The Maumaus Association was founded in 1992 as an institution focusing on teaching and promotion of contemporary art. The teaching component began as a School of Photography in the most classic sense, which soon developed into an internationally recognized Visual Arts School, where students gain experience in all possible techniques used in artistic expressions.Today the core activity of the Maumaus School comprises an Independent Study Programme that offers artists an intellectually dense and practically demanding “Think Tank” atmosphere after their studies and first experiences in the art field.

The ISP Programme seeks to instigate discussions on contemporary philosophies concerning phenomena of our being (from artistic, historical and art historical, political and sociological perspectives). Relevant issues raised in the Maumaus and Programme include: “The Author as Producer” (Walter Benjamin); aspects of Modernism and Modernity (T. J. Clark) and their myths of originality and Utopia; Modernity and Post-Modernity; Cultural Studies; Colonialism, Post and Neo-colonialism; and questions concerning the current status quo in art production, exhibition curating, art collecting and art criticism. Texts and essays by authors from different fields and works by artists and film makers are studied and discussed in terms of their general significance, as well as their specific relevance to the discourse of the participants in the programme. Site and context-specific exhibitions trigger - besides discussion on the exhibition as a theme in itself - examination of the participants’ own philosophies and the materialization of these philosophies into art in the context of exhibitions promoted by Maumaus.

During the programme, Maumaus offers regular classes enriched with a range of seminars. In addition, students have the opportunity of becoming involved in all activities at Maumaus, which produces exhibitions and publishes catalogues and books. It also produces films and runs an exhibition space on the outskirts of Lisbon and an International Artists in Residence Programme attached to its headquarters in central Lisbon.