Prémio John Goto — FMAD, UTPORTO

2ndEdition

About

The UT Porto Cultural Centre, in collaboration with the Faculty of Media Arts and Design, is launching the second edition of the John Goto Prize, in honour of the photographer John Goto, whose innovative work contributed to the reimagining of photography as a medium for social commentary and cultural criticism.

The John Goto Prize competition is open to higher education students in the visual arts (photography, video, film, digital arts, multimedia, design, fine arts), of any nationality, whether entering individually or as a group.

John Goto’s association with the teaching staff and students at UT Porto dates back to 2001. John Goto supported his Portuguese colleagues, as well as their research projects, and was very popular with the students. It is therefore fitting that we celebrate this magnificent artist, a man described by The Telegraph as “a genius”.

Retrato de John Goto por Norman McBeath

Who is John Goto?

John Goto, born John Glithero (1949 – 2023), is renowned for his innovative work and his contribution to redefining photography as a medium for social commentary and cultural criticism. Goto was born in Stockport and studied at Berkshire College of Art and St Martins School of Art, London. He worked as a photographer at the British Museum from 1974–77, before winning British Council scholarships to Paris and Prague in 1977 and 1978.

Goto taught as a part-time lecturer at Camberwell School of Art, Oxford Polytechnic and the Ruskin School of Art from 1981–87. During the 1990s he taught as a visiting lecturer at various institutions including the University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki, the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design at Jerusalem and the University of Perm, Urals, Russia. Goto held several solo exhibitions in Britain, Germany, Spain and Czechoslovakia, and Russia.

Meet the jury!

Portrait of Olívia Silva

Olívia Silva

Vice-Rector for Culture at the Technical University of Porto

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Olívia Silva

Olívia Silva

Vice-Rector for Culture at the Technical University of Porto

Biography

She holds a PhD in Fine Arts (Photography) from the University of Derby, UK, a Master’s degree in Photographic Studies, also from the University of Derby, and a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Porto. She is currently undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship in Photography at the University of South Wales, School of Art and Design, UK, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Photography at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. A lecturer in higher education since 1992, she has taught at the Higher School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE) and, since 2016, has held the position of Coordinating Lecturer on the Master’s programmes in Cinema and Photography at FMAD, and on the Doctoral Programme in Artistic Creation at the University of Aveiro, in association with the Technical University of Porto and the University of Leiria and Oeste. From the school’s inception, she was a member of the Founding Committee and served as Chair – having been elected twice – of the Faculty of Media, Arts and Design (FMAD). She is Pro-Vice-Rector of the institution and Director of the Ut Porto Cultural Centre.

Portrait of Álvaro Barbosa

Álvaro Barbosa

Researcher, Full Professor in Communication and Media, Vice-Rector — University of Saint Joseph (USJ), Macao

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Álvaro Barbosa

Álvaro Barbosa

Researcher, Full Professor in Communication and Media, Vice-Rector — University of Saint Joseph (USJ), Macao

Biography

Born in Angola of Portuguese nationality, Álvaro Barbosa was trained as an engineer and educated as an artist. He is a university full-professor with a background in engineering, arts, music, and computer science. His academic research is widely available from peer-reviewed publications, in collaboration with a large number of renowned international academics. As an artist he produced, presented, and performed various creative projects worldwide, featuring work in interactive installations, electronic and acoustic music, photography, sound design, computer animation, and audiovisual media production. He presently holds the academic position of Vice-Rector at the University of Saint Joseph in Macao, China and his academic focus is on fostering systematic creativity as an essential process applied to innovation and entrepreneurship, by mentoring startups, supervising research projects, creating new programs, and teaching in multiple universities across Europe, United States, and China.

Portrait of Aníbal Lemos

Aníbal Lemos

Professor, Photographer, Curator and Researcher — Centro de Arte de S. João da Madeira (ACAM), Portugal

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Aníbal Lemos

Aníbal Lemos

Professor, Photographer, Curator and Researcher — Centro de Arte de S. João da Madeira (ACAM), Portugal

Biography

Professor, photographer, curator, and researcher holding a PhD from the University of Derby, England (2006), an MA and MPhil in Photography from the University of Derby (1998 | 2003), and a Higher Diploma in Photography from the Escola Superior Artística do Porto. He is Director of the Centro de Arte de S. João da Madeira and Professor at Universidade Europeia, IADE, Lisbon. He previously taught at the Department of Image Arts, Polytechnic of Porto, and taught Photography at Escola Superior Artística do Porto (1989/90 and 1998/99). Member of the Scientific Committee of the Avanca Film Festival. Former Director of Galeria Fotografia ImagoLucis, Porto (1989–2006) and cooperating teacher in Mozambique (1978/79). He has presented solo and group exhibitions in galleries and institutions across Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, the Netherlands, England, Ireland, Mozambique, and the United States.

Portrait of Gemma Marmalade

Gemma Marmalade

Researcher, Artist, Photographer and Curator — Two Queens Art Gallery, Leicester, United Kingdom

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Gemma Marmalade

Gemma Marmalade

Researcher, Artist, Photographer and Curator — Two Queens Art Gallery, Leicester, United Kingdom

Biography

Gemma Marmalade is a UK-based artist, writer, curator, and academic whose work has established international reach within contemporary visual culture. Her research focuses on progressive photography and optical media, with a particular emphasis on the performative power of the voice in expanded visual practices. She holds a PhD from the Cambridge School of Art (2022) and has held senior leadership roles in higher education, contributing for over two decades to the design of globally engaged, critically rigorous curricula. She is co-director of [cloud], an international artists' collective and alternative art school, and director of Two Queens Art Gallery in Leicester, UK, where her leadership centers on equity in access, representation, and participation. This commitment extends to her role as a trustee for the disability arts organization DASH, fostering inclusive change across the sector.

Portrait of Isabel Aboim Inglez

Isabel Aboim Inglez

Researcher, Artist, Photographer and Professor — School of Arts and Design (ESAD.CR), Portugal

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Isabel Aboim Inglez

Isabel Aboim Inglez

Researcher, Artist, Photographer and Professor — School of Arts and Design (ESAD.CR), Portugal

Biography

Holds a PhD in Cinema-Drawing from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and higher education training in Cinema, Image, and Directing from ESTC. She develops authorial work in film directing, cinematography, lighting design, photography, and illustration. In cinema, she has worked with directors including Wim Wenders, Fernando Lopes, Fonseca e Costa, João César Monteiro, and Pedro Caldas; in theatre, with Carlos Pimenta, Fernanda Lapa, Luís Castro, and Rui Pina Coelho. She has created animation since the 1980s, with around ten films completed, exhibited, and awarded. She exhibits photographic work regularly, including the group exhibition 'A Imagem Contextualizada' and solo exhibitions 'ARCO' and 'HIATO'. She teaches Image and Project courses at ESAD.CR, where she also coordinated the undergraduate degree in Sound and Image.

Portrait of João Leal

João Leal

Researcher, Artist, Photographer and Lecturer — Faculty of Media Arts and Design, Technical University of Porto

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of João Leal

João Leal

Researcher, Artist, Photographer and Lecturer — Faculty of Media Arts and Design, Technical University of Porto

Biography

An artist and lecturer born in Porto (1977). He has taken part in solo and group exhibitions since 2001, creating works that draw on moving images, photography and sound, presented in the form of exhibitions, screenings and installations. In 2005, he was joint winner of the Pedro Miguel Frade Prize awarded by the Portuguese Centre of Photography for ‘Night Order’ and, in 2018, he won the acquisition prize at the 20th Cerveira Biennial for ‘Where Am I’. He holds a PhD in Visual Arts (practice-based in photography, installation and video art) from the University of South Wales. He is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at the Faculty of Media Arts and Design and a full member of ID+ / IMAD (Media Research Group). Since 2017, he has been collaborating with Mark Durden on a project documenting European modernist architecture, which began with works by Álvaro Siza (durden-leal.com).

Portrait of Nuno Rodrigues

Nuno Rodrigues

Curator, Programmer and Producer — Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Portugal

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Nuno Rodrigues

Nuno Rodrigues

Curator, Programmer and Producer — Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival, Portugal

Biography

Curator and film programmer Nuno Rodrigues is co-founder and artistic director of the Curtas Vila do Conde International Film Festival. In 1999, he founded Agência da Curta Metragem, where he serves on the board of directors and leads the international promotion and distribution of Portuguese short films. Since 2005, he has been director and coordinator of Galeria Solar in Vila do Conde, curating numerous exhibitions. In recent years, he has also worked as a film producer and, in 2013, became vice-president of Short Circuit, a European film and video art distribution network.

Portrait of Susana Lourenço Marques

Susana Lourenço Marques

Researcher, Artist, Curator and Professor — Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), Portugal

Jury Member · 2nd Edition
Portrait of Susana Lourenço Marques

Susana Lourenço Marques

Researcher, Artist, Curator and Professor — Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP), Portugal

Biography

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto (FBAUP) and holds a PhD in Communication and Art from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of NOVA University Lisbon. She is an integrated researcher at I2ADS/FBAUP. Author of the books 'Ether / a laboratory of Photography and History' (Dafne, 2018) and 'Dust, Ash, Mist – an essay on absence' (2018), and co-editor of 'Portugal Year Zero' (2024), 'Photobooks in Portugal, from the Revolution to the Present' (2023), 'Crocodile Tears' (2022), and 'Pedagogy of the Streets, Porto 1977' (2018). Curated exhibitions include 'Who Taught You? Nobody' (2016), 'Opacity of Water' (2021), 'Loss of Aura' (2022), 'Eternal Youth' (2023), 'In the Time of Slow Days' (2023), 'Portugal Year Zero' (2024), and 'What They Saw, What We See' (2025). In 2014, she co-founded the publishing house Pierrot le Fou.

Regulations

The 2nd edition will select 4 exhibition or installation proposals with €1,500 in production support each.

  • Open to higher education visual arts students of any nationality.
  • Individual or group applications with original proposals reflecting on the contemporary world.
  • Projects in photography, video, cinema, digital arts, multimedia, design or fine arts.
  • Application period from 23 September 2026 to 31 January 2027.

€1,500 production support per selected project (in two 50% tranches) · Free online submission.

View Full Regulations
Submit Application

Latest winners

Winners of the first edition

  • André Araújo [PT]
  • Maíra Ortins [BR]
  • Beihua Guo [CN]
  • Polina Schneider [RU]
Discover the winning projects

Contacts

+351 225 571 062cultura@sc.ipp.ptPraça do Marquês de Pombal, 94, Portowww.centrodecultura.ipp.ptCentre opening hoursTuesday to Friday: 10:30–13:00 · 14:00–17:30Saturday, Sunday and Monday: closedSocial mediaInstagram — @centrodecultura.utportoFacebook — Centro de Cultura Universidade Técnica do Porto