"A invenção do Mundo - Arte Sacra do Sul de Portugal" ("The invention of the World - Sacred Art of the South of Portugal"), is the name of an exhibition that will be open to the public from 16th December 2005 to 16 April 2006, in the Paço Epíscopal of Faro.

The organisation forms part of the Faro National Culture Capital 2005, from the Diocese of Beja and the Diocese of the Algarve. The exhibition is composed of a combination of around a hundred works of art (painting, sculpture, decorative arts and graphic documents), from the dawn of Christianity until the present time. The objective is to offer a reflection, from the

Seven Days of the Creation of the World, in accordance with the archaic narratives gathered together in the Bible and in other books of ancient wisdom.

In addition there will be presented little-known aspects of the southern heritage, such as the fine line between the Sacred and the Profane, the survival of Paganism and of the old religions, the opening to the South of other religions and cultures (Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Africa, India, Far-East) and the affirmation of the artistic schools of Evora, Beja, Moura, Faro and Tavira.

The exhibition will be open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10.00 to 12.30hrs and from 14.00 to 18.00hrs.