Penela with a cultural project that focuses on actively aging

O program, co-produced between Companhia da Chanca and Casa Família Oliveira Guimarães, started in February and runs until September, in an initiative focused on the elderly in the municipality of Penela, in the district of Coimbra, but which aims to bring together all ages , on stage or in the audience.

“The challenge follows on from support in partnership between DGArtes (Direção-Geral das Artes) and Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa to think and act around art and active ageing. Reflecting on this topic has been very important. natural for us, given the context we live in”, said Catarina Santana, from Companhia da Chanca, a group that resides in the village of Penela with the same name and whose first show in that place, “Sítio”, refers precisely to the first breeders’ gaze on that territory, marked by a dispersed, isolated and aging population.

In February, the first activities took place, with a round table on citizenship and active aging and a puppet show starring Delphim Miranda, who will return to the territory to teach a workshop, on May 6, at Quinta das Pontes, in Spinal.

This month, António Victorino d’Almeida will give two shows, on the 28th and 29th, at the Municipal Auditorium of Penela and at the Casa Família Oliveira Guimarães, respectively, with a round table focusing on education and an exhibition of works carried out by students from the Senior University of Penela, CLDS 4G — Penela Inclusiva and Casa de Beneficência Conselheiro Oliveira Guimarães.

The program resumes in June with the presentation of “Sítio”, by Companhia da Chanca, at Casa da Cultura, in Espinhal.

That same month, there will be an exhibition and a workshop by the painter Maria Seruya, centered on her project “Velhas Bonitonas”, in which she seeks to inspire women “of all ages to accept their aging process” with confidence.

Also in June, a workshop is held, open to the entire population of Penela, national or foreign, given by Paul Johnson, a multi-instrumentalist musician who lives in the region, and Maria João Serrão, a “senior artist” who was a singer with the Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa, who will also perform later that month at the Casa de Beneficência Oliveira Guimarães, in Espinhal.

The workshop will also be the basis for a community creation to be presented at the end of September, either in Espinhal or at the county seat, in which anyone “over 65, under 65 or 65 years old” can participate.

“The programming is thought about active aging, but it is made for all ages. We try to get the various generations to come together and discuss the issue of aging, at the same time that we bring in some artists who are already advanced in age, but who are very valid and with a lot to give”, emphasized André Louro, from Companhia da Chanca.

For Catarina Santana, care is taken “to ensure that older people participate, but not in an exclusive environment”.

Penela City Council, Espinhal Parish Council and CLDS 4G participate and support the project.

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