Miranda)
2022
Beyond Homogeneity. Syker Vorwerk - Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst. Ed. Redaktion. ISBN 978-3-9824398-0-8
2020
Mónica de Miranda. Tales of Lisbon. Lisbon Municipal Photographic Archive. Lisbon, Portugal.
2019
Prémio Novos Artistas Fundaçao EDP. MAAT, Lisbon, Portugal.
2019
Fiction and Fabrication. Photography of Architecture after the Digital Turn. Hirmer (ed.). ISBN 978-3777432892
2019
Atlantica: Contemporary art from Angola and its diaspora. Hangas Books. Lisbon, Portugal. ISBN 978-3-95679-415-5
2019
Theatrum Botanicum. Orlow, U. 264 pages. ISBN: 978-9-89208-810-5.
2017
Geography of Affections. Mónica de Miranda. ISBN: 978-989-99810-0-3
2016
Novo Banco Photo: Félix Mula, Mónica de Miranda, Pauliana Valente PimentelMuseu Coleçao Berardo. Lisbon, Portugal.
2015
Mónica de Miranda: Hotel Globo. Tavares, E.; Miranda, M. Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado: Lisbon, Portugal. ISBN 978-972-776-446-2
2015
Telling Time, Rencontres de Bamako Biennale Africaine de la Photographie 10 éme edition, Antawan I. Byrd, Silva, B. Chatap, Y. Kehrer, Berlin. ISBN 978-3-86828-669-4
2014
Ilha de São Jorge - Objects, buildings, Cities, Landscapes and Visions. Vaz Milheiro, A., Serventi S., Nascimento P. Beyong Entropy, London. ISBN:978-989-20-1589-9
2010
Pensão Ibérica. Roush, P.
2009
Underconstruction. Miranda, M., Goodwin, P. Direcção Geral das Artes, Lisbon. ISBN:978-989-20-1514-9
2008
Cartography: Artists + Maps. Harmon, K. Princeton Architectural Press, New York. ISBN 978-1-56898-762-0
2008
New Geographies. Design by Gavin Harry.