Creativity in the wild.

Peace in nature, peace with nature and the reconciliation of culture with nature. These are the aims of the First International Sculpture Symposium to be held at the Botanical Garden in Esgravatadouro, Portugal. After the tragedy of 2018, in which enormous amounts of CO₂ were released into the atmosphere when more than 280 km² of forest were burned in a devastating fire, the sculpture symposium in May 2026 will be CO₂-neutral from the outset, with participants travelling by train, bus and ‘on foot’ from Finland, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, France, Greece or Spain etc. to Caldas de Monchique. The food provided will be locally grown, with no meat, and the energy used to power the artists’ tools will be climate-friendly, since it will be generated exclusively through solar power. For one month, from 1 to 31 May 2026, three sculptors will be able to work in the Botanical Garden in the peace and tranquillity of nature and then place their works of art in the forest. Their sculptures will remain there forever and provide company for the young trees that were planted after the forest fire.

What materials will the sculptors work with? Granite, wood, marble and clay, large-scale sculptures. You can apply NOW to take part, by submitting an idea, a sketch, a working paper and an artistic CV, together with references. Take part as a sculptor. Apply now.

The organisers are therefore asking sculptors to send their ideas for a work of art, with the board of the cooperative (the jury) selecting and publishing the best of these. Three international and/or local artists will then be invited to start work on their creations. ECO123 will provide transparent journalistic coverage of the whole process. In the end, there will be three artists selected for the sculpture symposium, and each will receive 3,000 euros for their work. The artistic director of the symposium is the Portuguese sculptor and painter Arlindo Arez from Alcalar near Portimão, who is well-known internationally.

In addition to travel expenses, the main sponsor of the symposium is offering overnight accommodation with full board in a local hostel. The organiser of the Botanical Garden will organise the machinery, tools and all materials needed to produce the final works. The closing date for applications for participation in the 2026 symposium is 31 August 2025. Please indicate which materials you would like to work with: stone (marble or granite), wood or clay and tell us which machines and tools you will be using.

Please let your colleagues and other artists know about this call for the submission of entries. Artists should apply early with their idea for a sculpture, and they will then be informed whether they will be invited to take part in the symposium before the end of October 2025. Participation is limited exclusively to artists from Europe travelling to Portugal and the Algarve by train and/or bus in an environmentally friendly way. Artists from other continents will also be accepted if they are willing to travel to Portimão by sailing boat.

The symposium will take place in the forest of the Monchique mountain range, because the forest is our natural heritage and must be protected.