A few months after the close of Manif d’art 12 – The Quebec City Biennial, a collaboration first initiated in Québec with MUZEU – Thought and Contemporary Art dst has taken shape in Braga, Portugal.
In September, a Manif d’art delegation consisting of Claude Bélanger, Executive and Artistic Director, and Didier Morelli, curator of Manif d’art 12, travelled to Braga to present the Quebec City Biennial, continue discussions with Portuguese arts professionals, and support the international circulation of two works presented as part of M12.
Artists Elias Nafaa and Giorgia Volpe are thus extending the life of their works in Portugal: Handle with Care is being presented at MUZEU, while Listening to the Ceiling is on view at ZET Gallery.
This collaboration is a direct outcome of the Presenters’ Week organized during Manif d’art 12 and illustrates how encounters created in Québec can develop into concrete opportunities for artists to present their work internationally.
From a professional encounter to an international collaboration
From February 28 to April 19, 2026, Manif d’art 12 – The Quebec City Biennial brought together more than 60 artists from Québec, Canada and abroad across 41 venues in the greater Québec City area.
As part of this edition, Manif d’art welcomed a number of international arts professionals during its Presenters’ Week, an initiative designed to introduce them to the Biennial’s artists and works while fostering new connections between the local and international contemporary art scenes.
Among those invited was Helena Mendes Pereira, Executive Director and Curator of MUZEU. Her visits to M12 exhibitions and discussions with the Manif d’art team and Didier Morelli led, a few months later, to invitations for Elias Nafaa and Giorgia Volpe to present their work in Braga.
Portuguese media outlet Terras do Homem specifically traced the origins of this collaboration, recalling that its first stage took place in Québec in March, during Helena Mendes Pereira’s visit to the Biennial, before continuing with the presentation of the two artists in Portugal.
Read the Terras do Homem article — “Muzeu e Zet recebem duas obras da Manif D’Art – Bienal de Arte do Quebéc”
During the exhibition openings, the Manif d’art delegation also presented Manif d’art – The Quebec City Biennial at MUZEU, continuing the dialogue initiated a few months earlier and introducing the Biennial to members of Portugal’s cultural community. Media in Braga likewise presented this visit as a continuation of the partnership between MUZEU and Manif d’art.
Elias Nafaa: Handle with Care at MUZEU
First presented in the context of Manif d’art 12, Elias Nafaa’s installation Handle with Care continues its journey at MUZEU in Braga.
The installation brings together around 300 translucent forms inspired by six families of munitions documented by the artist as part of his research into attacks on Lebanon. By reproducing these objects in a fragile material, Nafaa symbolically reverses the power usually associated with weapons and invites viewers to reflect on the ways violence is designed, documented and perceived from a distance.
In Braga, the exhibition quickly drew attention from the local press. Diário do Minho devoted an article to the opening, describing the project as an international partnership with Manif d’art – The Quebec City Biennial.
Read the Diário do Minho article — “MUZEU expõe a fragilidade da guerra no Médio Oriente”
The partnership and Elias Nafaa’s work were also highlighted by MUZEU, which presented the installation to its audiences as a work originating from the 12th edition of Manif d’art and shown in Braga as part of its collaboration with the Quebec City Biennial.
Giorgia Volpe: Listening to the Ceiling at ZET Gallery
At ZET Gallery, artist Giorgia Volpe presents Listening to the Ceiling (Auscultar o teto), a video installation developed between 2023 and 2025.
Through a deliberately offbeat scene featuring two winter-clad figures in an interior space, the work reflects on the housing crisis in Québec City and, more broadly, on the challenge of ensuring access to dignified housing for all.
ZET Gallery explicitly presents the exhibition as part of a partnership with Manif d’art – The Quebec City Biennial and MUZEU. The work is also included in the programme of the 36th edition of Encontros da Imagem, Braga’s international photography and visual arts festival.
Discover Giorgia Volpe’s exhibition on the ZET Gallery website
This new presentation allows a work rooted in a Québec context to enter into dialogue with European audiences around an issue that extends far beyond geographic borders.
Media coverage in Portugal and internationally
Beyond the exhibitions themselves, the collaboration between Québec and Braga has generated several media features in Portugal and internationally.
On September 21, Euronews Culture published a report on MUZEU, its recent opening in Braga, and its ambition to make contemporary art a space for reflection on the present. A significant portion of the article focuses on Handle with Care, noting that Elias Nafaa’s installation had first been presented earlier this year at the Quebec City Biennial.
Read the Euronews article — “Portugal: MUZEU quer que visitantes pensem e reflitam”
A few days later, international newspaper The National published an in-depth feature on Elias Nafaa and Handle with Care. The article explores the research behind the installation, its development and its journey from Québec to Braga, noting that the project was first presented at Manif d’art 12 – The Quebec City Biennial.
Read The National — “Why an artist made 300 fragile replicas of Israeli weapons used in Lebanon”
On October 1, Metal Magazine also published an interview with Elias Nafaa. The article looks at the development of the work, the role of sound in the installation and the artist’s reflections on the mechanisms and economy of violence. Once again, the article situates the project within the continuity of its presentation at the Quebec City Biennial before its exhibition at MUZEU.
Read the Metal Magazine interview — “Elias Nafaa | The Design of Violence”
The project’s visibility also extends to the Portuguese partner itself. In a later feature on MUZEU, Metal Magazine looks at the identity of the new Braga institution and refers directly to the decision to bring Handle with Care to Portugal after it was encountered at Manif d’art – The Quebec City Biennial.
Read Metal Magazine’s feature on MUZEU — “Art for Thought”
Supporting artists’ circulation and building lasting connections
From Helena Mendes Pereira’s visit to Québec to the presentation of two M12 artists in Braga a few months later, this collaboration offers a concrete example of the role the Biennial can play beyond its exhibition period.
By connecting artists, curators and cultural institutions, Manif d’art aims to create relationships that extend beyond Québec, support the circulation of artworks and open up new opportunities for presentation and international collaboration.
The presence of Elias Nafaa and Giorgia Volpe in Braga, the presentation of the Biennial to Portugal’s cultural community and the media coverage generated by the project are all part of the continuing legacy of Manif d’art 12 and its Presenters’ Week.
