The Portuguese first arrived in Bermuda 175 years ago and to mark that event, the National Museum of Bermuda is hosting an exhibition of contemporary Azorean art.

Twenty-five years ago in 1999, the Bermuda National Gallery hosted an exhibition of Azorean art called A Window on the Azores. It was in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first Portuguese settlers to Bermuda in 1849.

Today the Portuguese make up a significant percentage of the island’s population and although initially agriculturists, they are now involved in all aspects of island life.

That 1999 exhibition was a “blockbuster” show that utilised the entire National Gallery exhibition space and was said to be the first overseas Azorean art exhibition.

The museum is hosting another, albeit smaller art exhibition, Contemporary Voices from the Azores, to mark the coming of the Portuguese, however it is nonetheless a significant exhibition of Azorean modernism.

Three artists are involved in the exhibition. They are: Susana Aleixo Lopes, Leonor Almeida Pereira and Filipe Franco.

The National Museum exhibition is curated by Dr Almeida Pereira and Lisa Howie, former director of the Bermuda National Gallery and now on the staff of the National Museum as education officer.

The present exhibition is a modern approach to landscape, in particular, the Azorean landscape and in the case of Filipe Franco, his actual materials are often the soils and sands of Sao Miguel.

Franco is primarily a sculptor, but a very special Azorean sculptor, in that he often uses the natural materials found in Azorean nature. There is a particular piece in the museum’s exhibition that is my personal favourite. Its title is: Um vazio presente #8. It’s a sculptural form that hangs on the wall, much like a painting, that is coated in coal dust.

Coal dust gives the form an even, very mat finish. My thinking is that Franco probably mixed the coal dust in an acrylic medium that he then applied to the underlying form.

I stress this because when I first met Filipe back in 1997, he was even then producing work similar to what he is creating, but when I asked about his using an acrylic medium, I was not certain he knew what I was taking about.

I learnt then that he was using carpenter’s glue as an art medium. I was impressed that he was using what was then available to him, in a highly creative way.

I know that today, acrylic paints and mediums are available in the Azores, for Leonor Almeida Pereira’s paintings in this exhibition are mostly made with acrylic paint.

Like Bermuda, the Azores is an isolated archipelago, with its own particular culture. As with Bermuda, serious artists often leave to study in mainland universities and art institutions. After exposure to modernist concepts, the trick is to synthesise what they have learnt with their own island nature and culture.

The Azorean landscape is mountainous, rugged and ringed by the sea. The islands are volcanic, with black sand beaches and dark volcanic soil. At the same time the land is green and lush. These are the aspects that underlie the art in this exhibition, but each artist brings to their landscapes their individual visions. Their approach to landscape is experimental.

It seems that each artist favours particular aspects of the Azorean environment. In the case of Susana Aleixo Lopes, it’s wood, but more that just any ordinary wood; it's the Azorean forest. She, like Filipi Franco, is a sculptor who is showing a striking floor piece made of slabs of burnt wood fastened together with brass hinges, entitled The Breakdown of Escape.

With Leonor Almeida Pereira, it’s seemingly the rugged, storm-driven, erosive coastal cliffs and mountain nature, all expressed in rough, richly dark and intensely colourful abstractions, that reminded me of the wild paintings of JMW Turner, although that might not have been her actual influence.

It was difficult to decide which of her painting most grabbed me, but in the end it was a painting in striking Azorean colours called Memoria do Lugar.

Unfortunately, Filipi Franco was Unable to be in Bermuda for the exhibition opening, The other two artists were in attendance.

Of notable interest is the location of this exhibition within Commissioner’s House, for directly across from this exhibit is a gallery that showcases the Portuguese contribution to Bermudian life, as well as the Portuguese role in the European age of exploration and the discovery. The two displays worked well together.

Alternative Voices is a highly recommended exhibition. It ends October 7. There is time yet to visit and its more than worth a trip to the West End and our National Museum. Make it a day in Dockyard.