Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão (1923-1989): we will take risks
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Auditorium 3 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão, this colloquium aims to remember and highlight her significant contributions to Portuguese cultural and artistic life in the second half of the 20th century.
In addition to the several individual interventions and testimonies that make up the programme and focus on celebrating Madalena Perdigão’s legacy, there will be a roundtable debate, inviting participants to interrogate: how to think, in a transformational way, about new institutional models that respond to present and future artistic, social, political and ecological issues from a transdisciplinary and transnational perspective?
In the year prior to the reopening of CAM (Centro de Arte Moderna) and in the same year that ACARTE (Art and Technology Center) was created (1984), this discussion aims to deepen critical thinking about artistic and curatorial practices and processes of mediation and public participation from multiple viewpoints, and to collectively reflect on the relevance of a space dedicated to arts and culture today.
Over thirty-one years, from her appointment as head of what was then the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Music Department in 1958 until her death in 1989 – including five years at the helm of ACARTE and her highly important work in implementing successive reforms to the country’s art education – Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão’s influence on the performing arts in Portugal was unparalleled. In many ways, her impact can still be felt to this day. From the 1950s to the 1970s, she was responsible for establishing the music infrastructure that enabled Portugal to participate actively, for the first time ever, on the international concert circuit and for creating the foundations of a new music education policy that overcame many of the shortfalls of a music system that modernity had yet to reach. Later, in the 1980s, she would also be responsible for courageously pushing for a post-modern approach to the critical questioning of the established canon, for aesthetic experimentation and innovation in all art fields, for new interdisciplinary projects and languages, for the discovery of non-European arts, and for the dialogue between erudite and popular cultural traditions and expressions.
This colloquium seeks to examine Madalena Perdigão’s myriad contributions, the result of her permanent quest for structural answers to what she saw as the gaps in Portuguese cultural life. It also ends with a challenge: what new solutions, in the direct legacy of her thoughts and actions, are needed for the obstacles facing the arts in Portugal today?
Speakers
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Ana Bigotte Vieira
Researcher, programmer and curator. Graduated in Modern and Contemporary History, Contemporary Culture and Philosophy and Theatre Studies, she completed her PhD thesis on the work of the Gulbenkian Foundation’s ACARTE Service between 1984 and 1989. She is a programmer at TBA, Co-IR of the project FCT “Archiving Theatre” and teaches History of Dance at ESD. She is currently curating, together with João dos Santos Martins, Ana Dinger and Carlos Manuel Oliveira, the exhibition Dance not Dance. Archaeologies of New Dance in Portugal, vii edition of the project Para Uma Timeline a Haver (Oct 2023, FCG).
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Ana Botella
Creative producer, programmer and cultural strategist with international experience in Spain, Portugal and the UK. Her approach is interdisciplinary, working across the fields of culture, technology, science and health to explore urgent contemporary issues and foster new imaginations. She is currently based in Lisbon as Deputy Director of CAM, the Gulbenkian Foundation’s center for contemporary art and culture.
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António Pinto Ribeiro
Researcher, university professor and cultural curator and programmer. His first experience in programming was under the direction of Madalena Perdigão at ACARTE (Oct 1987-Jan 1990). He was artistic director of Culturgest (1993-2004), director of the Gulbenkian Próximo Futuro Programme (2009-2015), general commissioner of “Lisboa Capital Ibero-Americana da Cultura 2017” and consultant for artistic and cultural programming for Évora’s candidacy for European Capital of Culture 2026. Guest lecturer at several international universities, he has published numerous articles and several books.
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Benjamin Veil
Independent curator, art critic and currently director of the Gulbenkian Foundation’s Modern Art Centre (CAM), born in Paris, where he completed his studies in Art History. He participated in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection’s Curatorial Training Programme in Venice (1987) and was a student of the Whitney Independent Study Programme. Since then he has developed his work in the United States and Europe, was director of the Media Art department at SFMOMA – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, executive director of Artists Space (New York ) and artistic director of Centro Botín in Santander (2014-2020).
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Carlos Bunga
Visual artist born in Porto, graduated from Caldas da Rainha School of Arts and Design and currently based in Barcelona. His work deconstructs the discipline of painting in use, hybridizing elements of sculpture, architecture, installation, video and performance. He has presented solo exhibitions in various museums and cities around the world, having participated in reference events such as the 14th Carrara International Sculpture Biennale (2010); the 29th São Paulo Biennale (2010); Artes Mundi 6, Cardiff (2013); the Chicago Architecture Biennale (2015) and the 6th Gherdënia Biennale (2020), among others.
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Ekua Yankah
Ghanaian-German art organizer, she left her job at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris to embark on a career as a social entrepreneur. She holds a PhD in Social Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, after completing her graduation in the United States, where she worked as a social scientist at the University of California, San Francisco. Currently engaged in funding and supporting a wide range of creative projects in the visual arts, she is chair of the board of Savvy Contemporary Friends e.V and on the advisory board of Hangar and ANO Ghana.
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Guilherme d'Oliveira Martins
Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins is executive board member of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and president of the Grand Council of the National Culture Centre. He was a member of Parliament and Minister of Education, Presidency and Finance. He holds honorary doctorates from the Universidade Lusíada [Lusíada University], Universidade Aberta [Open University] and Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas (ISCSP) [Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences].
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Helena Simões
Helena Simões, Master in Theatre Studies (FLUL), graduated in Advanced Studies in Communication Sciences (FCSH-UNL), post-graduated in Comparative Literary Studies (FCSH-UNL), and was a guest lecturer in the Master’s program in Women’s Studies (FCSH-UNL). Theatre critic for Jornal de Letras, member of the jury of the SPA Annual Theatre Prize and a former researcher at the Theatre Studies Centre (FLUL). Stage director at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
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Inês Thomas Almeida
University professor and researcher with a PhD in Historical Musicology by the Nova University of Lisbon, and Post-Doctoral researcher at the Institute for Literature and Tradition Studies (RELIT-Rom). She created the course unit “Women Composers: History of Female composition”, which she teaches at FCSH – Nova University of Lisbon, and is also a guest professor in the PhD Course in Gender Studies at the same university, in cooperation with Universidade de Lisboa. Recently, she was Deputy Commissioner for the exhibition Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão (1923-1989): we will take risks, at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
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John Romão
Director, cultural programmer and curator. He has been working in theatre and transdisciplinary artistic practices. He is the founder, executive and artistic director of BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts, in Lisbon, through which he develops synergies between cities and venues, commissions and curates national and international artistic projects based on the intersection of performing arts, visual arts, music and cinema: Tania Bruguera, Gus Van Sant, Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Meg Stuart, Salomé Lamas, Vhils, Tânia Carvalho, among others.
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José Sasportes
Writer and dance historian, he succeeded Madalena Perdigão, at her request, as the director of the Gulbenkian Foundation’s ACARTE Service. He also served as Secretary-General of the Commission for the Reform of the National Conservatory, which she chaired. He has published novels, theatre and poetry works, as well as books on the history of dance. He founded and directed the magazine La Danza Italiana and coordinates a book collection on dance for Aracne Publishers, Rome. He served as Minister of Culture in the second government of António Guterres. Doctor Honoris Causa, (Nova University of Lisbon), Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.
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Manuela Encarnação
Music teacher in general education for over 40 years. Master’s degree in education sciences from the Catholic University of Lisbon, completed the curricular year of a PhD course in the field of teacher training by the University of Lisbon. Created the Training Center of the Portuguese Association of Music Education (APEM) in 2009 and served as its director until 2022. Was a Council Member of CNE from 2015 to 2021. Has been a member of the Scientific Council of IAVE since 2014 and President of the Board of APEM since 2016.
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Marco Roque de Freitas
Researcher and ethnomusicologist, with a PhD in Ethnomusicology. His academic production focuses mainly on three themes: nation-building and nationalism in postcolonial Africa; expressive behaviour, gender and sexuality; and History of Ethnomusicology. He has published two books, including A Construção Sonora de Moçambique (1974-1994) and is developing a research project under the CEECind (FCT) program, which explores the role of music, radio broadcasting and political propaganda during the liberation war in Mozambique.
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Maria de Assis Swinnerton
Since obtaining her degrees in History and in Arts Management, she has taken on different professional tasks, from journalism to arts consulting, including curating projects at the intersection of arts and education. She headed DESCOBRIR – Gulbenkian Program of Education for Culture and Science (2013 to 2017) and DESCOLA, a program of creative activities for students and teachers under the aegis of the Municipality of Lisbon (2017 to 2022). She is president of the Advisory Board of the National Plan for the Arts and deputy director of the Gulbenkian Culture Program.
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Mariana Portas
Integrated Researcher (PhD student) at the Institute of Ethnomusicology (INET-MD) and at Caravelas – Luso-Brazilian Music History Studies (CESEM), both at FCSH – Nova University of Lisbon. She graduated in Law at Portuguese Catholic University and holds a master’s degree and a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Historical Music Sciences. She joined the Gulbenkian Music Department in 1996, was coordinator of Coro Gulbenkian between 2010 e 2017, and collaborated as editor of several publications of the «Musicological Studies» series of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, under Rui Vieira Nery. Since 2021, she works as coordinator of the Gulbenkian Publications.
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Pedro Roxo
University professor, researcher and musician, PhD in Musical Sciences (Ethnomusicology) from FCSH – Nova University of Lisbon. He is an integrated researcher at the Institute of Ethnomusicology (INET-MD) and an assistant professor on graduate and postgraduate curricular units in the Department of Music Sciences at the same institution. He co-edited two collective publications and has articles published in several national and international peer-reviewed journals. He also studied double bass at the National Conservatory and at the Jazz School of the Hot Clube de Portugal.
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Raquel Castro
Researcher, film director and sound art curator, with a PhD in Communication and Arts by FCSH – Nova University of Lisbon. In her work she seeks to create awareness about the relationship between sound and environment, social, cultural and ecological issues revealed through the practice of listening. Her activities have resulted in documentaries such as Soundwalkers (2008) and SOA (2020). She is also founder and director of the sound art festival Lisboa Soa and the international symposium Invisible Places, founder of the cultural association Sonora (2022), and President of the World Acoustic Ecology Forum since March 2023.
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Rita Fabiana
Curator and live arts coordinator at the Gulbenkian Modern Art Centre (CAM). In her curatorial practice she has investigated and worked on the intersection of different artistic practices. She has curated and collaborated on public programmes, film and performance series. She holds a Master’s degree in Art History from Université Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne and a postgraduate degree in Curatorial Studies from School of Fine Arts at the University of Lisbon.
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Rui Vieira Nery
University professor and musicologist. He graduated in History from the University of Lisbon (1980) and earned a PhD in Musicology from the University of Texas at Austin (1990). He is an Associate Professor at Nova University Lisbon, a senior researcher at the Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance, and an advisor to the board of trustees of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. He was the Commissioner of the exhibition Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão (1923-1989): we will take risks and co-organizer of the anthology of texts with the same title.
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Sofia Victorino
Researcher and scholarship holder from the Foundation for Science and Technology, pursuing a PhD in History at the Institute of Contemporary History at FCSH – UNL. Between 2011 and 2021 she was the director of Education and Public Programmes at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, after being coordinator of the Educational Service at the Serralves Foundation (2002-2011). She teaches in the MA Curating Art and Public Programmes (London South Bank University and Whitechapel Gallery). Her professional activity and research focus on the intersections between collaborative artistic practices, education, activism and decolonial thought.
Programme
09:30 / Opening
Guilherme d’Oliveira Martins
Rui Vieira Nery
10:00 / Madalena Perdigão: everlasting heritage
José Sasportes
— COFFEE BREAK —
11:00 / The late construction of Modernity in Portuguese musical life
Rui Vieira Nery
11:30 / New methodologies in music teaching in Portugal: another legacy of Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão
Manuela Encarnação
12:00 / “It is an initiative of great scope”. The musicological activity of the Foundation’s Music Department (1958-75): strategy and areas of intervention
Mariana Portas
12:30 / “She joined the Foundation at just the right time”: Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão and the challenges of female affirmation
Inês Thomas Almeida
Moderator: Maria de Assis Swinnerton
— LUNCH BREAK —
14:30 / The ACARTE of Madalena Perdigão, a curatorship of lack
Ana Bigotte Vieira
15:00 / We were young, we wanted to conquer Europe and be cosmopolitan. ACARTE was where it all began.
António Pinto Ribeiro
15:30 / Disruption and inspiration: musical plurality promoted by ACARTE
Marco Roque de Freitas
Pedro Roxo
16:00 / ACARTE and CAI: in the beggining was Art as a fundamental element of Education
Helena Simões
Moderator: Rui Vieira Nery
— COFFEE BREAK —
16:45 / Round table: Experimentation, Creation, Collaboration. What is missing, today?
Carlos Bunga
Ekua Yankah
John Romão
Raquel Castro
Rita Fabiana
Moderator: Sofia Victorino
Introduction: Benjamim Weil and Ana Botella
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