For the last decade a group of Portuguese scientists and scholars have been working with European and American researchers to better understand how plastics have become so important, how we can better live with them, and what this material means for all of us. The exhibition “Metamorphoses of Plastics: Reality and multiple approaches" is the public presentation of this research. It reveals how the first plastics made luxury widely available, presents some of the people and companies that made plastics an important part of Portugal’s industrial development, and highlights some of the most significant innovations in plastic footwear.