Uma andorinha só não faz o verão

Underdogs celebrates the 25th of April with the launch of a special series of editions by seven Portuguese artists who, although they did not experience the revolution firsthand, grew up with its legacy deeply embedded in the fabric of society. This year marks 51 years since the Carnation Revolution — a historical moment that ended decades of dictatorship and restored democracy in Portugal. The works emerged from an invitation by Underdogs to engage in a dialogue with iconic photographs by Alfredo Cunha — one of Portugal’s most important photojournalists. With a sharp and sensitive eye, Cunha captured defining moments of April 25, 1974, immortalising expressions of freedom, confrontation, silence, and hope.

Each artist was invited to choose, reflect on, and respond to one of these images, inviting viewers to step into a portal through time and offering a new, personal reading of the past. Originally presented in the exhibition Portais do Tempo, held at the former Lisnave shipyards in Almada in 2023, these powerful works are now being relaunched as limited editions — produced in the same format and with identical margins. Each edition will be sold at the same price, making them accessible to a wider audience and reaffirming the importance of keeping alive the reflection on what freedom means, and what it continues to mean, today.

Márcio Carvalho reinterprets a photograph by Alfredo Cunha showing a group of relaxed soldiers — an image that contrasts with the weight of uniforms and weapons. In his version, the artist keeps the composition but replaces the protagonists, introducing new, anonymous figures. He adds a second image: the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, recontextualised as a symbol of return and displacement. With this layered composition, Carvalho challenges two common myths — that the April 25th revolution was entirely peaceful, and that it belonged only to the Portuguese.