O festival is part of the project Futurama — Ecossistema Cultural e Artístico do Baixo Alentejo, launched in 2021 and which aims to “bring education and arts, contemporary creation and tradition into a dialogue”, director, cultural programmer and curator John Romão explained to Lusa today , artistic director of the initiative.
“The expectation (for this second edition of the festival) is, above all, to continue this connection and these synergies between different municipalities in Baixo Alentejo and to continue to develop artistic relationships with different communities in each of the municipalities”, he said.
According to Futurama’s artistic director, the project is interested in “this representation and this diversity of different communities within the programming, always putting artists in dialogue with these communities and with each other, between more contemporary and more traditional practices”.
The 2nd Futurama festival will take place in June, on the 3rd and 4th in Mértola, on the 9th and 10th in Castro Verde and on the 16th and 17th in Beja.
The program includes music, visual arts, performances and workshops, highlighting the concerts created under the “Cantexto” initiative, in which contemporary writers write new themes for Alentejo singing groups.
In 2023, “Cantexto” will put the writer Joana Bértholo to write for the group Rosinhas do Louredo (Beja), Richard Zimmler for the Cantadores de Beringel (Beja), Regina Guimarães for As Ceifeiras de Pias (Serpa) and Ondjaki for the Choral and Ethnographic Group from Vila Nova de São Bento (Serpa).
Isabela Figueiredo will create a theme for Os Cardadores da Sete (Castro Verde), Afonso Cruz for the Grupo Coral da Mina de São Domingos (Mértola) and Marta Pais de Oliveira for the Grupo Coral da Vidigueira.
Futurama’s program in 2023 includes, in Mértola, the presentation of a performative creation between John Romão and young athletes from the Clube Náutico de Mértola, in what will be “a poetic exploration of adolescence”, while in Castro Verde Coletivo Til will make known an installation in public space, created with the local community.
In Beja, performances by director and playwright Rui Catalão will be presented, with the migrant community of the municipality, and by choreographer Clara Andermatt, with the gypsy community of the Pedreiras neighborhood, together with the Sou Capaz association.
Still in Beja, the actress Roxana Ionesco will present a performance that explores the cultural references of her Romanian and Portuguese identity and the Cape Verdean artist Jacira da Conceição an installation that will link the pottery of her country to the Alentejo.
In addition to Mértola, Castro Verde and Beja, where the festival will take place, the project Futurama — Cultural and Artistic Ecosystem of Baixo Alentejo also covers the municipalities of Serpa and Vidigueira, in the same district.
The project has an annual program, which includes the “Constelações”, meetings that promote dialogue between contemporary artists and traditional practices from Baixo Alentejo, as well as the “Cantexto” initiative and artistic residencies.
This year, the artistic residencies are curated by Jesse James, Rita Fabiana and John Romão, who invited artists Pedro da Linha and João Pais Filipe (music), Coletivo Til (architecture/design), Jacira da Conceição (visual arts), Josefa Pereira (dance), Rui Catalão and Roxana Ionesco (theatre), and Marco da Silva Ferreira (dance).
The visit of artists to schools, the “Escola Futurama” initiative and the “Futurama Ambassadors” are other actions of the project, which this year will also be present, on May 27, at the Book Fair in Madrid, Spain, giving to learn about the “Cantexto” initiative.
In 2023, the project also includes the presentation of the show “Música Cigana Camões Yanomami/ A Soma de Todxs”, by António Pope and the Gitana Family, in Moita (May 6th) and Porto (October 7th).
And in November, an artistic residency will start with guitarists Gaspar Varela, from Portugal, and Yerai Cortés, from Spain, who will create, in Lisbon, Madrid, Seville (both in Spain) and Paris (France), a show to present in 2024.
The Futurama project is financed by the municipalities and by the General Directorate of Arts, with the high patronage of the Presidency of the Republic.
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