The last 100collector's guided tour of the year was dedicated to the earliest stages of artistic practice. On December 13th, we gathered to explore how emerging talent is identified, supported, and given visibility within institutional frameworks.

The visit focused on the exhibition presenting the nominated artists for the fourth edition of the Sovereign Art Prize, an award dedicated to young Portuguese or Portugal-based artists. Representatives from the foundation guided the group through the exhibition, explaining how the prize operates and highlighting its nomination-based structure, which intentionally avoids a traditional curatorial framework. Rather than proposing a single narrative, the exhibition allows each artist’s work to stand on its own, while the installation creates subtle visual and thematic connections. A particularly striking moment was the section dedicated to the student prize, open to participants up to eighteen years old - with some artists as young as fourteen - revealing an impressive level of experimentation, sensitivity, and conceptual awareness at such an early age.

This final visit of the year offered a powerful reminder that collecting is not only about established careers, but also about understanding and engaging with the systems that nurture artistic development from the outset. It invited collectors to look ahead, considering how today’s early practices may shape the cultural landscape of the future.