Helena Cardoso: Knowing and Recognising / Descobrir e Reconhecer

"Helena Cardoso: Knowing and Recognizing" is not just a book: it is a praise of life, a tribute, a manifesto, an artistic object, an act of resistance, intuition and non-conformity, a social intervention, a global and local vision, an economic, ethical, ecological, aesthetic, and community stimulus.

It is a compilation of more than 400 pieces, researched, selected and collected in more than 25 institutional and private collections, representing more than four decades of the author's work in 15 different municipalities.

It is a work with 17 chapters: the first contains texts by researchers and representatives of museums where there are pieces by the designer; the following 15 chapters are dedicated to the municipalities where the author developed her work; ending with a technical chapter.

The publication aims to remedy a historical oversight in the recognition of the work of a practically unknown or forgotten author, to give visibility to people with whom she worked in rural areas and locations outside major urban centers: to bring together scattered projects, to remember the pioneering spirit of the author, who anticipated much of what is now on the agenda, on the agenda of our economic, social or ecological concerns.

This edition may therefore be a stimulus, a reference, a hope, an inspiration for communities that wish to optimize their daily lives, to work with authors and designers without having to leave their place of origin, but valuing precisely their community and their territory.

Authors: Maria Bruno Néo and Luís Mendonça

Photography: Marta Ribas

Book published by Eterogemeas publishing house with the support of: Portuguese Republic - Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts.

1 volume, 220 pages, 500 photographs, printed on Munken-Pure paper in 24x27 cm format, stitched with six-color threads, polychrome edges, and bagged in plastic thread weaved canvas.