Cultivamos Cultura

What Cultivamos Cultura does

Cultivamos Cultura is a non-profit cultural organization founded in 2009 and headquartered in São Luís, a rural village in the municipality of Odemira in Portugal's Alentejo region, situated within the country's largest natural park. The organization operates at the intersection of art, biology, and ecology, offering fully funded artist residencies, an annual Learning Lab summer school, curated exhibitions, workshops, microdocs, and community programming to artists, researchers, students, and the local public. Marta de Menezes serves as the central director, artist, and curator.

Its core technical capabilities center on biological laboratory work — including microbiology experiments, DNA manipulation, and sea urchin in vitro fertilization — integrated with fieldwork in the surrounding biodiversity-rich ecosystems. Programs are delivered through on-site residencies at the São Luís facility, off-site exhibitions at partner venues (Ectopia Lisbon, Jardim Botânico do Porto, FBAUL Lisbon, Olaria Municipal de Odemira), and international festival circuits including FACTT (Lisbon, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Berlin, Corfu), Ars Electronica, and Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture.

The business model is grant-funded rather than revenue-generating: the organization does not charge participants for any of its residency, workshop, or educational programs. Funding flows primarily from the European Commission's Creative Europe programme, Portugal's DGArtes, and institutional partnerships, with downstream costs (travel up to €500, accommodation up to €1,500, artist fees of €1,300, food per diems, production materials up to €1,600) distributed to selected artists as sponsored support packages. The organization operates with a small core team of approximately 6 employees and participates in multiple EU-funded consortia including OASis (10 countries), Biofriction, Restorative Practices, and the Hybrid LAB Network.

Name

Cultivamos Cultura

Legal name

Cultivamos Cultura

Website

https://cultivamoscultura.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cultivamos Cultura is a non-profit cultural organization in Odemira, Portugal, offering fully funded artist residencies, an annual summer school, exhibitions, and festivals at the intersection of art, biology, and ecology, serving international artists, researchers, students, and the local community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Cultural Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Centers & Community Cultural Organizations (BPAGAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Fan Conventions Organizers (THAHABAN)

Keywords

• Art-science residencies
• Bioart programs
• Cultural nonprofit
• Ecological art
• Creative workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

São Luís (Odemira)

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Institutional Funding: Cultivamos Cultura is primarily funded through European Creative Europe programme grants, DGArtes (Portuguese national funding for culture), and institutional partnerships. The organization does not charge participants for its residency, workshop, or educational programmes.
2. Residency Sponsorship Distribution: The organization distributes residency support packages to selected artists, including travel (up to €500), accommodation (up to €1,500), artist fees (€1,300), food per diems, and production materials (up to €1,600), funded by grants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cultivamos Cultura is a nonprofit cultural organization that runs artist residencies, workshops, exhibitions, and festivals at the intersection of contemporary art and the biological sciences. Its programs include the Learning Lab summer school, the FACTT festival, the BioFriction project, and FEMeeting gatherings, all delivered free of charge to participants through public European and Portuguese cultural funding.

Product overview

Cultivamos Cultura is an art residency and cultural organization based in São Luís, Odemira, Portugal, focused on fostering creativity at the intersection of art, science, and technology. The organization operates as a unified platform offering multiple interconnected programs: year-round artist residencies (including international exchanges via the OASis European network), the annual Learning Lab summer school with microbiology and bioart experiments, curated exhibitions exploring art and biology, the FACTT Festival of Art and Science, the BioFriction Creative Europe project on bioart practices, FEMeeting for women in STEM and art, workshops on natural materials, microdocs documenting local ecology, yearbook publications, and community programs like Criadores à Conversa. The organization also runs research projects including Extraterrestrial Posthumanism, Restorative Practices, and the Hybrid LAB Network for STEAM education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FACTT Festival: Festival of Art and Science: Transdisciplinary and Transnational - annual festival promoting interdisciplinary dialogue between art and science with exhibitions, conferences and workshops
• OASis
• Restorative Practices
• Learning Lab
• FEMeeting
• BioFriction
• Criadores à Conversa
• Extraterrestrial Posthumanism

Products and services

• Art-Science Residencies
• Learning Lab Summer School
• FACTT Festival
• BioFriction
• FEMeeting
• Exhibitions
• Workshops

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Arte InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing strategic partnership with the Arte Institute for the co-organization of the FACTT Festival of Art & Science (Transdisciplinary and Transnational), held annually in Lisbon and extended internationally to New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Berlin, and Corfu. Cultivamos Cultura and the Arte Institute jointly develop festival programming including exhibitions, conferences, and workshops.
• Le Garage ModernecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner institution hosting OASis 'Viajantes' residencies. Located in Bordeaux's old harbour area, Le Garage Moderne provides individual artist studios (11–25m²), a shared production/presentation space for performing and large-scale visual arts, technical support, workshops (mechanics, woodworking, bicycle repair), and access to recycled materials through warehouse partnerships.
• Bioart Society (Finland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Creative Europe-funded Restorative Practices project and the Biofriction Creative Europe project, focused on sustainability and bioart practices to enhance knowledge transmission and build new realities through art-science intersection.
• Casa do Rio (Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead coordinator of the Restorative Practices Creative Europe project. Partnered with Cultivamos Cultura and Bioart Society for cross-border art-science collaboration and creative programme development.
• UR Institut (Croatia)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Restorative Practices Creative Europe project, contributing to the network of organizations focused on sustainability and bioart practices.
• Hangar (Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead organization of the Biofriction Creative Europe project, in partnership with Bioart Society, Cultivamos Cultura, and Kersnikova Institute. Biofriction explored transdisciplinary artistic practices involving biology, biotechnology, fiction, and art, with emphasis on the emancipatory potential of biotechnology.
• Kersnikova Institute (Slovenia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Biofriction Creative Europe project, contributing expertise in bioart and biohacking practices alongside Hangar, Bioart Society, and Cultivamos Cultura.
• Ectopia – Experimental Art Laboratory (Portugal)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLisbon-based partner for exhibitions and co-programming. Hosted the BioFriction exhibition (June–August 2021) and is a founding partner in the FACTT festival alongside Cultivamos Cultura and the Arte Institute.
• IBMC (Portugal)coreTechnology or IntegrationPart of the Hybrid Lab Network (HYBRID) consortium, a project promoting innovation bridging Art, Science, Technology/Engineering, and Humanities in Higher Education. IBMC leads the consortium alongside WAAG Society, Alma Mater Europaea, and Aalto University.
• Waag Society (Netherlands)coreTechnology or IntegrationPartner in the Hybrid Lab Network consortium, contributing expertise in technology and society interfaces to the art-science education innovation project.
• Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts (SIVA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSIVA hosts Clarissa Ribeiro (artist associated with Cultivamos Cultura) as Honorary Professor and member of the International Advisory Board. Represents international academic-artistic exchange between Portugal/Brazil and China.
• Ars Electronica (Austria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresented 'Acquired Immunity' programming at Ars Electronica 2020 (Kepler's Gardens festival), including virtual exhibitions, guided tours, microdocs, and live Q&A sessions with artist Marta de Menezes and immunologist Luis Graça.
• OASis Consortium (10 Countries)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe OASis (Open Art Spaces) in Action consortium comprises 13 interdisciplinary art venues in 10 countries (Armenia, Belgium, France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia), combining local context with international art exchange. Cultivamos Cultura is the Portuguese partner in this Creative Europe-funded project.
• InArts Lab, Ionian University (Greece)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCuratorial partner for FACTT 20/21, contributing interdisciplinary arts research from the Department of Audio and Visual Arts to the festival's programming.
• Sensorium, York University (Canada)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCuratorial partner for FACTT 20/21, contributing research and programming from York University's digital arts and technology research centre.
• UNAM / Arte+Ciencia / Bioscénica (Mexico)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMexican academic and cultural institutions as curatorial partners for FACTT 20/21, contributing science-art programming and networks from Mexico.
• Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Universidade de Lisboa (Portugal)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImmunologist Luis Graça collaborates with Cultivamos Cultura as a key scientific partner, notably co-curating and participating in the 'Acquired Immunity' exhibition and Q&A sessions at Ars Electronica 2020.
• Stemarts Lab / PneuHaus / STEAM NM / University of New Mexico (USA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'Space Bears', an installation and educational experience introducing micro-world and tardigrades to children, and presented at the 2022 Paseo Festival in Taos, New Mexico. Amy Pilling (artist in Cultivamos Cultura collection) is a key collaborator.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kersnikova Institute: Slovenian institute for art, science, and technology, partner in the Biofriction project. Direct peer in biohacking/bioart practice and residency-style programming.
• Hangar: Barcelona-based art research and production center leading the Biofriction Creative Europe project alongside Cultivamos Cultura. Directly comparable in artist residency, bioart lab, and transdisciplinary programming.
• Waag Society: Amsterdam-based research institute at the intersection of art, science, and technology; partner in the Hybrid Lab Network. Comparable in STEAM education, transdisciplinary research, and EU project-based funding model.
• Le Garage Moderne: Bordeaux-based art residency and production space; partner venue for OASis 'Viajantes' residencies. Directly comparable in residency model and international artist exchange.
• Ectopia - Experimental Art Laboratory: Lisbon-based experimental art lab and direct local peer; co-hosted the BioFriction exhibition and partnered in FACTT festival programming.
• Bioart Society: Finnish bioart organization partnering with Cultivamos Cultura on Biofriction and Restorative Practices projects. Direct peer in bioart programming, residency offerings, and EU Creative Europe project collaboration.

Broad incumbents

• Ars Electronica: Major European art-technology festival and research institute based in Linz, Austria. Direct functional peer for art-science programming; Cultivamos Cultura has been featured at Ars Electronica 2020 and competes for similar EU grants and prestige in the bioart/STEAM space.
• LABORAL Centro de Arte: Spanish contemporary art and industrial heritage center with strong programming in art, science, and technology. Broader incumbent operating at larger scale with similar EU funding base.
• ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe: Major German institution for art and media technology, operating exhibitions, residencies, and research at scale. Broader incumbent competing for similar grants, audiences, and prestige.

Emerging players

• Leonardo Art Science Evenings (LASER): Global network of art-science talks hosted at universities and cultural institutions, similar to FEMeeting's mission of connecting art, science, and technology communities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@cultivamoscultura-j8j?si=NETGvwzx29di1PaY
• Facebookfacebook.com/cultivamoscultura
• Instagraminstagram.com/cultivamoscultura
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cultivamos-cultura

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cultivamos Cultura