It features an expressive set of cacti, prepared and sonified, arranged in varying positions and constellations throughout the foyer of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

In this setting, the visitor, under the guidance of the artist-conductor, engages with these music-making cacti, evoking sounds and tones from the diverse sonic textures of each plant.

This project explores spatiality and is conceived as a journey of discovery – one that awakens spaces and fills them with sound, forming a kind of score that maps the relationship between sound and the space it inhabits. It is a work in which questions of timbre, along with issues of improvisation, creation, and composition, are deeply addressed through the act of “making music”.

Cactophonie is an installation – a poetic, aesthetic intervention anchored in labour, artistic intent, and personal performance. It involves a persistent commitment to authenticity, shaped by the time and place of its realisation and the continuous elaboration of its working plan. Said elements, combined with a reflective approach to sonic form, give the project its unique, ongoing, and publicly accessible character.

For sessions starting at 14:30, ticket pick-up is from 14:00.

Earth Day

This activity is part of Earth Day at Gulbenkian – a celebration of “Mother Earth” for all ages. Read more