Lisbon: The ultimate Airbnb for art lovers

Why stay in a boring apartment when you can stay in an artist’s residence, says Jessica Bateman

Where the art is: ‘You have to feel the house. The house is a living thing – it has an energy you have to connect with,’ says Ana (Pictures by Ana Perez-Quiroga)

As I lug my baggage up the five flights of stairs to Ana Perez-Quiroga’s Lisbon apartment – in the Barrio Alto neighbourhood, close to the Praca do Comercio square – I’m not sure what to expect. I’m going to be renting this apartment from its owner tonight. So far, so Airbnb.

Ana focuses mainly on installation and photography (Ana Pérez-Quiroga)

The only difference is, Ana is an artist whose practice revolves around the concept of home and what it says about us. Ana, who works primarily with installation art and photography, has exhibited in shows around the world over the past few decades, including a handful of solo shows in Lisbon. She insists that renting out her own home to strangers is an art project in itself. I’ve stayed in a lot of apartments over the years, but never one that makes a claim like this.

Ana welcomes me inside and I immediately feel at ease as she shows me to the sofa and fetches me a bottle of mineral water. Her space is inviting, quirky and intriguingly decorated. As you’d expect from an artist’s home, the walls are covered in framed pictures, paintings and mini sculptures, and the furniture – much of which she has made herself – is bold, colourful and retro. Huge windows in the living room look out over Lisbon’s skyline.

A dinner party is also part of the project (including conversations about “art and life”) and so we sit down for a traditional Portuguese meal of cod risotto, with local cheese and bread on the side, and spiced orange for dessert. She pours me a glass of red wine. I ask her why her apartment is an art project. How is it different from any other arty rental?

“It’s actually part of my PhD thesis,” Ana explains. “I believe your house becomes your portrait, through the objects you choose to live with.” Last year, she had an exhibition that involved building a two-storey house inside Portugal’s Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) gallery, in which people could book to stay for 48 hours. Ana designed and made everything inside and, after the project finished, she decided to extend the concept to her actual home. “You have to stay here for 48 hours, I don’t think one night is enough,’ she continues. “You have to feel the house. The house is a living thing – it has an energy you have to connect with.”

Ana rails against the new norm where ‘everyone goes to Ikea and buys the same things’ (Ana Pérez-Quiroga)

Everyday objects are important – becoming a type of “artistic language”. Ana’s home isn’t a museum; rather a living space that visitors can interact with and become a part of. “Art happens through this interaction, by the visitor’s actions within the artwork itself,” her website states.

Ana encourages visitors to explore and interact with the objects and artworks in her apartment. Some are even available to buy. She’s made a directory of them all, telling the stories such as how she purchased plates from Macau, was gifted crockery by her mother, or the inspiration behind a friend’s artwork on the wall. As well as enhancing the guests’ experience, it also fits with her PHD theory about how the objects in our house become an ever-changing portrait of who we are as people.

In one way, her “project” is a riposte to the increasing uniformity of Airbnb apartments. She adds: “In the past you had real people’s houses. Now it’s more professional. They all look the same because everyone goes to Ikea and buys the same things.”

Artwork – some of which is for sale – adorns the walls of the ‘art project’ living room (Ana Pérez-Quiroga)

Ana’s ideas about the importance of home is particularly timely given that Lisbon is in the midst of a property boom. “Every year, I’m worried the landlord will put my rent up and I’ll have to leave,” she tells me. “Lots of people are moving here – including Madonna and Christian Louboutin. But everyone I know is moving far away.”

As in a more typical Airbnb, I still have a bedroom, which is cosy and comfortable. I had been sceptical about the concept of the apartment, but our conversations about the meaning of home and our relationships with our surroundings have given me a lot to think about.

Ana admits that her project “isn’t for everyone”, and if you want a place to sleep and dump your luggage you’re better off booking a hotel or regular apartment. But if you want something more personal, where you can connect with the space and learn a little about who lives there, then Ana’s home is a special – and tasty – experience.

Staying there

Ana’s apartment is available to rent for two nights for two people for €190 a night. You can either rent the whole apartment, or Ana can host a dinner party.
anaperezquirogahome.com