The Aveiro 2024 - Portuguese Capital of Culture highlights have been presented and Teatro Aveirense will be one of its stages
Published at — 30 November 2023
The Aveiro City Council (ACC) presented this Thursday the program for Aveiro Portuguese Capital of Culture 2024. The Mayor, José Ribau Esteves, and the coordinator of Aveiro 2024, José Pina, presented next year's key moments, as well as the first quarter's full program. With the motto “O ano como palco. Um cenário infinito“ (which can be translated as “The year as a stage. An infinite scenario”), Aveiro 2024 aims to confirm Aveiro as a place of culture, creation and art, proposing an intense calendar of activities in different fields.
“Aveiro, Portuguese Capital of Culture 2024 is a commitment by the City Council in the promotion of Portuguese culture in its various dimensions. This event will promote our identity as a community linked to the Sea and the Ria de Aveiro, one that knows the importance of democracy as a fundamental pillar and has sustainability as a mark of our history – which is closely linked to the sea – and, finally, has technology as an exponent maximum of our innovation capacity”, says José Ribau Esteves.
For the President, it is an “honor” for Aveiro to be the first Portuguese Capital of Culture: “We will be the meeting point for culture in Portugal next year and we look forward to everyone’s visit to celebrate with us Portuguese culture and identity, present throughout the world."
The Aveiro 2024 strategy was designed to interconnect culture with different challenges in today's world, materialized in four themes throughout the quarters. The year begins with the theme of Culture and Identity, followed by Culture and Democracy, with the themes of Culture and Sustainability and Culture and Technology in the following quarters.
“In the first quarter we will address the recognition of individuality and diversity, within the scope of Culture and Identity. In the following, the focus will be on democracy as a fundamental value of collective development. In the third quarter we will focus on sustainability and the challenges of survival on an environmental and social level and in the last three months of 2024 the role of technology will be addressed as a tool for innovation but also as a symbol of social unrest”, explains José Pina, general coordinator of the project.
Seven areas as the backbone of Aveiro 2024
The themes of each quarter will be addressed from seven programming lines, each with content created tailored to Aveiro 2024. Performing Arts, Exhibitions, Cinema, Literature, Public Space, Gastronomy and Thought are the areas that form the backbone of the Aveiro 2024 programming, with a set of orders designed for each of the quarterly themes.
In Performing Arts, the theme of Culture and Identity will be addressed in the show “Pieris Napi”, by Papillons d’Éternité (Tânia Carvalho and Matthieu Ehrlacher), which involves the Folklore Group of Casa do Povo de Cacia. The theme of Culture and Democracy will be taken on by Marcos Barbosa, in a show entitled “Código Postal” with participants from various geographies. For Culture and Sustainability there will be a proposal bringing together Né Barrros, João Martinho Moura, Fahr 021.3 and Vivien Ingrams, entitled “Gravidade”. Finally, Culture and Technology will be addressed by Yola Pinto and Simão Costa in their new show “O Meu Corpo é Não Só Uma Instância”.
In the exhibition area, the year starts with “Sal de Aveiro, Sal do Mundo”, a proposal that addresses an icon of the region. For the second quarter, which marks the 50th anniversary of April 25th, it’s scheduled the exhibition “O Exercício da Liberdade – Obras da Coleção de Serralves”, curated by Joana Valsassina. In the Culture and Sustainability quarter, the exhibition “Imaginário Coletivo: Obras da Coleção de Arte Contemporânea do Estado” will take place, curated by Sandra Vieira Jürgens, and the Culture and Technology months will be filled with a multimedia installation commissioned by Vicki Bennett (People Like Us).
In the Cinema area, each quarter will feature a short film made for Aveiro 2024 and designed to respond to the quarterly themes. The sequence begins with “Noites de Cinema”, by Luís Diogo, followed by “Experimenta Música”, by António Costa Valente, “Por Detrás da Porta”, by Ana Carolina d’Antas, and “Aqui | Here in Aveiro”, by Joaquim Pavão. In each of these sessions, historical films related to the themes of each quarter will also be shown, in partnership with Cinemateca Portuguesa.
In Literature, the first action of the year takes place with “Jantares Queirosianos”, in partnership with the Eça de Queiroz Foundation and chef Rui Paula. The following quarters will feature the events “Laboratory: the alternative edition”, “Pela Estrada Fascinante: Ilustração” and, finally, “Biblioteca Digital”, with Gonçalo M. Tavares.
In the Public Space area, the shows “A Terceira Vida da Argila: Canções da Boca de Barro”, by Jorge Louraço Figueira, and “Mercado das Madrugadas”, by Patrícia Portela, will be presented in the first and second quarters respectively. “Derivas nos Canals”, by CiRcoLando – Central Elétrica will be presented in the third quarter and, at the end of the year, a show by the Theater Titanick company will be on the streets of Aveiro.
Gastronomy will be entirely covered by the Viveiro project, curated by Rafael Tonon, which will feature special guests every quarter and a set of actions in dialogue with the quarterly themes. The guest of the first quarter will be chef Ricardo Costa.
The Thought area will consist of four conferences, which will address quarterly themes from different perspectives. The first quarter conference, on Culture and Identity, will feature Armando Punzo (Golden Career Lion at the 2023 Venice Theater Biennale), filmmaker Marco Martins and director João Garcia Miguel, among other guests.
Aveiro 2024, a celebration of the entire Region
The Aveiro 2024 program goes beyond the quarterly themes, with a set of events, from various artistic fields, to be presented in the most diverse spaces in the city.
The calendar of Aveiro, Portuguese Capital of Culture 2024 could not fail to include the events that take place in the city every year and which are highlights of the Municipality's programming. Examples of this include the Canals Festival, the March Fair, the Dunas São Jacinto Festival and PRISMA / Art Light Tech.
The Portuguese Capital of Culture extends to the entire Aveiro Region, with a set of shows from the various municipalities of the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region forming part of its program, in a clear involvement of the entire territory in this initiative.
“Aveiro, Portuguese Capital of Culture 2024 is a commitment by the City Council in the promotion of Portuguese culture in its various dimensions. This event will promote our identity as a community linked to the Sea and the Ria de Aveiro, one that knows the importance of democracy as a fundamental pillar and has sustainability as a mark of our history – which is closely linked to the sea – and, finally, has technology as an exponent maximum of our innovation capacity”, says José Ribau Esteves.
For the President, it is an “honor” for Aveiro to be the first Portuguese Capital of Culture: “We will be the meeting point for culture in Portugal next year and we look forward to everyone’s visit to celebrate with us Portuguese culture and identity, present throughout the world."
The Aveiro 2024 strategy was designed to interconnect culture with different challenges in today's world, materialized in four themes throughout the quarters. The year begins with the theme of Culture and Identity, followed by Culture and Democracy, with the themes of Culture and Sustainability and Culture and Technology in the following quarters.
“In the first quarter we will address the recognition of individuality and diversity, within the scope of Culture and Identity. In the following, the focus will be on democracy as a fundamental value of collective development. In the third quarter we will focus on sustainability and the challenges of survival on an environmental and social level and in the last three months of 2024 the role of technology will be addressed as a tool for innovation but also as a symbol of social unrest”, explains José Pina, general coordinator of the project.
Seven areas as the backbone of Aveiro 2024
The themes of each quarter will be addressed from seven programming lines, each with content created tailored to Aveiro 2024. Performing Arts, Exhibitions, Cinema, Literature, Public Space, Gastronomy and Thought are the areas that form the backbone of the Aveiro 2024 programming, with a set of orders designed for each of the quarterly themes.
In Performing Arts, the theme of Culture and Identity will be addressed in the show “Pieris Napi”, by Papillons d’Éternité (Tânia Carvalho and Matthieu Ehrlacher), which involves the Folklore Group of Casa do Povo de Cacia. The theme of Culture and Democracy will be taken on by Marcos Barbosa, in a show entitled “Código Postal” with participants from various geographies. For Culture and Sustainability there will be a proposal bringing together Né Barrros, João Martinho Moura, Fahr 021.3 and Vivien Ingrams, entitled “Gravidade”. Finally, Culture and Technology will be addressed by Yola Pinto and Simão Costa in their new show “O Meu Corpo é Não Só Uma Instância”.
In the exhibition area, the year starts with “Sal de Aveiro, Sal do Mundo”, a proposal that addresses an icon of the region. For the second quarter, which marks the 50th anniversary of April 25th, it’s scheduled the exhibition “O Exercício da Liberdade – Obras da Coleção de Serralves”, curated by Joana Valsassina. In the Culture and Sustainability quarter, the exhibition “Imaginário Coletivo: Obras da Coleção de Arte Contemporânea do Estado” will take place, curated by Sandra Vieira Jürgens, and the Culture and Technology months will be filled with a multimedia installation commissioned by Vicki Bennett (People Like Us).
In the Cinema area, each quarter will feature a short film made for Aveiro 2024 and designed to respond to the quarterly themes. The sequence begins with “Noites de Cinema”, by Luís Diogo, followed by “Experimenta Música”, by António Costa Valente, “Por Detrás da Porta”, by Ana Carolina d’Antas, and “Aqui | Here in Aveiro”, by Joaquim Pavão. In each of these sessions, historical films related to the themes of each quarter will also be shown, in partnership with Cinemateca Portuguesa.
In Literature, the first action of the year takes place with “Jantares Queirosianos”, in partnership with the Eça de Queiroz Foundation and chef Rui Paula. The following quarters will feature the events “Laboratory: the alternative edition”, “Pela Estrada Fascinante: Ilustração” and, finally, “Biblioteca Digital”, with Gonçalo M. Tavares.
In the Public Space area, the shows “A Terceira Vida da Argila: Canções da Boca de Barro”, by Jorge Louraço Figueira, and “Mercado das Madrugadas”, by Patrícia Portela, will be presented in the first and second quarters respectively. “Derivas nos Canals”, by CiRcoLando – Central Elétrica will be presented in the third quarter and, at the end of the year, a show by the Theater Titanick company will be on the streets of Aveiro.
Gastronomy will be entirely covered by the Viveiro project, curated by Rafael Tonon, which will feature special guests every quarter and a set of actions in dialogue with the quarterly themes. The guest of the first quarter will be chef Ricardo Costa.
The Thought area will consist of four conferences, which will address quarterly themes from different perspectives. The first quarter conference, on Culture and Identity, will feature Armando Punzo (Golden Career Lion at the 2023 Venice Theater Biennale), filmmaker Marco Martins and director João Garcia Miguel, among other guests.
Aveiro 2024, a celebration of the entire Region
The Aveiro 2024 program goes beyond the quarterly themes, with a set of events, from various artistic fields, to be presented in the most diverse spaces in the city.
The calendar of Aveiro, Portuguese Capital of Culture 2024 could not fail to include the events that take place in the city every year and which are highlights of the Municipality's programming. Examples of this include the Canals Festival, the March Fair, the Dunas São Jacinto Festival and PRISMA / Art Light Tech.
The Portuguese Capital of Culture extends to the entire Aveiro Region, with a set of shows from the various municipalities of the Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region forming part of its program, in a clear involvement of the entire territory in this initiative.
