André Carreiro Oliveira (Faial), the Atelineiras collective (São Miguel), and Tomás Toste (Terceira) are the artists selected for the 2nd edition of the nova vaga Award, promoted by Anda&Fala – Cultural Association. The decision was made by the Apreciation Committee after assessing 11 applications from different islands in the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

SEE THE MINUTES OF THE NOVA VAGA 2026 AWARD

The Apreciation Committee was composed of João Francisco Reis (guest curator), João Laia (curator), Sara Antónia Matos (curator), Urbano (artist), Jesse James (Artistic Director of Anda&Fala), and Rubén Monfort (Program Coordinator at Anda&Fala). The quality and diversity of the practices presented were highlighted, as well as the plurality of approaches in the expanded field of visual arts.

The distinguished candidates — André Carreiro Oliveira, Atelineiras, and Tomás Toste — who will be awarded creation grants worth €5,000 each, reveal distinct and complementary practices that cross sculpture, image, design, and collective action. Sharing a critical attention to contemporary conditions of artistic production, these artists develop investigations that oscillate between the relationship with matter and the environment, collective experimentation, and the instability of the image as a field of reflection, proposing new ways of thinking about creation from the Azorean context, in dialogue with issues of transformation, identity, and belonging.

Promoted by Anda&Fala, the nova vaga 2026 Award took place in an open call format between November 5 and December 18 last year, with the aim of supporting new talent in artistic creation in the Azores Archipelago, focusing on practices under development and their critical monitoring over time.

Starting next month, curatorial monitoring will begin with guest curator João Francisco Reis, as well as production monitoring by the Anda&Fala team, with a view to developing new research/creation works and presenting them in a collective exhibition, integrated into the September–November 2026 season of vaga – espaço de arte e conhecimento, in Ponta Delgada.

The nova vaga Award is an open call, held every two years, aimed at individuals and collectives who are naturalized and/or resident in the Azores, aged between 18 and 35, who aspire to develop their practice in the expanded field of visual arts. The first edition, in 2024, awarded Isabel Medeiros, Joana Albuquerque, and Sofia Rocha, resulting in the exhibition Corpos Magmáticos and an associated program of activities.

This initiative is part of the activity plan and cultural advocacy strategy of Anda&Fala – Associação Cultural, aiming to directly invest in the artistic ecosystem of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, stimulate emerging dynamics, reinforce artistic autonomy, and deepen contemporary practices in the territory.


André Carreiro Oliveira (Faial, 2001)
Has a degree in Graphic Design from Escola Artística e Profissional Árvore, in Porto, and is currently studying for a degree in Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon. His work explores themes of transformation, chaos, and the raw beauty of imperfection, often using materials such as metal and stone. Influenced by brutalism, his multidisciplinary practice combines traditional sculptural techniques with digital imagery and everyday objects.
His work dialogues with the forces of nature, recreating natural events of great intensity through manufactured materials, while reflecting on the human impact on the environment, analyzing the legacy of industrialization, and highlighting how the mechanisms of mass industrialism leave lasting marks on both the natural world and society.

Atelineiras (São Miguel, 2020)
A transdisciplinary collective that seeks to influence the artistic structure through its own perspective of collectivity, its approach to audiences, and the free experimentation of artistic techniques that accompany the progress of each member. The creation of events, performances, workshops, exhibitions, and various collaborations with other artists, collectives, and associations has consolidated the collective's goal in the space: to intervene and shake up the Azorean cultural landscape. Their work maintains not only the basis of the development of individuality, with the aim of achieving a sustainable and progressive community, increasingly questioning what surrounds them, but also the insular feeling that accompanies and sustains everything they do.

Tomás Toste (Terceira, 1994)
Has a degree in Fine Arts and Multimedia from the Polytechnic Institute of Santarém and a master's degree in Design and Advertising from IADE. He is currently working as an Art Director in advertising and completing a second master's degree in Fine Arts in Caldas da Rainha. His most recent work focuses on the instability of the image as a space for representation and doubt.