Kettles Yard hosts the first UK showing of the extraordinary work of Portuguese artist Helena Almeida.

The exhibition will present a selection of works made over the last 40 years in a major solo exhibition.

Most of Almeida's work takes the form of black and white photographs, but this exhibition will also include early objects, a sound piece and video work.

The exhibition runs throughout October until 15 November 2009.

Recent international exhibitions at the Fundacion Telefonica, Madrid (2009), The Drawing Centre, New York and the Sydney Biennial (2004), the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Santiago de Compostella (2000), have brought greater recognition of this artist's significance both in relation to Portuguese art and in a wider international context.

Almeida has represented Portugal twice at the Venice Bienniale, one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions, in 1982 and 2005.

The exhibition at Kettle's Yard will be accompanied by a bilingual publication that will offer greater access to Almeida's work for English-speakers and new essays by Alyce Mahon and Lilian Tone that will examine her affinities with major cultural and artistic movements such as Performance Art, Brazilian Neoconcretisism and Feminism.

On Wednesday 21 October, from 6-8pm a late viewing and screening of the award-winning film ‘Pintura Habitada’ by Joanna Ascencão will be shown. This film offers a glimpse into the world of Helena Almeida. Rather than a biographical portrait of the artist, the film attempts to convey the spirit of Almeida’s work.

This late opening coincides with late night exhibition openings at Lucy Cavendish College (Rooms of Our Own) and the Folk Museum (A Space of Ones Own).

Acclaimed poet Ruth Padel will read a selection of new poems in response to the exhibition Helena Almeida: Inside Me on Wednesday, 21 October, 6-8pm.

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