Footwear Museum unveils global design exhibition ‘Terra Inesgotável’

A new exhibition, ‘Terra Inesgotável’ (“Inexhaustible Land”), has opened at the Footwear Museum in São João da Madeira, spotlighting ten years of creative exchange between Portuguese designer Pedro Carvalho de Almeida and Indian designer Abhishek Chatterjee. Running through October 19, the show invites visitors into a decade of experimental design and revived craft traditions spanning from 2015 to 2025.

According to the museum’s official website, the exhibition reflects on “a land of images, materials, and culture — rooted in critical, collaborative, and exploratory thinking. It is inherently process-driven and generative.”

Both designers are PhD researchers affiliated with Portuguese universities and have spent the past ten years exploring the intersection between experimental footwear design and the revival of traditional, locally rooted craft practices. Their work bridges academic research with real-world collaborations, combining scientific inquiry with hands-on pedagogical approaches.

The exhibition serves a dual purpose: preserving and sharing both tangible and intangible cultural heritage, while also spotlighting the creative potential of textile manufacturing traditions — many of which are endangered. These local practices are presented as vital contributors to contemporary socio-economic and cultural ecosystems.

At its core, ‘Terra Inesgotável’ is a reflection on the richness of Portugal’s artisanal textile heritage and beyond. Through the lens of footwear design, the show highlights craft techniques from Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, and Mozambique, celebrating ancestral knowledge and the diversity of locally sourced, sustainable materials.

The Footwear Museum marks a milestone with this exhibition—its first curated by an external team. The title, “Terra Inesgotável,” takes inspiration from José Saramago’s travel memoir “Journey to Portugal,” reflecting the show’s broad cultural and geographic scope. The museum will add one pair of featured shoes to its permanent collection.

The exhibition catalog, designed by Débora Pinguinha, offers in-depth insights, visuals, and documentation of the works and the wider project.