ANOZERO Coimbra Biennial of Contemporary Art

The theme of the 2026 edition 'To hold, to give, to receive,' draws from the Proto-Indo-European root ghabh, which also gave rise to the word habitat, and means “to hold, to give, to receive”.

Through these three fundamental actions, the curatorial proposal invites deep reflection on how art, architecture, and public experience can create a symbiotic, anarchic, and horizontal habitat — a relational space between artwork, artist, and visitor, based on mutual exchange and generosity, rather than competition or exclusion.

Inspired by Peter Kropotkin’s notion of mutual aid, this Biennial questions arbitrary hierarchies and seeks to expand the field of what is recognised as creative practice — embracing art, design, architecture, craft, landscaping, folklore, gardening, among others — as equally valid and sensitive forms of engagement with the world.

The exhibition will mirror the curatorial gesture itself: the works on display will propose new ways of imagining what it means to hold, to give, and to receive — outside frameworks of dominance, and within ecologies of care, interdependence, and attentiveness.