Biography

She is currently an integrated researcher at the IHC — Institute of Contemporary History at NOVA FCSH.

She graduated in History (FLUL) and obtained her PhD at NOVA FCSH, in Contemporary Art History. In the past, she has many other artistic studies, such as SNBA and AR.CO courses. In the past as an Art History Institute research member, she published several books and articles about Portuguese Modernism, devoting her attention to the study of Orpheu and Almada Negreiros, as well as the Ballets Russes’ reception in Lisbon, publishing, “Almada Negreiros, a dança e os Ballets Russes” (Literatura e Sociedade, São Paulo, N. 17, 2013) and in the Orpheu 1915 commemorating volume (ed. by Steffen Dix, Tinta-da-China, Lisboa, 2015). Currently, she is interested in the authoritarian “Estado Novo” regime, namely the role of propaganda photography. She is also a member of Contemporary Art Studies (CASt of IHA).

Recently, she was the co-curator of a contemporary art exhibition in Lisbon, “(Co)Habitar“, Latin America House and UCCLA (2018). In 2019, she co-curated at the National Library the exhibition “Visual Propaganda In the Portuguese Estado Novo“.

She was the PI of the FCT Project Printed Photography. Image and Propaganda in Portugal (1934-1974) (PTDC/CPC-HAT/4533/2014).

Research fields

• Visual culture and propaganda
• History of photography
• Cultural and printed media history
• Landscape history

Selected publications

• Serra, Filomena, Paula André & Sofia Leal Rodrigues (Orgs.). Projectos Editoriais e Propaganda. Imagens e Contra-Imagens no Estado Novo. Lisbon: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais, 2020. [link]
• Torres, Eduardo Cintra & Filomena Serra. “Do Chefe Incontestado ao Chefe Panóptico. Representações Fotográficas de Salazar do Notícias Ilustrado ao Século Ilustrado,” Media & Jornalismo, 19 (2019): 67-84. [PDF]
• Serra, Filomena, Paula André & Bruno Marques, eds. “Fotografia e Propaganda no Estado Novo Português.” Special issue, Comunicação Pública, 12, n.o 23 (2017). [PDF]
• Serra, Filomena & Eduardo Cintra Torres, “A Construção da Imagem do «Chefe» no Notícias Ilustrado,” in Salazar, o Estado Novo e os media, edited by José Luís Garcia, Tânia Alves, and Yves Léonard, 201-234. Lisbon: Edições 70, 2017. [link]
• Serra, Filomena. “Visões do Império: a 1ª Exposição Colonial Portuguesa de 1934 e alguns dos seus álbuns,” Revista Brasileira de História da Mídia, 5 (2016): 45-84. [PDF]

Main projects

• Coordinator of the project “The Printed Photography. Image and Propaganda in Portugal (1934-1974)” — Hosted by IHA — NOVA FCSH  and funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/CPC-HAT/4533/2014). 2016-2019 [link]