New Ana Fatherly Drawing Prize – Fernando Aguiar Archive Acquisition

Since the mid-1980s, Fernando Aguiar’s collection—focused primarily on experimental poetry, performance art, mail art, the Fluxus movement, and conceptual art—has evolved into a unique archival repository, bringing together thousands of documents, original artworks, artist’s books, posters, videos, and photographs.
Since then, the Archive has carried out significant work in preservation, research, and outreach by organizing and regularly participating in exhibitions and events dedicated to performance and poetry, both in Portugal and internationally.
This initiative is now expanding with the creation of the new ANA HATHERLY DRAWING PRIZE – Fernando Aguiar Archive Acquisition, in collaboration with Drawing Room. The prize represents a major form of support for contemporary artistic creation while simultaneously paying tribute to the artist Ana Hatherly, who donated her artistic collection to the Archive prior to her passing in August 2015. This legacy comprises hundreds of documents and approximately two hundred original artworks, which joined the existing collection—the result of a friendship and artistic relationship with Fernando Aguiar spanning more than thirty years.

Image:
ANA HATHERLY (Porto, 1929 – Lisboa, 2015)
A rosa escrita, 1996
India ink on paper. 14,3 x 9,3 cm.
(Archive Fernando Aguiar)