Córtex Frontal was founded in 2015 in Arraiolos, a town of white and blue houses in the Alentejo, surrounded by plains, olive groves and cork oaks, where rugs have been embroidered by hand since the Middle Ages. Run by Córtexcult, a non-profit cultural association, it is a place to make, think and share, where contemporary art meets the region and the people who live there.

Artists working in the visual arts, textile arts, writing and music live together for weeks or months in a historic house in the centre of town. Each develops their own project at their own pace. The rest happens around the table, in the studios, on trips across the Alentejo and in sessions with the local school, leading up to a final open studio.