about
Created by Emmanuel Babled, directed by Babled Studio, Prime Matter is a physical and digital space honouring art, design, and craftsmanship.
The Prime Matter physical gallery space is based in Lisbon, and it hosts periodical exhibitions from different artists and craftsmen who value and respect the source of their materials, a sustainable and virtuous manufacturing, and a conscious design.
In our digital space we not only showcase the works of these artists, but we also tell the stories behind their products, their techniques, and their existence.
Prime Matter is a place for exhibitions, debates, and history; a place for art, imagination, and stories; a place to help sediment the ingenious seeds of humankind.
manifesto
In the fast-paced world of today, dominated by technology, serial production, and artificial intelligence, it is important not to forget our human essence and the capacity to transform our history, our needs, and our sensations into art.
With the industrial revolution the art of making has been deeply transformed, and machines gradually began doing tasks previously done by human hands. Since then, we have seen ancestral techniques of production being overlooked, forgotten, and even lost.
Creativity is the greatest ability inherent to humankind – and even though we try our best – it cannot be reproduced or simulated by robots and machines. Technology is fantastic, but it must be used wisely, helping us humans develop our creativity and blossom our artistic capacities rather than taking away our self-expression.
Combining excellent natural materials, sustainable and conscious design with outstanding and historical craftsmanship, we have Prime Matter: a gallery, a platform, and an opportunity to shed light into the art of making art, the art of design and the art of being.
