البرتغال

The Luso-Greek Cultural Association “Parafonia” with the kind collaboration of the Parish Council of Belém and the great support of the Anna Lindh Foundation, celebrated the Mediterranean Day with a concert of the band “Malotira” and a special guest, the artist Giulia Gallina, on the 28th of November at 7 pm. It was held in the auditorium of the “Museu Nacional dos Coches” in Lisbon.

The concert took place under the auspices of the Anna Lindh Foundation, which launched and funded the "Celebrating the Mediterranean" event consisting of 36 community-based music performances, performed simultaneously in 25 Euromed countries, by local multicultural groups in public spaces in collaboration with Local Administrations.

The aim was to celebrate our shared identity, common heritage and love for the Mediterranean, strengthening the ties between the two shores of the sea.

Malotira is a traditional music band that promotes a refined repertoire from Mediterranean countries in a wide variety of languages ​​and dialects.

Malotira interprets the diversity of the region's musical traditions, to give value and visibility to its shared culture and collective memory.  With their repertoire of songs from the Greek, Italian, Slavic and Romance traditions, sung in over 15 languages ​​and dialects, the band creates a powerful fusion that shows how music can offer space for dialogue and cultural exchange.

Elisabetta Marcora (voice), Ruben Leonardi (percussion), Josefa Dobraszczyzki (accordion), Robin Timmis (violin), Salvatore Ciotta (guitar).

Among the guests was Mrs Ianara Mota Pinto, Council Member of Culture, Tourism and Citizenship of the City Council of Belém.

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This Sunday, April 2nd, Associação Cultural Luso-Grega - Parafonia is organizing the "Tiny Waves" creative workshop developed by EFATA Ateliers Nomades and held from 16:00 to 18:00 at the National Pantheon. The event begins with a visit to the exhibition "Thalassa! Thalassa!", based on the poems of the famous poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen (1919-2004), inspired by her travels to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

The coordinators will invite participants to capture the flow of words, colors and emotions that will emerge during the visit, to write down the words, lines, shapes, textures, sensations and emotions felt, and eventually recreate their own narratives or stories woven around "Thalassa! Thalassa!" between words and images. The workshop will begin with a brief introduction to the watercolor technique.

At 18:30 the film "Correspondências" will be shown in the Panteão, based on the exchange of correspondence between Sophia de Mello Breyner and the writer Jorge de Sena, with English subtitles. Event participants are welcome to attend.

EFATA Ateliers Nomades is a platform with the mission to establish exchanges around the arts and their technical, creative, cultural, historical and expressive dimensions. The platform typically develops and implements tailor-made educational projects, cultural mediation plans, curatorial services, as well as workshops and meetings around artistic practices, exhibitions or places that we look at through the prism of art, its history, its multidimensional implications, and challenges.

At the "Thalassa! Thalassa!" exhibition, the sea and the Mediterranean bring works from the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Collection into dialogue with the words of the writer. A game of mirrors between the works of names like Júlio Pomar, Menez, Julião Sarmento, João Hogan, Paulo Nozolino, José M. Rodrigues or António Ole and about 25 poems, presented here in a Greek translation.

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The exhibition "Que mar se vê afinal da minha língua?" opened in Armazém das Artes and Central-Periférica in Alcobaça on December 16, 2023, and will tour various cities in the Portuguese-speaking world. It's a mutant exhibition that brings together half a hundred works by more than 20 artists from different Portuguese-speaking countries and territories. After Alcobaça, where it will be on show until March 3, 2024, the exhibition will move on to Fortaleza, Mindelo, Luanda, Maputo and Macau.

This project is the result of an ongoing research process by curator Margarida Saraiva into contemporary artistic practices in the Portuguese-speaking world. It brings together dozens of works by various artists and disciplines such as photography, video, cinema, poetry, painting, sculpture and new media.

The thematic approach of this project is based on crucial issues such as memory and history, colonization and decolonization, identities and globalization half a century after the 25th of April 1974, without ceasing to question the future: what will become of the Portuguese-speaking world in two or three centuries' time? What will become of freedom in a world run by algorithms and obsessed with surveillance in private, public and digital spaces?

"Que mar se vê afinal da minha língua?" has the support of the Macao SAR Government's Culture Development Fund, Alcobaça City Council, the Portuguese Institute of the Orient and the Orient Foundation; and media partners O Alcoa, Jornal das Caldas, Comunidade Cultura e Arte, Plataforma Macau, Hoje Macau, Ponto Final and Macau Closer.

The exhibition is sponsored by Babel Associação Cultural and  is co-organized by Armazém das Artes, Central-Periférica and REDE de Residências Artísticas dos Mundos de Expressão Portuguesa. Babel is also a member of the Anna Lindh Foundation's Portuguese Network and its mission is to create research and learning opportunities in the fields of contemporary art, architecture and the environment.

Babel is conceived as a museum without walls and aims to work across cultures and disciplines. To achieve its objectives, it establishes regional and international partnerships with institutions of recognized educational and cultural merit. Thus, a spirit of collaboration and synergy is essential to fulfilling its mission. Founded in Macau in 2013, BABEL also established itself in Alcobaça in 2022, where it has supported artists at risk, particularly those fleeing war or oppression.

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