The inaugural edition of the ARTCUT project, “Exercises in Empathy,” opened on Thursday, August 27, 2026, with its first art exhibition, hosted by the Solar Grandjean de Montigny Museum at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. The opening was marked by a presentation featuring PUC-Rio Rector, Fr. Anderson Antonio Pedroso, representing Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, followed by remarks from Nuno Crespo, chief curator, and co-curators Luiz Camillo Osorio and Cadu.

Titled Respiração (Breath), the exhibition is organized around three interconnected sections — Sighing, Breathing, and Conspiring — and explores the connections between empathy and breath. Breath is understood not only as a vital act, but also as a means of creating spaces for listening, contemplation, and sharing, becoming a gesture capable of reactivating human connections and imagining new forms of community.

On view through November 15, the exhibition brings together works by Anna Maria Maiolino, Antonio Manuel, Arthur Jafa, Brígida Baltar, Igor Jesus, João Modé, and Julianknxx.