Ernest Urtasun opens the 9th edition of the Mostra Espanha biennial in Lisbon

The Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, and Portugal's Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, have opened the ninth edition of the Mostra Espanha biennial in Lisbon, which returns to Portugal with the aim of showcasing the dynamism and creativity of Spain's cultural industries.

Under the slogan 'Spain on the Move: Diversity and Sustainable Futures', more than thirty events featuring theatre, music, dance, literature, film and the visual arts will be staged across Portugal until mid-December, fostering opportunities for cultural exchange and interaction.

The Minister for Culture, Ernest Urtasun, pointed out that "there are factors that foster this coming together around art, music, literature, film, dance and theatre. Our geographical proximity, our historical ties, the transatlantic character of our countries - situated at the southern edge of Europe - and, above all, a shared cultural foundation; two cultures and two languages that symbolise our richness and the place we occupy, as sister nations, on the global stage". He added that "the theme of this year's event highlights how cultural diversity, cultural rights, environmental protection and climate justice are concepts that can coexist harmoniously within a single response to the realities we face".

The biennial kicked off with the opening of the 'Guest Work', an initiative which involves temporarily exhibiting in Portuguese institutions unique pieces from a Spanish museums or collections. In this edition, Joaquín Sorolla's painting 'Valencian Fisherwomen' (1915), on loan from the Sorolla Museum, will be on display at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Chiado, Lisbon. In addition, two works by Maruja Mallo, 'Basuras' (1930) and 'Naturaleza viva' (1943), from the María José Jove Foundation, will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art - MAC/CCB in Lisbon. Both exhibitions have been organised in collaboration with Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and will remain open until 29 November.

Other exhibitions

The visual arts programme kicked off with an exhibition by Idoia Cuesta at the Contextile Festival in Guimarães, alongside Laura Pilar Delgado's 'Festina Lente' project at the Antecâmara Gallery in Lisbon and Antonio Guerra's 'Umbral Mineral' exhibition, which will be on display as part of the Imago Festival at the Instituto Cervantes in the Portuguese capital.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese Centre for Photography, based in Porto, will host 'Cargo' by Tete Alejandre from 19 September, whilst in October the 119 Marvila Studios venue in Lisbon will host the project 'Los Bravú', designed specifically for the space, and the Museo da Terra da Miranda, in Miranda do Douro, will host the textile exhibition 'Tramas del paisaje' by Irene Trapote.

Finally, at the Galeria da Antiga Capitania do Porto de Aveiro, visitors will be able to see the multidisciplinary exhibition 'Astutas', by Rocío Royo Durán, which focuses on the salt pans. The quarries at Porto de Mos will be transformed through an artistic intervention by Alonso Murillo Gil (Sea162), whilst in the Alentejo, a series of temporary interventions at heritage sites as part of Carmen de Matos's 'Invisible' project will seek to give new meaning to these forgotten places.

Performing Arts

In the field of the performing arts, the programme includes dance events, which kicked off on Saturday 12 September with a performance of 'Breaking Beethoven' at the Eugénio de Almada Foundation in Évora. The events will continue on 15 October at the Instituto Cervantes in Lisbon, where the theatre company Hipótesis Ficción will pay tribute to Cervantes with their play 'El retablo de las maravillas'.

In November, the contemporary dance performance 'Montar un cuerpo', by the Colectivo La Triangular, will take place at the Instituto Giner de los Ríos in Lisbon; the Mérida Classical Theatre Festival will bring Teatro del Noctámbulo's 'Jasón y las Furias' to the Teatro Capitol in Lisbon, and the Centro Dramático Galego will present Pistacatro's 'A serie Clopen' at the Theatro Circo in Braga. Finally, 'La Quijá', a production by Paloma Muñoz's Siberia theatre company, will be performed at the Joaquim Benite Theatre in Almada on 12 December.

Music

Mostra Espanha will once again be present at the season's major musical events, such as Terra Sem Sombra, where Rahmi Alqhai and Ana Morales will present 'Rediscovering Spain' - a fusion of flamenco and Baroque - on 26 September. It will also be present at the Misty Fest in Lisbon, which will host Rodrigo Cuevas's 'La Belleza' tour on 9 and 10 November; the tour will also stop off at the Casa da Música in Porto.

Sergio de Lope's flamenco and João Barradas' jazz will be featured at the Algarve Music Series festival on 6 December, and to mark the 150th anniversary of Manuel de Falla, Moisés P. Sánchez will present his unique take on the composer on 27 and 28 November in the towns of Espinho and Oliveira de Frades.

Books and audiovisual materials

As part of its literary programme, the Saramago Foundation will host a conversation on 26 November between the writer Lara Moreno and her Portuguese translator, Margarida Amado.

Spanish cinema, for its part, will be represented at the DocLisboa festival, which will be screening a series of films dedicated to Jonás Trueba in October, and a month later at the Espinho animation film festival 'Cinanima', where a meeting with the creators from Studio Kimchi will take place.

In addition, as part of Mostra Espanha, CineFiesta - Mostra de Cinema Espanhol will also be held in Lisbon from 10 to 13 December at the UCI Cinemas. Ten recent Spanish films will be screened at these events, offering an overview of the contemporary Spanish film scene, accompanied by Q&A sessions and activities for young people and adults. Cine Fiesta, which will be held in Porto for the first time, is organised by the Associação IL Sorpasso in collaboration with the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), the Spanish Embassy in Portugal and the Cervantes Institute in Lisbon.

Mostra Espanha

The biennial Mostra Espanha festival was launched in 2009 with the aim of bringing Spanish culture to the Portuguese public and, over the years, has established itself as a forum that has helped to forge new networks of collaboration between institutions, creators and professionals from both countries.

In this ninth edition, it has also made the leap to Brazil, following Spain's participation as guest of honour at the São Paulo Book Biennial. There, on 6 September, the artist and composer Sheila Blanco presented 'Cantando a las poetas del 27', a show in which she revives the verses of those women who were overshadowed by their male contemporaries and which forms part of the activities leading up to the centenary commemoration of the Generation of '27.

Mostra Espanha is organised by the Sub-directorate General for International Relations and the European Union of the Spanish Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in Portugal and with the support of Spanish Cultural Action (AC/E) and the Cervantes Institute in Lisbon. Furthermore, Portugal supports the festival through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, various local councils and numerous Portuguese cultural institutions.

Non official translation