Carlos Paredes- Centenary

“Carlos Paredes’ music does not exist. There is a man sown in the soil of his country. And he was born from it. And he remained planted there. In an eternal tangle of roots. As much as he has a heart, as much as he has a brain, he has a guitar. An organ – as alone – as the other organs.”  – Octávio Fonseca

2025 marks the centenary of the birth of Carlos Paredes, an extraordinary musician whose legacy has become one of the great monuments of Portuguese culture

Giving the Portuguese guitar a universal dimension, Carlos Paredes’ genealogy is closely linked to the evolution of this musical instrument, a family tradition that began with his great-grandfather, António Paredes, continued by his grandfather Gonçalo Paredes, his great-uncle Manuel Paredes and, later, by his father, Artur Paredes. It was this lineage of great musicians that definitively transformed this musical instrument into a living and universal symbol of Portuguese culture.

“Carlos Paredes gives us a chance to hear a world under the condition of eternity” – Eduardo Prado Coelho described the truly timeless dimension of this brilliant musician’s legacy in this way.

In the sound of his guitar, all of us Portuguese can recognize ourselves. In the exhibition we will be able to learn about the vast biography of this extraordinary musician and composer and get closer to his vast and diverse legacy, which remains very much alive in the 21st century and continues to inspire different generations of musicians and listeners all over the world.