As the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union draws to an end, we take a closer look at “Commotion”, the large-scale installation conceived for the headquarters of the Council of the European Union in Brussels with the participation of Underdogs Gallery and a group of 20 Portuguese artists: ±MAISMENOS±, Abdel Keita Tavares, Addfuel, Akacorleone, André da Loba, Bráulio Amado, Francisco Vidal, Gonçalo Mar, Halfstudio, Herberto Smith, Jorge Charrua, Kruella d'Enfer, Maria Imaginário, Alecrim, Pedrita Studio, Raquel Belli, Tamara Alves, Teresa Esgaio, Wasted Rita and Vhils.

Created to celebrate the 6-month Presidency, the imposing structure is a patchwork that underlines the fertile diversity of backgrounds and aesthetic languages of a new generation of Portuguese artists, reflecting on the concepts of pluralism and equality, and on the importance of the convergence of people and discourses, ideas and practices, interchange and dialogue, which lie at the heart of the European project and our contemporary democracies.⁠

Now removed from its primary location, the installation will become a permanent part of the Portuguese Republic’s Contemporary Art Collection.