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A day in Sacavém is one of her own best experiences in Lisbon in a very long time.
I understand that. With more than 80 walls Sacavém is the biggest Outdoor Gallery in Lisbon – and the best in our opinion. Especially when you know the positive impact street art has had on this once miserable part of town.
So I use this occasion to re-share this old blogpost from August 2018 about this amazing part of town.Â
Quinta Do Mocho: How this crime-plagued Lisbon Estate became the City's coolest open air gallery.
Located half an hour outside of central Lisbon, Quinta do Mocho is one of the city’s many social housing projects, built cheaply and quickly in the 1990s and cut off from the main city thanks to a lack of public transport.
Over the past four years, 94 incredible works by artists from all over the world have been added to the sides of apartment & blocks. Visitors can come see these independently or as part of a guided tour – an activity I’m taking part in today.
The best street art in Lisbon is 1 hr from us Lisbon has become a pilgrimage site for artists and street art aficionados. We get mails every week from guests and friends who ask about the scene: Where to go, what to see and when.
Today Lisbon has so many walls that most travellers won’t have time to see them all. And stressing around to ✓ walls in parts of town with nothing else to see (or do) at the expense of all the beautiful parts Lisbon offers with lots of things to see don’t make any sense. So unless people are looking for specific artists we usually tell them to combine – or include – street art in whatever itinerary the may have. Lisbon has art everywhere. In some occasion we recommend people to book a guided tour OR download a street art map on their mobile and do a tour themselves – by foot or on bicycle.
When dedicated street art connoisseurs with plenty of time contact us we recommend them to check out Quinta do Mocho that has grown from a suburban troubled neighborhood a few years ago to Europe’s biggest and coolest Open Air Gallery with more than 80 official walls bye Portuguese and foreign artists. Yesterday The Independent brought a super feature about Quionto do Mocho’s by Jessica Bateman.
Street art creates a splash of new life for Lisbon barrio
The painting by Angolan-Portuguese artist Nomen is undoubtedly "the most important one" for people who live in the Quinta do Mocho housing project, because "it sums up our history," guide Emanuela Kalemba says during a visit of the neighbourhood.
"She symbolises the social mask that neighbourhood residents must put on outside. To apply for work, or get into school, we often have to give a fake address to avoid saying where we come from," the 30-something woman tells a group of around 50 visitors, including many pensioners decked out in rain gear.