In its fourth edition, Festival Materiais Diversos makes its first stopover in Brazil. From the
14th to the 29th of September, 13 Portuguese artists and 9 Brazilian artists bring body,
movement, dramaturgy and music to Alcanena, Minde and Torres Novas, with a total of 15
projects. In the year of Portugal in Brazil and of Brazil in Portugal, Festival Materiais Diversos
addresses other facts and figures.
ON STAGE
The sewing machines are part of the choreographic concert that is Marlene Monteiro Freitas’s idea
of paradise. The pre-premiere of Paraíso – Colecção Privada, opens the festival in Minde on
September 14th. Brazilian choreographers Cristian Duarte, Denise Stutz and Ângelo Madureira &
Catarina Vieira premiere their latest work in Portugal.
100 choreographers are evoked in Cristian’s kaleidoscopic solo, travelling through the last century
of contemporary dance (HOT 100 - The hot one hundred choreographers – 21.09 Blackbox
CAORG/Minde). The duo Ângelo Madureira & Ana Catarina Vieira work from 1800 photographs of
their previous pieces in Baseado em Fatos Reais (22.09 Teatro Virgínia/Torres Novas). Denise
presents her own personal history of dance with particular emotion, sharing the afternoon
programme with Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz, Materiais Diversos’s newest associate artists. Their Fora
de qualquer presente, which premiered June 1st at the alkantara festival, closes the dance portion
of the festival.
On the closing day of the festival, local people of diverse professions form Ana Borralho & João
Galante’s Atlas (29.09, Teatro Virgínia/Torres Novas), while on the other Saturdays they watch Ana
Rita Teodoro slide down the Minde’s historic centre (MelTe, 15+22.09 Alto do Pina/Minde). Martim
Pedroso transforms traditional dancers, flamenco students and the firefighters’ marching band into
the chorus of Amazons and Greeks in his version of Kleist’s Penthesilea (Penthesilia, dança solitária
para uma heroína apaixonada – 21.09 Cine Teatro S. Pedro/Alcanena). Participants from the 2010
Manual de Instruções by Victor Hugo Pontes have since created the theatre group Poetas do
Movimento and return to the Cine Teatro with Branca de Neve (26+27.09 Cine Teatro S.
Pedro/Alcanena).
The theatre programming includes two of the most important figures in new Brazilian dramaturgy –
Felipe Rocha and Alex Casal present Ninguém falou que seria fácil (28.09 Cine Teatro S.
Pedro/Alcanena) with the humour, irony and playful language characteristic of Felipe Rocha’s texts.
In Dulce (16.09 Blackbox CAORG/Minde), Brazilian and Portuguese directors and performers Flávia
Gusmão, Michel Blois, Nuno Gil and Thiare Maia are two couples that explore the fragile boundary
between the cultural similarities and differences of the two countries.
In 2012, Festival Materiais Diversos returns to the month of September, the heat of summer, and
its outdoor activities. The garden of Museu de Aguarela Roque Gameiro (Minde), the bandstand in
Minde and Praça 5 de Outubro (Torres Novas) are the setting of 4 outdoor concerts. Miuda A2 and
Noiserv transform the museum garden into Minde’s most intimate living room on the evenings of
September 16th and 22nd. On the 16th, in Torres Novas’s main square, accordionist Marcelo Caldi
plunges into the culture of the Brazilian Northeast and pays homage to composer and accordionist
Luiz Gonzaga. Nice Weather for Ducks celebrate the closing of the festival at the bandstand in
Minde.
OFF STAGE
In the Polje of Minde, Parque Natural das Serras de Aire e Candeeiros and Grafiminde, the festival
proposes various activities to for festival Saturdays and Sundays: to relax (Body Consciousness
Workshops and Massages in the Park), to chat on a picnic blanket with the artists of the festival
(Picnics with Artists) and recharge after a night spent on the dance floor of the Festival Meeting
Point (Graphic Nights with 7 DJs).
There will be spaces to debate ideas, for adults, at the Rectangular Tables, and for kids, in the
“When I grow up I want to be...” series with producer Sofia Campos and director Martim Pedroso.
As the year of Portugal in Brazil/Brazil in Portugal takes off, the rectangular discussion focuses on
strategies for cooperation between Portugal and Brazil (24.09 – Cine Teatro S. Pedro/Alcanena).
REDE/Association of contemporary dance organizations in Portugal collects contributions from
professionals for a discussion about festival as a vehicle of culture (15.09 – Museu de Aguarela
Roque Gameiro). The round of talks wraps up with an afternoon of reflection for Associação Minde
Cultural on its position in the cultural development of the region (23.09 – Museu de Aguarela
Roque Gameiro).
TICKET OFFICE
The central ticket office, located at the festival Meeting Point (Minde), opens its door on August
31st. Opening hours are 3pm to 8pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
Regular tickets are 6 € for all performances with the exception of the concerts (Miuda A2/Noiserv –
3€ and Marcelo Caldi/Nice Weather for Ducks – free). Discounted tickets (50%) are available for
those under 18, over 65 and performing arts professionals (not applicable at Teatro Virgínia).
New this year is the WEEKEND PASS: 17€ allows you to attend all ON STAGE events from Friday to
Sunday. Also available are the TOTAL PASS for all ON STAGE events (45€) or 5-PERFORMANCE PASS
(25€).
TIAGO GUEDES
director artístico do festival
4th Festival Materiais Diversos.
38% funding cut to the 2-year contract signed with the central government.
1 secretary of state for culture with
0 seats at the council of ministers.
Dozens of organisations and artists without funding, with little prospect of being funded at all and
certainly not in the amounts practiced in the 90s.
Today more than ever, numbers are used to demagogically excuse a dramatic divestment in culture. In
2012, culture accounts for only 0.15% of state spending in Portugal! Increasingly sidelined from
government strategy, the future of the arts is unclear. Cultural agents are, to all effects, partners of the
State in the execution of its cultural policies. It is high time simplistic notions of State- or subsidydependence, far removed from the cultural reality of the country, were barred from the lexicon filling so
many mouths and pages.
It would easy to give into this alarming panorama. But Festival Materiais Diversos has adapted to this
shift in the paradigm governing the relationship between partners. And we have figures, too.
771 kilometres between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro
13 Portuguese artists
9 Brazilian artists
15 dance, theatre and music performances
347 metres of Ana Rita Teodoro ‘melting’ in Minde’s historic centre
30 people from Alcanena in Martim Pedroso’s Penthesilia
3 new Portuguese bands jamming in the Minde bandstand
1800 photographs to inspire choreographers from São Paulo
217 baskets for picnics with the artists in the Minde park
30 years of Brazilian dance with Denise Stutz
27 hours of DJs
3 rectangular tables
100 inhabitants of Minde, Alcanena and Torres Novas on stage at Teatro Virgínia in Ana Borralho & João
Galante’s Atlas
The festival responds to ‘official’ figures with this offering of dance, theatre and music created in
Portugal and Brazil, with the support of the Alcanena Municipality, the Portuguese Secretary of State for
Culture, the Secretary of Culture of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Tourism Office of Lisboa e Vale do
Tejo, the innumerable local enthusiasts who have made the festival their own and a team of
collaborators working to transform this adventure into reality.
MATERIAIS DIVERSOS
associação cultural
With the artistic direction of choreographer Tiago Guedes, Materiais Diversos is a non-profit cultural
association whose work is motivated by an understanding of culture and creativity as a vehicle for
development. Its mission is to stimulate artistic research and experimentation and to increase public
receptiveness to contemporary art.
The association organises Festival Materiais Diversos and produces and promotes, in national and
international circuits, the work of associate artists Tiago Guedes, Martim Pedroso, Filipa Francisco,
Elizabete Francisca, Teresa Silva and Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz.
Festival Materiais Diversos presents a pluridisciplinary programme of performances, exhibitions,
conferences, debates, workshops, professional meetings and outdoor activities, encouraging dialogue
and reflection about and around contemporary art. The festival is held annually in the municipality of
Alcanena (approximately an hour from Lisbon), where artists and audiences make the most of the
natural heritage of the Aire and Candeeiros mountains.
To date, Materiais Diversos has worked with 48 artists and 156 performers, produced 19 new pieces,
programmed 37 original works, carried out more than 100 training activities and participated in various
conferences, debates and meetings. It is recognised as one of the most interesting organisations
producing new work and programming in Portugal today.
With the support of Secretaria de Estado da Cultura/Direcção-Geral das Artes, Materiais Diversos
collaborates with various public and private organisations, nationally and internationally, in the fields of
the cultural and creative industries, education and social solidarity. (Centro Cultural Vila Flor, Culturgest,
EGEAC, Festival Alkantara, Galeria Zé dos Bois, O Espaço do Tempo, Maria Matos Teatro Municipal, São
Luiz Teatro Municipal, Teatro Viriato, ARCADI, Culturesfrance, ONDA/Office National de Diffusion
Artistique, Théâtre de L’L, Théâtre Le Vivat, Uzés Dance, etc).
It is member of REDE – Associação de Estruturas para a Dança Contemporânea, the Portuguese network
of the Anna Lindh Foundation and RIP – Informal Programmer’s Network, through its artistic director.
With headquarters in Lisbon, Materiais Diversos is in residence at Espaço alkantara (Lisbon).
FOR MORE INFORMATIONS, IMAGE REQUESTS AND INTERVIEWS SCHEDULE:
Joana Duarte | assessoria de imprensa
tlm (+351) 913 633 452
press@materiaisdiversos.com
ACCREDITATION
To attend the performances of the Festival Materiais Diversos 2011, the journalist must send an e-mail to
press@materiaisdiversos.com with the following information: name, media, function, e-mail and telephone.
Conditions:
-Advanced booking and collecting of the tickets at the place of the performance by showing a personal
identification document or a journalist accreditation.
- All sessions are limited to the available seats reserved for the press.