For decades, the artist José de Guimarães has been an avid collector of objects — which, depending on perspective and context, oscillate between being classified as ethnographic or artistic — originating from different peoples of Central and West Africa and acquired on the European market specialised in their trade. His fascination with this type of object was sparked in 1967, during a visit to the Museum of Angola in Luanda, shortly after he had arrived there to undertake his military service. This initiating event would leave indelible marks on his work that endure to this day. From very early on, the collector’s passion was accompanied, and continually nourished, by the acquisition of knowledge through visits to ethnographic museums around the world and by the study of the collected objects and the peoples and cultures from which they originate. Part of his vast collection of traditional African art, which currently exceeds 3,000 items, is held at CIAJG, where it has been given a place of special prominence in the exhibition programme from the outset. From October 2022, and for more than three years, these artefacts were shown in the context of the exhibition Heteróclitos: 1128 objetos, coexisting and intermingling with numerous works by José de Guimarães from different series and periods, as well as with pieces — in a much smaller number — from his collections of Pre-Columbian art (from territories that are today Mexico, Peru, Guatemala and Costa Rica) and ancient Chinese art, both likewise entrusted to CIAJG through a loan agreement established in 2011 with the Municipality of Guimarães. The nucleus of traditional African arts that forms part of the CIAJG collection — significantly strengthened in 2024 thanks to the artist’s donation to the municipality of a further 65 objects — is now presented independently, and in a very different arrangement, across all the rooms on the ground and lower floors. In this presentation, a large and striking group of masks once again stands out.