Place X

©Sebastià Masramon

“They started putting x’s on the places without treasure, without pleasure in their memories, without hope [. . .]
that was when the people realized there had to be something after giving up, because there were no more places to leave. What do you do with a planet of excuses, scarred in unwelcome, inviting only absence? X marks the spot: not here”
(Alexis Pauline Gumbs)

Place X is an outdoor arts project, that aims to reflect on the mechanisms of extraction of value from bodies, ecosystems, life, relationships, by developing a situated relationship with a concrete place marked by some kind of devastation: ecological, social, economic, personal.
Through a methodology of contextual artistic practices, such as interviews, a movement workshop, walks and performative devices generative of encounters, the project will investigate local and fictional regenerative practices, not only of the land, but also of a certain sense of community.

What are the gestures we need to remain alive, within devastation? How to create bodies out of ruins?

The project also includes the production of an audiobook, with texts by Catarina Vieira, and sound design by Yaw Tembe and Artur Moura, which explores the possibility of concrete actions to produce change facing catastrophes. The audiobook is a compilation of texts and materials produced during the residency. It proposes an inventory of gestures and fictional narratives to explore the gap of the apparent opposition between pragmatism and poetry, action and discourse, solution and imagination.

RESIDENCIES
1 – 30 APR 2023: Vagabundas, promoted by Companhia Cepa Torta (Mina de São Domingos)
19 – 31 JUL 2023: PACACEP/Teatro do Mar (Sines)
21 AUG – 1 SEP 2023: Biblioteca de Marvila (Lisbon)
26 FEB - 1 MAR 2024: Casa da Dança (Almada)
25 MAR – 14 APR 2024: CAMPUS (Oporto)
11 - 17 MAR 2024: Criação Crítica / A Oficina (Guimarães)
24 JUN - 7 JULY 2024: A Gráfica- Centro de Criação Artística / Câmara Municipal de Setúbal

PRESENTATIONS
27 APR 2023: Vagabundas’23 (Mina de São Domingos)
15 – 17 SEP 2023: M.A.R. – Mostra de Artes de Rua (Sines)
17 OCT 2023: Biblioteca de Marvila (Lisbon)
18 - 20 MAR 2023: Festival END (Guimarães)
4 – 5 MAY 2024: Espai Nyam Nyam (Girona)/ PLANT – Performing Life Akademia Network
6 JUL 2024: MAPS- Mostra de Artes Performativas em Setúbal
4 – 6 OCT 2024: CRL- Central Elétrica (Porto) / PLANT – Performing Life Akademia Network
17 MAY 2025: Teatro-Cine de Torres Vedras
29 JAN 2026: Lauch of the audiobook at Festival Watt Sonoro (Oporto)
4 APR 2026: Lauch of the audiobook at Biblioteca de Marvila (Lisbon)

Artistic direction, creation and performance: Catarina Vieira
Artistic collaboration (external eye): Josefa Pereira, Teresa Ves Liberta
Set design: Maja Escher (presentation in Sines)
External eye at Campus Paulo Cunha e Silva: Nicklaus Bein
Video: Miguel Afonso (Marvila); Larissa Lewandoski (Setúbal)
Coproduction: Câmara Municipal de Setúbal under de program “Bolsa de Criação Artística”;

Coproduction: PACACEP/Teatro do Mar; Program of Artistic Residencies 23/24 of CAMPUS Paulo Cunha e Silva
Support: Companhia Cepa Torta
Thanks: Cooperativa Dramatúrgica (Bruno Fraga Braz, Filipa Leão, Filipa Matta, Guilherme Gomes, Luiza Fidalgo, Mariana Ferreira, Miguel Carranca); Efémera Colecção – Associação Cultural; Raquel André; Helena Antunes

AUDIOBOOK

Creation, text and voice: Catarina Vieira
Sound design: Artur Moura, Yaw Tembe
Design: Carolina Bagulho e Diogo Rapazote
Illustration: Laura Monteiro
Dramaturgical Support: Filipa Matta and Cooperativa Dramatúrgica

Production: Leonor Carpinteiro
Financial Support: República Portuguesa - Cultura I DGARTES – Direção-Geral das Artes
Coproduction: CRL - Central Elétrica / Festival Watt Sonoro
Support: Biblioteca de Marvila; Piscina; Penhas Co