arte#ocupaSM - International Art Event

Situated in the heritage site Vila Belga (Belgian Village) in Santa Maria, Brazil, the old building that hosted the Rio Grande do Sul Railway's Administration, will once again breathe life thanks to arte#ocupaSM.

Between 29th May and 2nd June 2012, the event will occupy the building with exhibitions, performances and interventions by near 40 artists from Brazil and abroad. Several meetings will be led by curators, researchers and architects.
Parallel eventswill include live transmission of arte#ocupaSM in Colombia, Spain and city of São Paulo, as well as workshops during the morning period in the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.

The event will focus on how art can be created and presented having in consideration the venue where is hosted (whether inside or outside) and the dynamic that will exist in an exhibition where several artists will present their works in conjunction or at different time intervals.

Schedule:

Tuesday (29/05) through Thursday (31/05), from 13:00 to 22:00
Non-stop from Friday ( 01/06) 13:00 through Saturday ( 02/06) 12:00pm

arte#ocupaSM is organized by Grupo Momentos-específicos in collaboration with individual, collective and institutional support.

In disuse since 1997, Vila Belga was projected by the Belgian engineer Gustave Vouthier and built from 1901 through 1903, with the purpose of serving as residence for the workers of the Belgian "Compagnie Auxiliare des Chamins de Fer au Brésil", who came to build the railways.

Guided Tours in the Capela de São João Baptista (Igreja de São Roque)

                         

Celebrating the conservation and restoration of the St. John Baptist Chapel (Capela de São João Baptista) located in the Saint Roch Church (Igreja de São Roque) in Lisbon, which occurred between November 2010 and March 2012, the Museu de São Roque (Saint Roch Museum) is hosting a series of activities from 19 April to 26 May 2012.

"O restauro da Capela de São João Baptista - redescobrir o seu esplendor"  the programme will be presented as follow.

Guided Tours and Art Workshops:

The St. John Baptist Chapel (Capela de São João Baptista) and its collections: features and singularity; thematic guided tours catered for adults. Free individual participation with previous registration during the following days:

April: 21 (10h) and 28 (15h)

May: 5 (10h), 12 (15h), 19 (10h) and 26 (15h)

Registration for organized groups can be taken from Tuesday to Friday (10h00-12h30 and 14h00-17h30).

Maximum of 30 participants per visit.


Guided Tours to the St. John Baptist Chapel and its Goldsmithery and Church-vestments:

22 of April, 10h and 15h – Italian

29 of April, 10h and 15h – English

6 of May, 10h and 15h – French

20 of May, 10h and 15h – Spanish

Free individual participation with previous registration. Maximum of 30 participants per visit.


Lets Know  the St. John Baptist Chapel:
A cycle of visits with games and art workshops dedicated to children from 6 to 12 years of age.
The event will allow children to explore and get acquainted with the materials and techniques used in the construction of the chapel and at the same time stimulate their attention to the importance of conservation and restoration.

Free individual participation with previous registration during the following days:

April: 21 (15h) and 28 (10h)

May: 5 (15h), 12 (10h), 19 (15h) and 26 (10h)


Lectures:


Spring in Saint Roch (Primavera em São Roque)
- Cycle of thematic lectures about the St. John Baptist Chapel

19 April - 18h30
Art and Politics: The St. John Baptist Chapel in Saint Roch.
(Arte e Política: a Capela de São João Baptista em São Roque)
Lectured by António Filipe Pimentel Phd.

3 May - 18h30
The mosaics in the St. John Baptist Chapel: techniques and conservation issues.
(I mosaici della cappella di San Giovanni Battista: tecnica esecutiva e i problemi di conservazione)
Lectured by Solange Muralha

3 May -19h00
Scyentific analisys of the St. John Baptist Chapel's mosaics
(Análise cientifica dos mosaicos da Capela de São João Baptista )
Lectured by Solange Muralha

10 May - 18h30
The St. John Baptist Chapel: concealed details.
(A Capela de São João Baptista: pormenores ocultos)
Lectured by Belmira Maduro

10 May  - 19h00
The pedestal flooring of the St. John Baptist Chapel: characteristics, conservation and restoration.
(O supedâneo da Capela de São João Baptista: caracterização, conservação e restauro do estrado de altar)
Lectured by Tiago Dias

17 May - 18h30
Gold, gold, gold...
(Oro, oro, oro…)
The liturgic vestments ordered to Rome for the St. John Baptist Chapel and for the Holy Ghost Chapel in the Saint Roch Church of Lisbon.
(I paramenti liturgici ricamati a Roma per la Cappella di San Giovanni Battista e dello Spirito Santo nella Chiesa di San Rocco di Lisbona)
Lectured by Professor Marialuisa Rizzini
The lectures in Italian will be translated simultaneously.
Free individual participation with previous registration. Maximum of 40 participants per lecture.


For information and registration, please contact:

Tel. (351) 213 235 421
       (351) 213 235 824
       (351) 213 235 065

Email: info@museu.saoroque.com

More information about the São Roque Church in Lisbon and how to get there, as well as further places to visit in the city, can be found here.

Pena National Palace is open for works

Contrary to what is many times usual, the responsibles of the Pena National Palace (Palácio Nacional da Pena) in Sintra, Portugal, have decided to choose the time of the year when the visits are less and start important restorations while being open to the public.

This praiseworthy initiative has received positive comments from a curious public who can assist to the restoration of art, furniture, of the building itself, and talk directly with the experts who are executing the work. This way, visitors can have a better idea how the conservation of important patrimony takes placed and how certain pieces are restored.

The project is consisted by a total of six works of restoration:

The restore of the famous domes with gilded tiles, one of the most emblematic symbols of the palace, with its increasing moon referring to the "Monte da Lua" (Mount of the Moon) and to the Moorish exoticism.

Avoiding its deslocation and eventual damages is a good reason for the restoration of the furniture of the Grand Hall (Salão Nobre), where visitors can observe the restore workshop in loco.
The furniture was acquired by D. Fernando to the Casa Barbosa e Costa, Lisbon, in 1867, quite possibly already thinking about the future marriage with his second wife, the Countess of Edla.

The famous Neomanueline style window, inspired by the one in the Christ Convent (Convento de Cristo) in Tomar, will have its wooden frames restored. It's one of the most important elements of the palace, since it materializes the revivalism of the 19th century.

Work will also be done on the mural painting of the Calabash stair (escada das Cabaças). The painting which is in bad state of conservation due to condensation, will be cleaned, released from fungos and carefuly restored to its original look as best as possible.
This stair would grant access to the New Palace (Palácio Novo) and to the Grand Hall (Salão Nobre) without the need for the guests to pass through the residential area of the royal family.

Another important project consists in the recovery of the trompe l'oeil mural located in the living room of the royal family, which had been covered since 1991, when part of the dome's coating fell partially.

In the chapel of the Palace takes place the restore of the rosewood window and of its stained glass, as well as the restoration of the tiles surrounding it.
A light and resistant structure will frame the stained glass, after which the window will be replaced. The stained glass were made in Nuremberga (1841) and depict the figures of D. Manuel I and Vasco da Gama, attesting the liasion of D. Fernando II with the more emblematic past of Portugal.
The image of S. Jorge and Nossa Senhora da Pen(h)a conclude the reference to the foundation of the Pena National Palace or Pena Palace as it is commonly known.

These projects gather the experts of the Parques de Sintra and the Instituto dos Museus e Conservação (Museums and Conservation Insitute), while the complexity of some works requires the partneship with some universities, namely the restoration of the stained glass in the chapel, which includes the support of the Conservation and Restore Department of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Participate in "Bodies in Urban Spaces" Choreographed Performance by Will Dorner in Margate, UK

Those of you who have seen and experienced public performances, such as flashmobs, and would like to participate, now have the chance of being selected.

Turner Company is looking for extremely agile people such as dancers, gymnasts and performers, to participate in the "Bodies in Urban Spaces" choreographed promenade performance, part of the YOU ARE HERE event that will include remarkable manifestations of artistic creativity.

Willi Dorner’s moving trail of performers will lead the audience around Margate, UK, on April 16-17, creating a chain of physical interventions within the town’s architectural edifices by placing the bodies in selected spots, influencing passers by and residents movements and motivating them to reflect their urban surrounding.

If you would like to audition to take part in this performance, please contact Sepake Angiama to find out more details on +44 (0) 1843 233000 or send an e-mail to sangiama@turnercontemporary.org by the 25th of February, 2011.

Bodies in Urban Spaces are temporary interventions without leaving any traces behind, but imprints in the eye-witnesses' memory.

The following video is a trailer of the Dance Umbrella Performance that took place in Southbank, London, in 2009.