Aea: Culture Initiative

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Portugal
Lisbon
Aea: Culture Initiative

Aea is an independent, self-organized creative laboratory and community working across cultures

11/06/2026

What does it actually take to build something independent? What does it take for fragile forms of collectivity to persist?

At our inaugural public talk at Aea Space inside TIMS • Café & Padaria No Museu , founder of Aea Nata Tatunashvili and architect Andreia Garcia — moderated by , curator of the First Season of the Aea Space Program — traced the fault lines between creative practice, displacement, and the will to build together without the promise of stability.

Although both Nata and Andreia come from architectural backgrounds, their multidisciplinary practices unfold across curating, research, teaching, publishing, and creating new cultural initiatives. Brought together by these shared approaches and a mutual concern for how humans organize themselves across different landscapes, they unpacked the realities of creating under unstable conditions.

Swipe for the key takeaways of “Making Space Together. Creative Practice in Unstable Conditions.”

Photos: Anastasia, photographer // Lisbon

30/05/2026

The first week of “Drifting Signals, Lasting Traces” has come to an end, and we are looking back on the warm and vibrant opening night at Aea Space.

The evening brought together artists, guests, and members of the Aea Community to step inside the layered world of the exhibition — exploring communication as something lived, embodied, and shared beyond the boundaries of the screen.

A special thank you to for her thoughtful introduction to the exhibition during the artist talk, and to the participating artists — , .magalhaes , .v.rocha , , and represented by .vch — for generously sharing the ideas, processes, and research behind their work. We deeply missed , who couldn’t be with us in person, but her creative presence was warmly felt throughout the talk!

The exhibition would not have been possible without the support of our partners .lisboa and , as well as the coverage of our media partner .

Special thanks as well to photographer .anastasia for sensitively capturing the atmosphere and the guests of the evening.

The exhibition runs until August 23.
📍 TIMS café & padaria .lisboa | Mon–Sun, 8:30–17:00
🎟 Free admission

24/05/2026

Exhibition “Drifting Signals, Lasting Traces”
Runs 26 May - 23 August 2026
Mon–Sun, 8:30–17:00
Admission free

Exhibition Opening and Artist Talk—26 May, 18:30
Admission free. Language: English

Where: Aea Space at .lisboa
Rua Dom Luís I 22, 1200-109 Lisboa

Join us for the opening of our inaugural exhibition of Aea: Culture Initiative in Aea Space—Drifting Signals, Lasting Traces.

This international group exhibition marks Aea’s ongoing commitment to researching modes of communication across borders, disciplines, and experiences, alongside an engagement with creative practices that take place outside established institutional frameworks.

It turns to less visible systems of exchange—from underground vegetation and embodied experience to invisible data infrastructures—to explore what persists beyond a screen-driven understanding of communication, as well as the lasting traces produced through acts of connection.

Artists: .magalhaes .v.rocha (Anastasia Belinskaya & Polina Kravchenko)
Curator:

In association with
Media partner: —Culture, Design, City Events
Cover image: Pylon, 2025. Anastasia Belinskaya

22/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first public talk at Aea Space! Seeing our new spot so full of warm, engaged people was the perfect beginning for our new home. The intimate atmosphere felt incredibly special, it completely aligned with how we at Aea envision true connection and exchange.

A heartfelt thank you to , , and for such an open, honest conversation. And a big thank you to .lisboa for hosting us so generously.

The next event of our Spring–Summer Season is coming soon, stay tuned!

16/05/2026

We are opening the first season of Aea Space with a conversation about the resilience of independent cultural spaces and how fragile forms of collectivity can persist in unstable conditions.

Aea is rooted in lived experiences of migration, rupture, and the loss of familiar homes and systems. Our work grows from asking how creative practice can be sustained under these conditions — and how alternative forms of collective life and cultural infrastructure might actually emerge. This conversation feels like the right place to begin.

architect and designer, co-founder and program curator of Aea, founder of NWDS studio and .center will be joined in conversation by architect, curator, researcher, professor, and founder of studio and in Porto.

The talk will be moderated by curator of Aea Space’s inaugural program, with an introduction by architect, researcher, and director of Aea Space.

Thursday, 21 May 2026
18:30 - Doors Open
19:00 - Public Talk
20:00 - Q&A and open discussion

Where: Aea Space at .lisboa
Rua Dom Luís I 22, 1200-109 Lisboa
Language: English
Free admission. Limited seating. Registration required by link in bio.

25/04/2026

We believe great coffee and contemporary culture make good companions. That’s why we’re welcoming Aea Space into .lisboa this spring.

Aea Space is a new cultural platform brought to life by .cultureinitiative — an independent creative laboratory working across cultures, connecting researchers and practitioners through collaborative making. Aea works with local partners and communities, fostering an environment of care, shared inquiry, and space for slow thinking.

We’re excited to see what grows here. Save this post and come find out with us!

📍TIMS and Aea Space, Rua Dom Luís I, 22, Lisbon, Portugal

01/11/2025

Final days to see “The Shape of What Remains.” This is not an exhibition about restoration, but about learning to live inside the break. Discover powerful stories of survival, grief, and hope. Don’t miss your chance to witness what remains. Closes soon.

Location: Tanarte / Spazio Tana

Participants: Sarah Cowles, , .olena .figu .burastudio

24/10/2025

Alisa .figu and Kimia’s .burastudio story is the last to be featured in our exhibition “The Shape of What Remains” (collateral project of ). Two professional painters who found a common language not in images, but in sound.

Their collaboration began in Tbilisi “almost like a love story,” with a magnetic pull between two exiles. In a makeshift studio, they began to improvise, using music as a bridge across their different languages and pasts.

For them, sound offered a new kind of freedom. Their music sessions create a shared atmosphere—a vibration that carries them forward.

Discover how two painters connected through the ephemeral language of sound via the link in our bio, and experience their improvisation in person at the exhibition until November 2 at Tanarte / Spazio Tana, Venice.

19/10/2025

On September 27, .cultureinitiative in collaboration with , held a public roundtable “Among Us.” The event brought together female founders of cultural initiatives from Georgia and Barcelona to fostering art and community without formal support, structure, or recognition. We thank all the participants for sharing their experience: (), (), (.cc), Ursula Perez Pomar (), (.bcn).

How does a space’s cultural concept form, and is hospitality itself a cultural act? How to balance emotional labor with the practical needs of financial and organizational survival? How can cultural authenticity be maintained against gentrification and commercial pressure?

We have gathered the key highlights and insights for those who couldn’t join.

Endereço

Rua Dom Luís I 22
Lisbon
1200-109

Telefone

+995598099665

Website

http://www.aeainitiative.com/

Notificações

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