Amália. Coração Independente

Amália Rodrigues was born in the summer of 1920 and died on 6 October 1999. Between these two dates, the wondrous merging of a life and a voice took place. The poor, sad girl transformed herself into a beautiful and elegant woman. And she became an artist of genius, a diva that enjoyed universal renown, one of the greatest singers in the world. She became the audible voice of a people that became universal through her – a female heteronym for Portugal, they called her. As an icon, symbol, and myth, artists in several disciplines made her their subject.

In Amália, her voice is her image and her image is her voice. We hear her and see her. We see her and hear her. Memories, objects, documents, testimonies, sound and visual recordings, everything that she left behind represents her: makes her present. And brings us closer to her, helping us to understand her, to feel her, to remember her. And to celebrate her.

With a segment at the Museu da Electricidade and another at the Museu Coleção Berardo, this exhibition, considered from a contemporary point of view, shows us Amália as she used to be, and how we used to see her. It reveals her and confirms her. It shows her individually and collectively, young and old, woman and artist, staged and spontaneous, loved and slandered, Portuguese and universal. It shows her as being inseparable from her aura, her mystery, her glamour, and her glory.

The woman who sang Portugal died ten years ago. This exhibition celebrates her life, her work, her image, her voice, and her myth. It returns Amália to us so that we may recognise her. It reveals Amália to us so that we may rediscover her.