Temporary exhibitions
Featured Temporary Exhibitions
Last updated on 22 de junho de 2026
Collecting Connecting: More than Twenty Years of the Virtual Shoe Museum
Collecting Connecting: More than Twenty Years of the Virtual Shoe Museum presents the unique vision of Liza Snook, founder of the Virtual Shoe Museum, who has been collecting everything related to shoes since the 1990s.
To share this passion, Liza launched VirtualShoeMuseum.com in 2004 together with Taco Zwaanswijk, creating a platform that brings together some of the most extraordinary shoes and creators of our time. From leather, fabric and ceramics to unexpected materials such as needles, teeth, or even bread, the online collection challenges conventional ideas of what a shoe can be and is now on display at the Museu do Calçado.
Rooted in her interests in graphic design, art, film, fashion, and textiles, Liza’s approach to footwear embraces a wide cultural spectrum - from traditional designs to “shoevenirs,” from Alien to Amélie, and from Barbie to Tim Burton. Through her ever-growing collection, she has curated artistic shoe exhibitions all over the world.
Collecting Connecting: More than Twenty Years of the Virtual Shoe Museum is the first international collective exhibition of designers at the Museu do Calçado and a unique opportunity to step into Liza’s shoes and explore her remarkable collection.
Next Step: Sustainability & Innovation
The temporary exhibition NEXT STEP: Sustainability & Innovation showcases the transformation of Portugal’s footwear industry through the collaboration between CTCP – the Portuguese Footwear Technology Centre, APICCAPS – the Portuguese Footwear, Components, Leather Goods and Their Substitutes Manufacturers’ Association, and several companies across the sector.
Organised around four themes—Disintegration and Biodegradability, Recycling and Circular Economy, Biomaterials and Biomimicry, and Cutting-Edge Technologies—the exhibition translates complex processes into accessible narratives. It explains how post-consumer waste is reintegrated into new products; how nature inspires functional solutions; and how advanced manufacturing, from 3D printing to the Digital Product Passport, is redefining transparency and traceability within the industry.
More than presenting objects, NEXT STEP reveals the thinking behind them: a productive culture that combines technical rigour, environmental responsibility, and strategic vision. Until the end of the summer, visitors are invited to explore new materials, new production languages, and new industrial ecologies—and to recognise that the future of Portuguese footwear is already taking shape.
NEXT STEP is an invitation to discover the materials and processes that are shaping a more sustainable tomorrow, where footwear is no longer merely an accessory but an example of engineering excellence and respect for the environment.
