Weltliteratur. Catalogue

Weltliteratur was an exhibition organized by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to celebrate Portuguese literature. The title derives from an expression by Goethe and was chosen by exhibition curator, Antonio Feijó, to illustrate the universalist thrust of some of the best Portuguese writers.

The exhibition catalogue is a very special book in its content, because the subject of the exhibition was literature itself. The book contains reproductions of all articles (manuscripts, painting, sculpture, among others) in the exhibition but is primarily the vehicle to reveal the texts chosen by the curator. The book respects and reinforces the thematic relationships between texts and related works of art while paying homage to the written word as art in itself.

Established in 1956 as a Portuguese foundation for the whole of humanity, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's original purpose focused on fostering knowledge and raising the quality of life of persons throughout the fields of the arts, charity, science and education. Bequeathed by the last will and testament of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, the Foundation is of perpetual duration and undertakes its activities structured around its headquarters in Lisbon (Portugal) and its delegations in Paris (France) and London (the United Kingdom).