A racket, a toilet seat, a life jacket, fishing nets, a rubber boot, a black sneaker, and a blonde-haired doll are some of the objects on display in “Clean the Planet,” the first exhibition at the new PortoCartoon Museum, which has an international collection of over 20,000 caricatures from the legacy of the PortoCartoon World Festival.

The objects for the “Clean the Planet” exhibition were collected on beaches in Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Matosinhos, and show the trash a fish might find on the seabed.

“Clean the Planet,” the first exhibition at the new PortoCartoon Museum, is unique in that it is located in a room lined with iron that was once the vault of the Bank of Portugal, as the historic Palácio das Artes building in Largo de São Domingos was for many years a branch of the former Bank of Lisbon, the origin of the Bank of Portugal.

“In this exhibition, humour acts as a magnifying glass on the absurdities of our relationship with the environment: from the compulsion for disposable plastic to political promises as green as asphalt,” says the press kit given to journalists.

In an interview with Lusa, during the inauguration of the new museum, Manuel Fernando, presiding judge of the Brotherhood of Clerics, explains that the Porto Cartoon Museum “intends to be an open space for everyone,” but also has the ambition to “internationalize.”

“I would be delighted to have an exhibition of caricatures of Ronaldo in Argentina, for the jokes it could naturally generate,” said Manuel Fernando, explaining that the temporary exhibitions are also intended for audiences in hospitals, nursing homes, and charities, among others.

The new PortoCartoon museum will also inaugurate two temporary exhibitions this Saturday, the 8th.

“Greta Thunberg” is the name of the second exhibition that visitors can see at the new museum. The first temporary exhibition combines the art of caricature with the world of the young activist, from her solitary school strike in Stockholm (Sweden) to the defining moments that transformed her into a global voice for climate justice.

The second temporary exhibition is called “Ronaldo” and presents several caricatures of the renowned Portuguese football player.

In this exhibition, the art of caricature becomes a lens on the universe of Cristiano Ronaldo, following his journey from his first kicks of the ball on the island of Madeira, where he was born, to the moments that consecrated him as a “global sports icon”.

Tickets for the new museum range from three euros for children, four euros for seniors over 65, and five euros for adults, but on Saturday, the day of the public opening, admission will be free, Manuel Fernando confirmed to Lusa.