The Violated Flowers
From July 26 to September 27, 2026, the MHNC-UP will host Samuel Ornelas’s exhibition As Flores Violadas (The Violated Flowers) at the Hall of Biodiversity - Ciência Viva Center. The exhibition’s opening will take place on July 25, at 18h00.
Deeply influenced by Olga Tokarczuk’s book Empúsio, Samuel Ornelas has created works that reflect a journey through a fantastical world inhabited by spectral beings and forest sentinels.
This exhibition is part of the project O Tempo das Árvores (The Time of Trees), organised by Fogo Lento – Cultural Association, whose artistic programme places trees at the centre of a reflection on ecology and art.
In addition to this exhibition, the following actions are also highlights of this project:
Lost in the Woods by Clélia Colonna | CONCERT | PERFORMANCE
July 24, 21h30 & July 25, 19h00
+ Info here.
Dendromorphosis, the art of being a tree by Costanza Givone, Clélia Colonna and Alex Cassal | PODCAST
Premieres on July 25, at 19h00
A walk through the forest can take us to unexpected places: to the top of one of the world’s tallest trees; to a grove in Thessaly, where a nymph flees from her pursuer; to the countless microscopic creatures inhabiting the trunk of any given tree; or to a post-human future, in which cities have been supplanted by lush forests. Following a residency at the University of Porto’s Botanical Garden, Alex Cassal, Clélia Colonna and Costanza Givone imagined transformative encounters between people and plants. A sonic alternative to anthropocentrism.
Co-creation: Costanza Givone, Alex Cassal, Clélia Colonna | Text: Alex Cassal | Music: Clélia Colonna | Vocals: Catarina Sá Ribeiro, Clélia Colonna, Costanza Givone | Mastering: José Arantes | Scientific consultancy: Joana Tinoco and Iúri Frias | Production: Margarida Fragueiro | Partnerships: Lovers & Lollypops | Support: Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts | Production: Fogo Lento | Artistic residencies: Fogo Lento/CAMPO | Partnerships: Lovers & Lollypops | CRL - Central Elétrica. University of Porto Museum of Natural History and Science – University of Porto Botanical Garden & Biodiversity Gallery – Centro de Ciência Viva [Event organised as part of the BIODIVERSA programme, supported by the Pessoas 2030 and Portugal 2030 programmes and by the European Union] | Design: João Vladimiro ©
More information: https://www.fogolento.art/congerminar
Technical file
CREDITS
Concept, texts and works: Samuel Ornelas
Co-creation, coordination and collaboration: Costanza Givone
Artistic residency: Fogo Lento/CAMPO
Partners: Fogo Lento, University of Porto Museum of Natural History and Science – University of Porto Botanical Garden & Biodiversity Gallery – Centro de Ciência Viva [An initiative organised as part of the BIODIVERSA programme, supported by the Pessoas 2030 and Portugal 2030 programmes and by the European Union]
Production: Fogo Lento / Margarida Fragueiro
Programme notes: Samuel Ornelas
Acknowledgements: Kosmo Atelier, Ana Rita Xavier and Ana Torrie