Artistic Creation Grants

Margarida Mendes (Lisbon, 1985) is a researcher, curator, and educator, she explores the overlap between systems theory, experimental cinema, sound practices, and ecopedagogy. She creates transdisciplinary forums, exhibitions, and experimental works in which alternative modes of education and listening practices can catalyse political imagination and restorative action. She has a long history of anti-extractivist activism and ecopedagogy, collaborating with environmental organisations, universities, and institutions in the art world. She was part of the curatorial team of the 11^th Gwangju Biennale, 4^th Istanbul Design Biennial, and 11^th Liverpool Biennial, and founded the escuelita department at Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo - CA2M, Madrid.

Suzana Sousa (Luanda, 1981) is an independent curator, researcher and writer. A PhD candidate at the Department of History, University of the Western Cape and a fellow of the Centre for Humanities Research. In 2022 she received the Ivan Karp Research Award and the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa research grant from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). She recently curated the exhibition Building Time from artist Mónica de Miranda and co-curated The Power of My Hands at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, part of Saison Africa 2020, which was hosted by Abidjan in 2022 and which will travel to Luanda in April 2023.

André Dias (Lisbon, 1974) is a researcher, critic and independent film programmer, he was the author of the blog “Ainda não começámos a pensar” (“We haven't started thinking yet”) (2005-2012), dedicated to the relationship between cinema and thought. He has a degree in Communication Sciences from NOVA FCSH and is pursuing a PhD in Cinema. He was the technical coordinator of NOVA FCSH’s Cinematographic Creation Laboratory (2000-2008), as well as founder of the film production company Raiva (2001-2008, today Terratreme). He was the film programmer for the Estoril International Film Festival (2012) and Apordoc – Associação pelo Documentário (2015). He has taught Audio and Visual at ESAD.CR since 2012 and Cinema at ESTC since 2019.

Inês Lourenço (Quarteira, 1989) has a master's degree in Communication Sciences – Cinema and Television from NOVA University Lisbon, with a thesis on the film The River, by Jean Renoir. She is a journalist and film critic for the Diário de Notícias newspaper, writer and host of the weekly radio programme A Grande Ilusão (The Grand Illusion) and the series of programmes Afinidades Electivas – Encontros do Cinema com a Literatura (Elective Affinities – Encounters between Cinema and Literature), both on Antena 2 (public radio station). She also collaborates on the specialised website "À pala de Walsh" and the online publication Metropolis. She was a journalist for the RTP2 programme Câmara Clara and was a trainee at the programming centre of the Cinemateca Portuguesa. She has published texts in the books Paulo Rocha – As Folhas da Cinemateca (Cinemateca edition) and O Cinema Não Morreu: Crítica e Cinefilia À pala de Walsh (Linha de Sombra).

Alexandra Balona (Porto, 1977) is an independent researcher and curator. She has a degree in Architecture and a PhD in Culture Studies from the European Graduate School & Lisbon Consortium. She teaches at the Escola das Artes of the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP). She was the curator of Abertura, Impureza e Intensidade. Olhares em torno da obra coreográfica de Marlene Monteiro Freitas (TMP, 2020) and co-curator of Anton Vidokle, Cidadãos do Cosmos e Future Past Imaginaries (Rampa, 2021); Um Elefante no Palácio de Cristal (Porto Municipal Gallery, 2021); Metabolic Rifts (Serralves Museum and Porto Municipal Theatre, 2017-2018). She was co-editor of Metabolic Rifts: Reader (2019) and An Untimely Book (2018). She is a dance critic for the Público newspaper and writes for magazines such as Contemporânea and Art Press.

Mónica Guerreiro (Cascais, 1981) has a degree in Communication Sciences (NOVA FCSH) and her research interests are contemporary Portuguese dance, its history and practices; performance criticism and appreciation; and queer theory.
Working as a journalist and critic between 1996 and 2010 (BLITZ, Sinais de Cena, Agenda de Lisboa, Obscena), she published Olga Roriz (Assírio & Alvim, 2007) and O Essencial sobre a Companhia Nacional de Bailado (IN-CM, 2017). She is a regular member of juries and commissions (ACARTE/Maria Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão Award, Critics' Prize, SPA Author Award, Globos de Ouro, Gulbenkian Culture Programme, GDA Foundation).
She has worked at the Directorate-General of Arts (2004-2015), at the Municipality of Porto (2016-2019) and at the Coliseu do Porto (2020-2023).

Luís Mestre (Vila Nova de Gaia, 1974) has a master's degree in Theatre Studies from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto and a post-graduate degree in Contemporary Dance from Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espetáculo (ESMAE) / Teatro Municipal do Porto. He is a playwright, director, theatre teacher, and contemporary dance coach.
As a playwright, he has received several prizes and awards, both national and international. He has held masterclasses with Juan Mayorga, Emanuel Gat, Vera Mantero, Lisbeth Gruwez, Boris Charmatz, Laurence Yadi / Nicolas Cantillon, David Mamet, David Lynch, Werner Herzog, and Margaret Atwood, and workshops with Adriano and Raimondo Cortese, Jean-Pierre Sarrazac, Guillermo Heras, Sergio Boris, Mohamed El-Khatib.
He completed courses in Scandinavian Film and Television at the University of Copenhagen and Introduction to Classical Music at Yale University. He is the artistic director of the Teatro Nova Europa.

Zia Soares (Bié, 1972) é encenadora e atriz. Das suas mais recentes encenações destacam-se: O Riso dos Necrófagos, uma coprodução do Teatro GRIOT com a Culturgest, distinguido como Melhor Espetáculo 2021-22 no âmbito do Premio Internazionale Teresa Pomodoro; Uma dança das florestas de Wole Soyinka, uma coprodução do Teatro GRIOT com o São Luiz Teatro Municipal; e Fanun Ruin, uma coprodução da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian com a SO WING.
Integra o Teatro GRIOT enquanto encenadora e atriz, é cofundadora do projeto SO WING e é uma artista apoiada pela apap – Feminist Futures, projeto cofinanciado pelo Programa Europa Criativa da União Europeia.