The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private institution of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education and science. Created by a clause in Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian's will, the Foundation's statutes were approved in 1956. Its main assets were Calouste Gulbenkian's art collection and his international oil interests, mainly the 5% holding in the Iraq Petroleum Company.
The head office is located in Lisbon, Portugal. The large premises, opened in 1969, comprise the Head Office itself and the museum. In addition to the areas occupied by the Foundation's management and various departments, the premises include a large auditorium, a space for temporary exhibitions, a congress area with auditoriums
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and other rooms, as well as a large building that houses the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the Art Library. The entire complex is set in the Gulbenkian Park. In 1983, a Modern Art Centre was opened at one end of the park. The Gulbenkian Institute of Science is a research institute situated inside a multi-building complex in Oeiras (outskirts of Lisbon). The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation also has a delegation in the United Kingdom (UK Branch) and a centre in Paris (the Calouste Gulbenkian Cultural Centre).
The Foundation actively pursues its statutory aims in Portugal and abroad through a wide range of direct and indirect activities.
The Foundation has an orchestra and a choir that perform throughout the year within a regular season, and organises solo and collective exhibitions of work by Portuguese and foreign artists. It also organises international conferences, meetings and courses, awards subsidies and scholarships for specialist studies and doctorates in Portugal and abroad, and supports programmes and projects of a scientific, educational and artistic nature. Moreover, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is actively involved in publishing. It also fosters co-operation projects with Portuguese-speaking African countries and East Timor, promotes Portuguese culture abroad, and operates a programme to preserve evidence of the Portuguese presence in the world. In addition, the Foundation supports Armenian communities worldwide.
The Foundation's annual budget is approximately 110 million Euros. Currently, the Foundation's largest source of income is an investment portfolio with a market value of approximately 2.7 billion Euros, which includesThe oil and gas participations are private companies and have not been attributed an estimated market value. The various properties used by the Foundation in its charitable activities in central Lisbon and Paris are valued at cost in the Foundation's accounts. The art collections are priceless and no value can be meaningfully attributed to them.
The Foundation owns 100% of the Partex Oil and Gas Group of Companies.
