GALERIA MUNICIPAL DE ARTE
ALLY NOLAN REDEIRAS
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13.03 – 20.06.2026
In 2025, the Irish artist Ally Nolan undertook an artist residency in Olho de Boi, Almada. After discovering that the studio she was working from had once been a net factory belonging to Companhia Portuguesa de Pesca [Portuguese Fishing Company, working between 1920-1984], she began researching the women connected to it. They were the Redeiras: the women who made fishing nets by hand in Almada. Recognizing similarities between the craft of Almada’s Redeiras and certain female artisanal traditions in Ireland, where making and mending through handwork were also part of women’s working lives, Nolan established inspiring parallels for her artistic practice. Early studies were developed using archival photographs with photo transfer, hand embroidery, acrylic, laser engraving and Portuguese felt (burel). The project continued to evolve over the course of about a year in response to the stories of the place. The exhibition brings together archival material from Museu de Almada [Almada Museum], including photographs, records and tools, alongside newly made textile works recently developed by the artist. Throughout, it remains centered on the Redeiras and the work they carried out in this place – repetitive, skilled, and physically demanding.
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BIG-HEARTED NET MAKERS Alexandrina da Conceição Catarino de Sousa, born in Oliveira do Hospital, was 26 years old when she was admitted to the Companhia Portuguesa de Pesca in October 1945. Maria dos Santos Pires, born in Tavira, was 39 years old when she came into the company in November 1947. Both were married, worked in contract jobs and were colleagues at the Fábrica de Redes [Fishing Net Making Factories]. Sometimes they brought in their children, Rosa and Zé, who, from time to time, helped their mothers fill the needles. The life story of these workers reveals a common thread: the search for better living conditions in Almada through demanding work. The more skeins they turned into sections of net, the more they received. The hands of the net makers were not delicate; they had calluses left by the threads. Their entire thorax moved in the effort to work the nets, with repetitive, rhythmic and fast movements. Due to the daily physical exertion, some of these women were left with overly muscled heart walls, to the point of becoming a medical condition. It was said then that they were women with big hearts. In CÂMARA MUNICIPAL DE ALMADA. MUSEU NAVAL (2023) Companhia Portuguesa de Pesca. Uma coleção de histórias. Almada: CMA
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1 REDEIRAS, 2026 I.D. photographs cut and individually hand-woven into a fishing net. A series of identification photographs of women netmakers from the employment records of the Companhia Portuguesa de Pesca, held in the archives of the Museu de Almada.
2 À MÃO / BY HAND / LE LÁIMH, 2025 Needle felting and laser engraving on Portuguese felt. This work highlights shared traditions between Portuguese and Irish craftswomen who worked with their hands — making, mending, and transmitting knowledge through touch. The accompanying hand embroidered quotation extends the work’s emphasis on manual labour and embodied memory, reinforcing the gesture of the hand as archive.
3 Net Makers of the Ship Repair Society Photograph by Júlio Diniz, 1970s-80s Museu de Almada
ALLY NOLAN is an Irish textile artist whose practice explores how textiles are shaped by place, community, and cultural identity. Her work brings together hand-made and digital textile techniques to examine the histories embedded in materials and the everyday labour that produces them, with a particular focus on women’s work and craft knowledge that has often gone unrecorded or undervalued. Rooted in archival research, storytelling, and heritage, Nolan frequently works with historical photographs and materials to better understand the people and communities behind textile traditions. Her practice is informed by rural and coastal contexts, where craft skills are closely tied to working life, social history, and local economies. Nolan holds a BA in Fashion Design and Art History from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, and an M.Phil in Irish Art History from Trinity College Dublin. She is the 2025 recipient of the RCSI Art Award and has completed residencies in Portugal, Norway, France, and Ireland. These experiences have expanded her research and revealed connections between craft traditions across different cultures. https://www.allynolan.com
SCHEDULE Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-1pm / 2pm-7pm Closed on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays
GALERIA MUNICIPAL DE ARTE
ADDRESS Galeria Municipal de Arte Av. Nuno Álvares Pereira, 74 A 2800–177 Almada T. 212 724 724 casadacerca@cma.m-almada.pt
Social Development Municipal Director Eduardo Quinta Nova
Almada City Council Mayor and Culture Councilor Inês de Medeiros
Culture Department Director Rute Moura Head of Division of the Contemporary Art Centre Nuno Moura
Texts Ally Nolan, Ana Taipas, Maria José Santos, Maria Miguel Cardoso, Nuno Moura, Paula Freire, Vanessa Almeida Educational Service Ana Sofia Godinho, Elsa de Sousa Production support Museums and Cultural Heritage Division – Maria José Santos, Vanessa Almeida Libraries and Archive Division / Archive Service – Fernanda Cruz
Front-of-House Elsa de Sousa, Filipe Barbosa
Installation support Building Maintenance and Support for Municipal Activities Division
EXHIBITION
Graphic Design Joana Machado
Production and installation Ana Taipas, Paulo Ramos Communication Paula Freire Administration support Carla Novais
SUPPORT
Printing Magenta Dimension (graphic materials) Gamut (photographs) Acknowledgments Eurídice Santos, Maria José Santos (grandaughters of Alexandrina da Conceição Catarino de Sousa and Maria dos Santos Pires)
ORGANIZATION