Biennial of Contemporary Art of Trás-os-Montes

The second edition reinforces a hybrid format, combining exhibitions with diverse complementary events (artistic residencies, performances and others), to seek to further involve the region’s community, artists and the general public.

Zulmiro de Carvalho, Javier Tudela, Kiran Katara, Isabel Sabino, Beatriz Cunha, Cabral Pinto, Cláudia Amândi, Susana Piteira, Fabrizio Matos, Joana Rego, Luís Fortunato and Isaque Pinheiro, Moisés Tomé, among other renowned artists, will be just some of the more than 150 visual artists with works highlighted in the 2nd edition of the “Bienal de Arte Contemporânea de Trás-os-Montes – Linha de Água”. Organized by the Municipal Council of Macedo de Cavaleiros, this year it will expand its range of action to three more municipalities in the region, from May 18th to November 30th, 2024.

In addition to the Cultural Center, the Museum of Sacred Art, the Azibo Welcome Center and the Macedo de Cavaleiros Municipal Market, the cultural initiative will reach the Lagar d’EI Rei, in Alfândega da Fé, the Solar dos Condes de Vinhais Cultural Center, in Vinhais, and to the S. Filipe Neri Convent, in Freixo de Espada à Cinta.

“Artistic Reflexes: Macedo de Cavaleiros in Dialogue with Linha de Água” is the theme of the major exhibition component of the biennale, which this year will see the hybrid format that it has carried since its genesis reinforced. It will include events with in-person interviews with artists, guided tours and diverse performances, involving the region’s community, creators and the general public.

Teacher training, mediator training, workshops in schools and other educational spaces, and interactions between artistic residencies and local communities are examples of the pedagogical projects and field actions included in the program, intending to reflect the identities and cultures of different territories. and its people. The agenda also includes a seminar dedicated to art and education, as well as debates and workshops on cultures, arts and heritage of memory and identity, to provide in-depth and enriching debates.

“This is a truly remarkable and innovative project, particularly in Trás-os-Montes, but also nationally. The biennial, which hosts numerous works by renowned artists, seeks to stimulate discussion on various social, cultural and environmental issues in a UNESCO territory, which encompasses a World Geopark, a Biosphere Reserve and an Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The quality and originality of the artistic proposals to be presented this year reflect a modern, bold and transformative approach, in perfect harmony with the environment and sustainability, which are also the mottos of this second edition”, emphasizes Benjamim Rodrigues, president of the Municipality of Macedo of Knights.

The official presentation of the 2nd edition of the Trás-os-Montes Contemporary Art Biennial took place last week, in Porto, in the Salão Nobre of the Clube Fenianos Portuenses. And before representatives of the event’s partnership network (among them the Sociedade Portuguesa de Belas Artes, the Fundação Bienal de Cerveira, Museu do Douro and the Laboratório de Artes na Montanha – Graça Morais), members of the scientific council and team of curators, community artists, members of various public institutions and art lovers were presented with the biennale’s strengths, in a moment that, in addition to a musical moment, was used to show a contextualization film.

The opportunity allowed us to discover some of the particularly significant projects, not only for their attention and commitment to the environment and sustainability but also for the relevance of the choice of materials used and highlighted themes…

• In the exhibition Arte pelo Território, curator Ágata Rodrigues will propose an approach that will meet the interconnection between Man and Nature. The exhibition will not only highlight the symbiosis between nature and the territory of Trás-os-Montes but will provide a deep reflection on this intrinsic connection, featuring Armando Alves, José Maia and Elizabeth Leite;

• Jaime Silva, who celebrates 50 years of career, will emerge with an aporetic approach to contemporary art, with artistic proposals by Ana Wever, Ana Lima Netto, Carlota Mantel and Amado Harris, who stand out for their versatility, spirituality and fragility;

• Agarrar a Água, curated by António Meireles, will take as its conceptual axis the appreciation of water and people, and how they deal with it, to focus attention on the relationship between artists and the community of the villages that surround Albufeira do Azibo; these installations are displayed in the same villages, allowing the community to have direct access to the works for which they were encouraged to create;

• Arte Rio Acima, in turn, curated by Guilherme Fonseca, will stand out as a line project that will seek to build bridges between the coast and the interior. With three different approaches to contemporary art – illustration, stained glass and textile – and a central premise of sustainability, the project will aim to follow the course of art, without a defined meaning, but with all possible meanings, just like the lines of water that spread civilizations. Guest artists include Ilídio Fontes, Ângelo Ribeiro, Luís Silva and Afonso Pinhão Ferreira;

• The project The Line and its Similars, curated by José Manuel Barbosa, This exhibition finds similarities in the Line that separates two distinct planes – what is outside or inside, what is immediately visible or hidden by a translucent veil; however, instead of separating, it announces itself as changeable and restless due to the very location that rests in space and time; artists such as Jorge Abade, Jiôn Kiim, Isaque Pinheiro and Leonel Cunha

• The biennial will also extend to Miguel Moreira e Silva’s Land Art, using natural resources and proposing an ephemeral work that reflects on forest cleaning and the return to the land. The team proposed for developing the project is remarkable, with resident artists such as Miguel Neves Oliveira, Cláudia Pinheiro, Luís Silva and Nogueira de Barros;

• “Representing the Identity of a Transmontano Place”, by Luís Rodrigues, will aim to create a sculpture, which will be an element with which visitors can interact, while simultaneously appreciating the works of different artists. It will be a sculpture in prismatic shape, made with mirrored acrylics, with the inner and outer sides in the mirror, perforated with circles – with the function of a window – and which can rotate in a rotating direction.

• The curatorship of Natália Fauvrelle, in turn, will connect the honoured artist of the 2nd edition of the Trás-os-Montes Biennial of Contemporary Art, Jaime Silva with the works donated to the Douro Museum;

• The event will also feature The Power of the Object, with new perspectives from FBAC – À Liberdade by Jorge da Costa;

• Artistic residencies, workshops and masterclasses will promote, during the biennial, rich interaction with local communities, valuing natural and cultural heritage. Exemplified by the transformation of wooden trunks into sculptures in “Terra-Mãe” and the proposal to “Bring the sea to Azibo”, the positive impact on the territory will be evident, strengthening the established partnership.

Always confirm with the concert hall or promoter the conditions of access, confirmation of the date or time, ticket place of sale, price, and availability.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok and see the exclusive content for social networks.