Porto city hall exhibits unpublished documents of spies and refugee artists in Portugal in World War II

“1941: Guggenheim and Fleming, Artists & Spies in WWII Portugal” was inaugurated last Friday, by the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira. The exhibition, by Neill Lochery, a Scottish author and historian living in Porto, brings together more than 100 unpublished documents, photographs and videos of spies and refugee artists in Portugal in World War II.

Open to the public from Monday, April 4th, it has the support for the organization of the Municipality of Porto and support for the production of Corticeira Amorim, which provides a set of cork materials that result from the company’s practices of circular economy.

The exhibition marks the return of the use of the atrium to the presentation of exhibitions and other cultural initiatives, after two years in which the main doors of the City Hall building were closed due to the pandemic.

The Mayor, other members of the council team, the President of the Municipal Assembly, Sebastião Feyo de Azevedo, the exhibition curator, Emma Lochery and Neil Lochery attended the inauguration.

Result of 15 years of research by Neill Lochery on the role of Portugal as a refuge for spies and artists during World War II, the exhibition brings together 106 pieces, including unpublished photographs, documents and videos, collected between Europe and the United States.

Also responsible for the texts in the catalog that accompanies the exhibition, Neill Lochery intends to highlight, with this work, the contribution of Portugal in assuming itself not only as a place of safe passage for artists during World War II, but also as an inspiration for worldwide espionage literature.

The exhibition “1941: Guggenheim and Fleming, Artists & Spies in WWII Portugal” opens to the public next Monday, April 4th. It can be visited on weekdays, from 9 am to 5 pm. Entry is free.