Podcast em conversa
This episode was recorded during the seminar of our residency programme PLAY(THE)GROUND in October 2025. You are about to listen to a round table discussion—an open conversation featuring Susana, from Centro de Dia Nossa Senhora dos Anjos, and Alexandre Costa, head nurse of Pavilion 29 at Hospital Júlio de Matos. The discussion is moderated by mais uno +1 in collaboration with Radio Aurora.We would like to thank all the participants for contributing to this round table.
In this episode of Play(the)ground Conversations, we speak with visual artist Graça Santos, whose residency project was developed at the Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa.
Graça Santos is a visual artist specializing in analogue collage. Born in Oeiras and currently based in Lisbon, her practice is rooted in manual collage, a technique she has been working with since 2003. Her work reflects a long-term engagement with visual narrative, materiality and memory, and has been presented in exhibitions, festivals and publications both nationally and internationally.
In this episode of Play(the)ground Conversations, we speak with multidisciplinary artist and documentary film director Laura Liventaal, whose residency project was developed at the Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa.
Laura Liventaal is an artist and filmmaker from Estonia whose practice explores the complexities of the human experience. Working across video, film, sculpture, photography, performance and painting, her work engages with themes of trauma, intimacy, vulnerability, authenticity and love. With a background in philosophy, filmmaking and contemporary art, she weaves intellectual inquiry with emotionally resonant visual storytelling.
In this episode of Play(the)ground Conversations, we speak with painter João Malato Correia, whose residency project took place at Centro de Dia Nossa Senhora dos Anjos.
Self-taught and born in Portalegre, João Malato Correia lives and works in Lisbon. With a background in hospitality management, he approaches painting as both a discovery and a necessity. His practice gravitates towards nature and human nature, exploring colour, movement and rhythm in an attempt to capture fleeting moments and intangible states of mind. Often painting live, João embraces the unpredictability of working outdoors and the intimacy that emerges through portraiture.
In this episode of Play(the)ground Conversations, we speak with multidisciplinary artist Filipa Batista, whose residency project took place at Centro de Dia Nossa Senhora dos Anjos.
Filipa Batista is a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, installation, medals and participatory art. She holds a master’s degree in Sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Lisbon. Her practice explores artistic processes as tools for mediation, dialogue and collective reflection, with community engagement as a central element. Through participatory art, she investigates the transdisciplinary potential of artistic processes as forms of intervention and transformation.
In this episode of Play(the)ground Conversations, we speak with visual artist Julee Pinto, whose residency project unfolded in close collaboration with the residents of Pavilion 29 at the Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa.
Born in Brazil and based in Lisbon, Julee Pinto works across sculpture, installation and photography, exploring processes of material transfiguration and engaging with themes such as permanence, disappearance, containment and quiet forms of resistance. Her practice is guided by attentiveness to materials and territories, and by an interest in invisible layers and gestures that persist on the margins of normative structures.
In this episode, we bring you the roundtable Informality as Resistance, recorded live on March 28th at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon.
This insightful conversation explores the role of informal practices in Lisbon’s peripheral neighborhoods — their impact on creativity, community, and the city at large. Moderated by Ligia Fernandes (Mais uno +1 collective), the discussion highlights how informal dynamics can serve as powerful tools of resistance, inclusion, and cultural transformation.
Todays episode is part of the Play(the)ground conversations, although this time we are not talking with an artist but with our local Mediator Laurent Mendy who already was the contact point for two summers between the community of Quinta da Fonte and the artists in residency.
Laurent Mendy, a youth worker and personal trainer, shared his perspective on living in the Quinta da Fonte neighbourhood in Apelação. We talked about the neighborhoods history including how it was formed when people were relocated from other areas to build the Expo '98 site. This led to challenges as different communities were brought together without proper integration. But nevertheless over time the community has become more cohesive and the residents developed a strong sense of belonging and community spirit. At the same time we look at projects as the residency as an opportunity to change outsiders perception of the neighborhood and foster an exchange of ideas.
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Suzy, uma artista, participou da residência artística Play(the)ground na Quinta da Fonte. Ela explica seu processo de trabalho, que envolveu colaborar com outras artistas, criar atividades com as crianças da comunidade, como aulas de desenho e a criação de uma instalação com os desenhos delas. A apresentação final do trabalho foi uma celebração com a comunidade local. Suzy reflete sobre os desafios de trabalhar com uma comunidade de forma temporária e a importância de deixar um impacto positivo. Ela também comenta sobre como a experiência na Quinta da Fonte ampliou sua visão sobre a cidade de Lisboa e seu interesse em continuar desenvolvendo projetos em espaços públicos e com comunidades.
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No episódio 11, estamos a falar com Alexander Garcia Gonzalez sobre as experiências que teve no bairro da Trafaria durante a sua residência inicial de duas semanas. Alex conta-nos que a sua abordagem foi utilizar este tempo para se integrar na comunidade do bairro. Explica-nos a importância da informalidade do processo criativo na arte comunitária, especialmente nas ligações sociais com os moradores.
< IN PORTUGESE> No episódio 10, estamos a falar com Manuela Bueno Romeiro, uma artista visual portuguesa, realizou uma residência artística no bairro do Talude, um bairro de construção informal com uma comunidade de imigrantes, principalmente de Cabo Verde. Durante a residência, Manuela desenvolveu um projeto de "retrato falado", em que convidava as pessoas a compartilhar suas histórias enquanto ela as retratava. Através dessas conversas, Manuela pôde conhecer melhor a realidade e as dificuldades enfrentadas pela comunidade, como a transitoriedade da moradia, a saudade da terra natal, a dificuldade de acesso à educação e as expectativas frustradas em relação à imigração. Apesar das dificuldades em envolver a comunidade diretamente no projeto, Manuela conseguiu criar um mural com os retratos e a participação das crianças, refletindo sobre a importância da informalidade e da aproximação entre artista e comunidade nesse tipo de trabalho.
In this episode we are talking with Max Provenzano, a visual and performance artist from Venezuela, about his project "Border Slides" which he developed during a residency in Talude. The project involved working with an installation made of a curtain of slides, some from an archive collection of flea markets in Lisbon. Max conducted two workshop sessions with children from the community, where they explored the space, collected materials to create their own slide "capsules of memory", and then projected the slides. The project aimed to explore themes of memory, identity.
In episode 8 we are talking with Fenia and Danai, the members of the Urban Pulse Collective who spent two intensive weeks in Quinta da Fonte this summer. The collective aimed to explore the concept of "informality" through movement and dance combined with urban reaseach.
They aimed to uncover the embodied experiences and memories of the neighbourhood's residents, using dance and movement practices to create new spaces and representations of the community.
In episode 7 we are talking with Sofia Seidi about her open approach to go into the residency. Sofia is a painter from Madeira Island with Guinean ancestry and lives and works in Hamburg, Germany. Together we reflect on topics like systemic racism and post-colonialism and get to know inspiring people from Zambujal whose stories she will bring to life through her paintings.
In episode 6 we are talking with Malgorzata Minchberg about the sculpture she created together with the people of Quinta da Fonte during her 3 week summer residency. We talk about colonialism, culture and a special table that brings cultures together.
In episode 5 we are talking with Diana Ferro about her artistic residency in the territory of Trafaria and 2.º Torrão. When she would describe the topic of the residency in two words it would be Confianca e Medo - trust and fear in the city. We talk about feeling comfortable and finding the boundaries between artistic practices and life, about movement and finding places of exchange.
In episode 4 we are talking with Sarah, an artist and photographer based in Lisbon. She was the first artist coming to the neighborhood of Trafaria but more precisely in Cova de Vapor and Segundo Torrao. We will hear about her special method to connect to the local residents through her dog Fred and all the fun she had building sand castles and creating water sculptures with the kids of the neighbourhood.
In this episode we are talking with Alexandra, an artist with a background in UX design, about her experiences in the neighborhood of Talude. We talk about identity and ownership, about preserving cultural heritage in a digital format and the challenges as well as the beauty of working with children. We had the interview with her right before she went back to the Netherlands, and it was a reflection of her time in the neighborhood and a starting point of processing her research for a digital archive for Talude.
We are talking with Michele who was resident in Zambujal (Alfragide) about the political realm of infrastructure, how architecture imposes itself on its inhabitants and how it can be re-appropriated. He spent 3 weeks living and working in the neighborhood, connected to the inhabitants and explored the space through photography, maps and conversations.
In this episode you can listen to his experience in Zambujal and how he perceived the neighborhood through the lens of an architect and photographer.
Riikka was the first resident of this year in Quinta da Fonte, where her project aimed to empower the children and youth of the community to discover their inner artists—often without even realising it. She initiated a storytelling project, introducing storytelling as a powerful medium for self-expression. These stories served as a foundation, evolving into diverse forms of artistic creation.
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In the last session of the first series EM CONVERSA we talked to the collective Left Hand Rotation. @lefthandrotation.colectivo
"A turn in the opposite direction that can happen at any time, a screw that has to be tightened just the opposite of what is expected."
Ligia Fernandes and Nicole Sanchez talked to members of the collective about their practice, the use of public space and the relationship of art and activism.
"Un giro en la dirección contraria que puede producirse en cualquier momento, un tornillo que hay que apretar justo al contrario de lo esperado."
https://www.lefthandrotation.com/
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Nicole Sánchez and Ricarda Oldekop from mais uno +1 were able to talk with Emanuele Braga and Marco Baravalle from the Institute of Radical Imagination about their work. The Institute of Radical Imagination is a network of curators, activists, scholars and cultural producers with a shared interest in co-producing research, knowledge, artistic and political research-interventions, aimed at implementing post-capitalist forms of life. In 2022, they published the book ‘Art for UBI (manifesto)’ in which they make a claim for the importance of Universal Basic Income as a measure to not only counteract exploitive and discriminatory structures in the art system but also to open up new subjective spaces, alternative to the dominating entrepreneurial individualism.
On the 29th of June 2023, Emanuele Braga and Marco Baravalle were invited to present the manifesto in a conference format at Teatro do Bairro Alto in Lisbon. After attending the conference, we had the opportunity to talk in more detail with them about the visions of their activism. Questions that concerned us: How do they organize the work in their network? What is the goal of the publication ‘Art for UBI (manifesto)’? Wherein does the potential of (artistic) activist resistance against neoliberal capitalist logics lie and how can the occupation of space help activist struggles?
About the interviewees: Emanuele Braga is a theorist, activist and artist in Milan. His research focuses on models of cultural production, processes of social transformation, political economy, labor rights and the institution of the commons. Marco Baravalle is a researcher and curator based in Venice. His fields of research include the relationship between art, theatre and activism, creative labor, gentrification, and the positioning of art within neoliberal economics. Both are founding members of the network and co-editor of the publication ‘Art for UBI (manifesto)’ (2022).
Topics under discussion: art-based communing, art & activism, collaborative projects, art collectives, occupied spaces
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In June, we are returning with a new EM CONVERSA session!
We decided to carry out an experiment, taking the visit of Janila Castañeda's to Lisbon from Mexico, where we will wander around the city for 4 days recording small conversation capsules mixed with the sounds of the place to talk about geography, space, movement, maps, landscape, and everything that happens in between.
Janila is a writer and independent editor based in Mexico. Since 2019, she has been conducting research focused on spatial awareness through sound and art. She is the founder and editor of BLOQUE , an editorial initiative focused on new ways of thinking and writing about sculpture. Enjoy!
In celebration of EM CONVERSA #10, we are publishing a Bonus Episode: Roundtable on Curatorial Practices in Portugal. This episode is a recording of a roundtable session led by maisuno's members: Alexia Alexandropoulou, Ligia Fernandes, Inês Nêves, and Nicole Sánchez. In December, Artpool invited our collective to lead a roundtable as part of their Xmas Art Market. The 10-day event included the exhibition and sale of affordable digital art editions in a non-art-cube space, accompanied by a public program including talks, workshops, and a roundtable - mediated by us! We started with an open discussion on the current problems of curatorial practices in Portugal, ending up with some exercises about writing curatorial texts collectively.
Topics under discussion: Curatorial Practices in Portugal, Collectivity, NFT’s.
In EM CONVERSA #9, Inês Nêves (mais uno +1) and Dorottya Ács (mais uno +1) invited Jaime Lobato (MX) for a discussion on transdisciplinary practices with a focus on Art & Science. We learned more about Jaime's journey working with Music, Performance, Plastic Arts and Bio-Technology, as well as the role pedagogy, audience participation, and creative commons take on his practice.
Topics under discussion: bio-art, art & science, pedagogy, creative commons, transdisciplinarity, audience participation, inter-species communication.
Welcome to EM CONVERSA #8 with Alexia Alexandropoulou (mais uno +1), Elham Khattab (EG) and Salma Kossemtini (TN). In this episode, Alexia Alexandropoulou invited Elham Khattab from Cairo and Salma Kossemtini from Tunis to discuss Curatorial practices in North Africa. They talk about the conditions of the contemporary art scene in Egypt and Tunisia and the challenges that artists and curators from the region experience today.
Topics under discussion: curatorial practices in North Africa.
In our latest EM CONVERSA #7,Dorottya Ács (mais uno +1) invited Sofia Pancada (PT) who is part of the communication team of Space Festival. Sofia is a young professional working in the field of communication in the cutural sector / creative industries. Being part of the production processes of Space Festival as well as Space Ensemble, this conversation explores her insights from event management and communication strategies to the mission of contemporary and experimental music and its connection to territories.
Topics under discussion: experimental and improvised music, decentralization of culture, situated practices, event organization.
In CONVERSA #6, Nicole Sánchez (mais uno +1) invited Gabriella Riccio (IT), multidisciplinary artist, researcher and activitst based in Naples and Madrid. She is engaged in prefigurative practices such as the movement for the commons and self-governed theatres and cultural spaces. In this episode we talk about art and activism, art as a way to alternative political scenarios, as well as topics such as common knowledge as an intersection between art, pedagogy and activism for a transition towards post capitalism.
Topics under discussion: "commoning", art & activism, collaborative projects, art collectives, occupied spaces.
For this CONVERSA #5, Alexia Alexandropoulou (mais uno +1) from mais uno +1 invited Pedro Lagoa (PT) and Sean Negus (US) to speak about Archival arts. In this conversation, both shared aspects of their individual transdisciplinary arts practices involving the Archive. As part of their respective creative inquiries, each formulates new considerations of the archives, bringing radical new meanings and possibilities to bear onto contemporary art-making. During the talk, Pedro and Sean explained how archives inform their artistic practices.
Topics under discussion: archival arts, transdisciplinary practices, contemporary art.
For our CONVERSA #4, Lígia Fernandes (mais uno +1) and Inês Nêves (mais uno +1) from mais uno +1 got together with Chiara Sgaramella (IT), an artist, researcher, educator, whose works explores the intersections between art, ecosocial issues and collaborative practices. We heard about Chiara’s projects, developed mostly in several territories across Spain through the Colectivo Viridian, her most recent project Agroversitat, as well as the main findings from her research.
Topics under discussion: ecosocial art, collaborative practices, pedagogy.
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At the CONVERSA #3, Manu Ribeiro (mais uno +1) invited Fábio Delduque (BR), plastic artist, scenographer, cultural producer, and one of the main founders of the Arte Serrinha project, which has been realizing and fostering for over 20 years a group of initiatives in art and education that involve free creation, research and experimentation, content dissimination, and presenting experiences that prioritize human relations and reflection. It is a space for production and artistic experimentation, for encounters and exchanges between people and nature. It is also a concept, a movement, a community that shares dreams.
Topics under discussion: arte-natureza, arte-educação, espaços-projeto, festival de arte, curadoria, projetos geridos por artistas.
The CONVERSA #2 addressed Vent Space Project: Estonian Academy of Art (EKA)’s student-run space. Every year, Vent Space's organizational team changes, and alongside it, the curatorial program and operational structure transform. Seeking to explore how people can change the identity of a space, we invited Hanna-Liisa Lavonen (EE) — member from the 1st founding Vent Space team (2018-2019) — and Brit Kikas (EE) — constituent of the current team (2022-2023) — for a collective retrospective with Inês Nêves (mais uno +1) — member of the second team (2019-2020), and mais uno +1 — on what this space has been and meant for its local community, and speculate on its future and global framing.
Topics under discussion: artist-run projects, project-spaces, student galleries.
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The CONVERSA #1 touched upon UNIDEE, a program for intependent education and art residencies dedicated to art and social change, since 1999. Resulting from the participation of Lígia Fernandes (mais uno +1), and Nicole Sánchez (mais uno +1) — members of mais uno +1 — in the program, we spoke about their experiences and learning outcomes.
Topics under discussion: Art and society, embedded practices, socially-engaged art.