Livraria Lello inaugurated an "unprecedented" project with Time magazine, which highlights authors awarded by the Swedish academy who were the cover of the North American magazine. The art installation "Livraria Lello X Time: What Makes a Nobel?", by Time's creative director, D.W. Pine, highlights authors who received the Nobel, but also others who "deserved front cover honours" of Time because of "their value ‘nobelizable’ of its literature". The installation is made up of 12 panels, which feature the covers of Time magazine, from Rudyard Kipling, one of the first Nobel laureates in Literature, to Toni Morrison, awarded by the Swedish Academy in 1993, as well as other authors who were featured on the cover, such as Virginia Woolf and William Shakespeare.

Ai Weiwei (Beijing, 1957) is a global citizen, artist, thinker and activist who uses various modes of investigation and production in his work, depending on the direction and outcome of the research he currently has in hands. From iconoclastic positions in regard to authority and history — which included the triptych Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn, 1995, and a series of photographs entitled Study of Perspective, (1995 - 2011), in which he shows the middle finger to symbols of power — his output has diversified to encompass architecture, public art and performance. In addition to concerns of form and protest, Ai Weiwei currently measures our existence according to the relation to economic, political, natural, and social forces, uniting craftsmanship with conceptual creativity. Universal symbols of humanity and community, such as bicycles, flowers or trees, as well as the perennial problems of borders and conflicts are reformulated and enhanced through installations, sculptures, films and photographs, while continuing to speak out publicly on issues he believes important. He is one of the most prominent cultural figures of his generation and an example of freedom of expression, both in China and internationally. The works on display — Iron Roots (2019) and Pequi Tree (2018 - 2020) — are part of a body of work that reflects Ai Weiwei's interest and concern with the environment and, more specifically, with the deforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The exhibition in Serralves was conceived specifically for the park and for the Museum's central room.

“Quando a Terra Voltar a Brilhar Verde para Ti” (When the Green of the Earth Will Glisten for You Anew), an exhibition that “steals” the title of a verse by the German poet Hölderlin, also used by the filmmakers, Jean Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet for their film about the death of the Greek philosopher Empedocles. Here one can admire the famous Júlio Dinis’ Herbarium in dialogue with drawings and sculptures by artists such as Rui Chafes, Ilda David, Teixeira de Pascoaes, Manuel Rosa and Lourdes Castro. There are also mural paintings by José Almeida Pereira, based on works by artists linked to the romantic imaginary, and an original sound composition by Jonathan Uliel Saldanha and Pedro Monteiro.

Modus Operandi took as its starting point a careful reading of the Serralves Collection since its inception, with the set of works acquired by the Secretary of State for Culture even before the Serralves Foundation and the Museum were created, to its most recent additions. From the outset, this Collection has had the ambition of including avant-garde artistic forms, experimentalist in nature and of an international scope, looking at the world from the Portuguese aesthetic and cultural specificity of the years that followed the 1974 Revolution. Also remarkable is the crossing and mixing of artistic disciplines such as plastic arts, music, performance and literature. This exhibition brings together a selection of works that reflect various transdisciplinary, experimental and conceptual approaches that demonstrate the attitudes, contexts and concerns of artistic output from the 1960s to the present day. The title comes from the homonymous work by the North American artist Joseph Kosuth, belonging to the Portuguese State Collection of Contemporary Art (Coleção de Arte Contemporânea do Estado-CACE) in storage in Serralves, which is presented in the exhibition. Modus Operandi points to different ways of doing, of operating, namely of making and thinking art. It is precisely in this sense that the presentation, for the first time, of a portfolio, also belonging to CACE, in which 30 international artists pay homage to Joseph Beuys show the importance of his legacy in the way of making art, of his belief that art can change the world and that everyone can be an “artist”.

“Desdesenho” by Tomás Cunha Ferreira. Curated by Museu da Cidade’s Programming Hub. Tomás Cunha Ferreira (Lisbon, 1973) combines several different formats, in a cross-border and open circuit artistic practice. He views each work as a prototype, that can take different forms, such as a score, notation, visual poem, emblem, pattern, painting, among other possibilities. To this extent, each work leads to a condensed hybrid figure, whose interpretation is in constant transition between the visual elements and the rhythmic or sound elements. Saturday, November 13th, at 4:30PM, Casa Guerra Junqueiro presents “Desdesenhos Animados” performance-concert with Tomás Cunha Ferreira.

Station 1 reveals the history of absence, rather than the history of presence. Fragments and further fragments are used to narrate moments that indicate the existence of the current and previous epochs. Materials from different periods coexist with audiovisual devices and different types of image, to show us how PortuCale - the city that gave Portugal its name - became Porto.

The Christmas magic has arrived at Immersivus Gallery with “O Fabuloso Circo de Natal” (Fabulous Christmas Circus). An immersive audiovisual experience with several moments full of surprises and fun. The voice of national radio host Nuno Markl guides the audience inside a circus tent where the magic of Christmas happens in a fabulous show. Throughout the show, you will find references to the city of Porto, in immersive environments, allowing the audience to identify themselves with the show and join this adventure. This circus artistic acts are performed by special animated characters of humans and animals in a creative way. The magician, the clown, the orchestra are some of the performers from all over the world that you will see in the show. All these elements transform Immersivus Gallery into a virtual circus while taking the spectator into a 360º immersive experience.

The exhibition, GERMANO ARCHIVE, presents a series of items from the extensive collection that the historian, journalist, bibliophile and collector, Germano Silva, recently donated to the Municipal Historical Archive, on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday. The items mark the vast and important legacy that he has developed over the past seven decades, related to the city's history.

Mark Bradford (Los Angeles, 1961) is currently acknowledged as one of the names that best defined painting of the last two decades, by creating his own pictorial language to talk about universal themes, such as the distribution of power within societal structures and its impact on the individual or the relationship between art and community engagement. In his work, the social element is given through his choice of materials. Using everyday materials and tools found in hardware stores, Bradford created a unique artistic language. Often referred to as “social abstraction”, his work is rooted on the understanding that all materials and techniques are embedded with a meaning that precedes their artistic utility. His signature style developed out of his experimentation with endpapers, the small, translucent papers used in hairdressers, but he has since experimented with other types of paper, including maps, billboards, film posters, comic books and ‘merchant posters’ advertising predatory services in economically distressed neighbourhoods. Through this rigorously physical approach to the material presence of painting, Bradford has been addressing crucial issues of our time, such as the AIDS epidemic; the misrepresentation and fear of queer and homosexual identity; systemic racism in the United States; and more recently, the Covid-19 crisis.

Ever Archive: The Publications and Publication Projects of Hans-Ulrich Obrist. “Ever Archive: The Publications and Publication Projects of Hans Ulrich Obrist” is an exhibition devoted to the Chicago-based publication archive of curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, who is the Artistic Director at Serpentine Galleries in London. The exhibition comprises a series of modules that address the intertwining of documents and their stories: the people, events and institutions that all played a role in bringing them into being. The exhibition also questions, through metaphor and other representations, the different behaviours of an archive: its fragility and instability, its relationship to other archives, as well as its various historical gaps. A central component of the show is a series of vitrine exhibitions that examine not only the historic architecture of the vitrine and its relationship to the “Wunderkammer”, but also the conceptual possibilities that vitrines impose through their physical constraints. “Ever Archive” also includes a history of the archive itself - an archive of the archive - which documents how it has changed over time in relation to the context of technological tools and human knowledge.

This exhibition features works by Pedro Tudela (Viseu, 1962) belonging to the Serralves Collection, spanning nearly 30 years of work, from 1990 to 2019. Pedro Tudela studied Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and started his career in the 1980s. Since then, he has proved to be an eclectic artist, working in different artistic disciplines and fields, such as painting, sculpture, performance, sound, multimedia, as well as set design and experimental electronic music. His earliest works from 1980 were paintings, but already in the early 1990s he introduced sound in his work, which happens for the first time in the exhibition “Mute… life” (Galeria Atlântica, Porto, 1992), from which a work is featured here. In that exhibition, sound was still autonomous from the visual works that made up the exhibition, acting as an enveloping soundtrack and aggregating the various elements on display. From then on, sound became more and more relevant, fully integrating the work, visually and conceptually, in the same way as drawing, painting or sculpture. Tudela works and incorporates the various disciplines without hierarchies or boundaries between them, precisely reflecting the permeability between languages ​​that becomes one of the main characteristics of his work. Sound gains prominence, is treated visually, often materialized in sculptures through the incorporation of the devices that generate it — loudspeakers, magnetic tapes, cables, speakers are plastic material in a dual aspect, visual and acoustic. Tudela's artistic practice is inseparable from human existence and the world, which has manifested itself in different ways throughout its trajectory, represented in this exhibition in a selection of nine works.

Christina Kubisch is one of today's most celebrated sound artists. After studying painting, flute, piano, musical composition and electronic music, she began, in the 1970s, to work with sound sculptures, installations and electroacoustic compositions that would establish her as a trailblazer artist in the field of Sound Art. In the late 1970s, Christina Kubisch began using the technique of electromagnetic induction in her installations, a device that allows the transmission of sounds between electrical cables and headphones with magnetic coils specially designed by the artist. This system, which Kubisch has been constantly improving both technically and artistically, has been the starting point for numerous sound installations carried out around the world since 1980. It brings together and intersects various aspects of Kubisch's work: a revelation and awareness of the flow of energy and sound that, in an age dominated by technology that surrounds us anytime, anywhere; the proposal of an aesthetic dimension to the sounds transported by electricity and electromagnetism, in compositions that are constituted either by the artist's choices or by the movement of the public, conscious and self-determined; the underlining of our condition as beings connected by much more than what is on the surface, namely by what is invisible and silent. The installation THE GREENHOUSE, 2017 (with a new version for Serralves in 2021), is an example of Kubisch's works that use electromagnetic induction. The public, equipped with headphones, is given access to the soundscape that emerges from the approximately 1,500 meters of suspended cables in the Museum's Contemporary Gallery. When moving in the space, the public will be able to mix the series of natural and electromagnetic sounds that circulate in them. Also in BRUNNENLIEDER [FOUNTAIN SONGS], 2009, natural sounds are fused - either from the Serralves Park where it is installed or from recordings - with musical quotations from vinyl records of Schubert's song “Ein Brunnen vor dem Tore”, (based on a traditional song with the same name), gathered under the sign and sound plasticity of water. SILENCE PROJECT, 2011 – ongoing, focuses on a line of research and artistic practice by Kubisch that addresses the material, conceptual and cultural questions of silence. Based on a collection of recordings of the words that mean “silence” in about seventy languages, the project is divided into two works: one made from the images of sonograms of these words (“Analyzing Silence”, 2011 – ongoing), and another (“Silent Exercises”, 2011 - ) includes a silent video projection where these images merge and a sound installation based on the spatialization of a composition of the recordings of words, which will impose itself on the silence in the tower of the Chapel of the Serralves Villa. In 2010, Christina Kubisch presented a version for the centre of Porto of her well-known “Electrical Walks”, as part of the Trama performing arts festival. Now in 2021, Kubisch will have her first exhibition in Portuguese territory, constituting an opportunity for a closer relationship with this fundamental artist and historical figure in contemporary music and art.

The partnership between Manoel de Oliveira and Agustina Bessa-Luís is one of the most intricate chapters in the already tangled history of film adaptations of literary texts. As all the books are a unique case as affinities and dissimilarities between literature and cinema are concerned and having given rise to unusual accomplishments, the intersections between the works of both authors are crucial for understanding the body of work of each one. Having started in 1981, with the adaptation of the novel “Fanny Owen” (1979) into the film “Francisca”, Oliveira's collaboration with Agustina continued until 2005, with “Espelho Mágico” (Magic Mirror), an adaptation of “A Alma dos Ricos” (2002). In between, there are eight other texts by the writer that inhabit the director's oeuvre, which includes three novels, two dialogues, a play, a short story and a speech read by Agustina herself. In order to think about these relations between literature and cinema, it was useful to bring to the exhibition a wide range of scientific and para-scientific, knowledge and other even more obscure ones, because only these can illuminate a field of ​​knowledge essentially made up of intuitions and paradoxes, inversions of meaning and perplexities. The clash between words and images, between novels and films, calls for other confrontations, which we tried to explore in the exhibition, and opens up an interstitial space, a place of the aesthetic and the symbolic, where all this ancient and modern knowledge is brought into play. The terms of this dialogue are probably the most fruitful partnership of Portuguese arts and letters in the last hundred years.

The Miró Collection, owned by the Portuguese State, on loan to the Municipality of Porto and deposited at the Serralves Foundation, comprises 85 artworks and includes paintings, sculptures, collages, drawings and tapestries by the renowned Catalan artist. The Collection spans six decades of Joan Miró's work, from 1924 to 1981, thus being an excellent introduction to his work and his main artistic concerns. The exhibition follows on from the conclusion of the works of the Serralves Villa’s restoration and adaptation project, by the architect Álvaro Siza, who had the support of the Porto City Council, under the terms of the protocol that defines the conditions for depositing the Miró Collection in Serralves. Joan Miró (1893-1983), one of the great “form-givers” of the 20th century, was simultaneously an aesthetic “assassin” who challenged the traditional limits of the medium in which he worked. In his art, the different practices dialogue with each other, crossing the mediums: painting communicates with drawing; sculpture seduces woven objects; and collages, always conjugations of disparate entities, function as a major principle or matrix for exploring the depths of reality. This exhibition does not follow a chronological or linear format: the works are thematically aggregated, trying to give a holistic view of the artist's career. The various rooms address different aspects of his art: the development of a sign language; the artist's encounter with abstract painting that was done in Europe and America; his interest in the process and the expressive gesture; its complex responses to the social drama of the 1930s; the innovative approach to collage; the impact of Southwest Asian aesthetics on his drawing practice; and, above all, his incessant curiosity about the nature of materials.

“Il Divino Michelangelo & Il Genio Da Vinci” is an abstract journey inspired by the artistic creation of two great Renaissance artists: Da Vinci (Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci, 1452-1519) and Michelangelo (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, 1475-1564). The journey begins with the legacy of the artist Michelangelo, known as the Divine One. We approach his work from its genesis to its influences in the various artistic aspects - painting, sculpture and architecture. As if he were anointed by God to materialise it, Michelangelo shapes several iconic works. In the show, we revisited the hand in the fresco of The Creation of Adam (fresco, 1511), the sculptures of David (1501) the warrior who faced Goliath, and of Bacchus (1596). There are also references to Roman mythology and biblical references like the work of the Pietà (sculpture, 1498) and several paintings on the Sistine Chapel’s Ceiling (1508-1512) where it is possible to observe “The Flood” and “The Last Judgment”. The journey ends at the starting point: The Creation of Adam. The next stage of the trip follows, where we contemplate the mind of the restless genius Leonardo Da Vinci, in a visual show through his writings, research, inventions and studies, up to his main works, such as Vitruvian Man (1490), the paintings of Last Supper (1495-98) and the Mona Lisa (1503-06).

Impressive Monet is a reinterpretation of the works of art from the fouding father of impressionism showing the journey beyond the frame through the artist's endless search for capturing light. The audience will be immersed in the artist's impressionist movement and surrounded by the lines and colours that are part of Monet's world. Brilliant Klimt traces the path along the biographical aspects and the artistic legacy of the Austrian artist through his iconic painting - The Kiss. This will be the artistic path while exploring influences of Klimt's world. The audience will be immersed in Klimt's intimacy and will be anthralled by the artist's romantic art.

From Tuesday to Friday, at 12:30PM, the monitors of the Museu da Cidade guide tours lasting 30 minutes, upon purchase of a ticket.

"Porto Legends: The Underground Experience" is an audiovisual event that will introduce ten legends related to the history of Porto. The show will be screened at Furnas (underground) of Alfândega do Porto. The latest creation by the Portuguese studio OCUBO, specialist in video mapping projects, debuts at Furnas of Alfândega do Porto. Through an immersive experience, the show will reveal ten legends related to the history of Porto, inspired by the book of historian Joel Cleto, "As Lendas do Porto". The Porto Legends - The Underground Experience project had 70 actors, 120 costumes and 30 video artists, using 50 high definition video projectors, strategically installed on the walls, floors, ceilings, columns and arches of Furnas of Alfândega do Porto. The ten legends that make up the show are narrated by Pedro Abrunhosa, in the Portuguese version, and the award-winning British actor Jeremy Irons, in the English version. Over 45 minutes, legends will be told such as Pedro Cem, Zé do Telhado, Baron Forrester, the famous Porto-style tripes, the mystery of Serra do Pilar’s Treasure; the violent siege of Porto, the 1755 earthquake and the ghost of São Bento Train Station. The public is invited to move about freely during the show, in an unprecedented 360º worldwide experience. Porto.CARD - NOT TO BE MISSED! Enjoy Porto.CARD and have discounts on tickets: Full ticket: 2€ discount / Pack of Two exhibitions: 3€ discount Reduced ticket: 1€ discount /Pack of Two exhibitions: 1.50€ discount

Since winning the piano category in the BBC Young Musician of the Year as the youngest person ever in the competition, Benjamin Grosvenor has become the craze of British pianism. Nowadays he regularly plays at the most prestigious concert halls in the world, his discography is highly acclaimed by specialised critics and the world's major orchestras vie for his presence. Known for the careful and imaginative programme choices, Benjamin Grosvenor made his Portuguese debut at Casa da Música with enormous success. In 2021 he closes the Piano Cycle with masterpieces by the most important composers of Romanticism, including the Sonatas in B minor by Chopin and Liszt in the programme.

One of the most iconic fairs in the city, it is exclusively to sell used objects, namely clothes, crockery, furniture and decorative items, records, books, electrical and / or electronic appliances, household items and working tools. Location: Avenida 25 de abril

It consists of a tourist orienteering course, from 10 am to 1 pm, passing by some iconic monuments of the city or places of tourist interest. The activity does not have any competitive nature, and intends to be a way of learning the sport, in communion with culture and tourism. The Porto World Heritage Site orienteering map and the manual control system with pliers and paper card will be used. At the control points there will be a miniature beacon and pliers. To facilitate logistics, the oars placed next to the monuments will be used as a control point. The codes of the control points will be the same as those inscribed in those oars. It is advisable to wear comfortable shoes. The organiser will provide water at the end of the course.

From the visit to the exhibition DESENHOS DE MESTRES EUROPEUS, with special attention to the drawings of Domingos Sequeira, all the expressiveness of the gesture when exploring the potential of record materials and instruments will challenge us to draw. It is about unveiling the “whims” of our imagination, expressed in Drawing. We will seek the creativity manifested in the plastic surprises of atmospheric spaces, in the memories of landscapes, in the diversity of different scales, in the spatial perceptions up to infinity, in reality, in the dream realm...

Abelha [Bee] has the name of an insect, the image of an insect, but in this case it is an insect whose sting only brings benefits (and does not need medical assistance). Abelha is an art market that was born 3 years ago, promoted by Hive and curated by the artist André Rocha. It quickly became an important event in the city’s artistic circuit. “Its objective”, says the organization, is to “create the space for and promote the work of artists and the growing love for art in our city”, priority being given to emerging artists. The new edition takes place on December 4th, at the Cedofeita Shopping Centre, from 2 pm to 7 pm. In the corridors of the historic building, works of illustration, painting, ceramics and photography from the hands and imagination of the 25 registered artists can be admired and purchased.

Spontaneous and popular fair where you can buy birds, food and cages. Even if you do not want to buy anything, you can enjoy the singing birds, their colour and the liveliness of the fair. When passing through the fair, one must take a look at the breath-taking view of the Douro River and its bridges.

A gathering place for various collectors, this fair has as purpose the sale and exchange of coins, postcards, stamps and other related collectibles. It takes place under the arcades of the buildings surrounding the square.

With many years of existence, this fair is already a sociocultural tradition. It is very sought-after, both by the residents of Bairro da Pasteleira and by the general population. Various products are sold here, namely food, clothing, footwear and home textiles. Location: Rua Bartolomeu Velho

Since it was released in 2004, the song “Podia Ser Natal” has returned to the radio waves in the coming Christmas time. It has become a classic in the group's repertoire. UHF will be, for the second time in 2021, in the city of Porto for a themed concert at the Coliseu – the performance will take place in the middle of the audience. Three classics from the international Christmas repertoire join “Podia Ser Natal”. On December 5th, at 5 pm – a new, unique, challenging event, not to be missed.

FC Porto vs Atlético de Madrid - EUFA Champions League

In the spring of 1886, a young Richard Strauss took a trip across Italy that represented a turning point in his creative journey. It gave rise to the symphonic fantasy “Aus Italien” (From Italy), the first programmatic orchestral composition by what was to become a key master of this genre. It is a musical description of some places that especially stirred Strauss's emotions, from the fields and ruins of Rome to the beach at Sorrento and the Naples region. The work of the Italian Respighi in the programme is also based on an external suggestion: four religious episodes represented in the stained-glass window of a church. This concert that brings “Ano Itália” to an end, begins with the famous overture “Le Carnaval Romain” by Berlioz, in which the allusion to popular festivities is made with the contagious rhythm of the “saltarello”, a popular dance with roots in the Middle Ages.

A show based on a long Rap written by Boaventura de Sousa Santos, two young actors (Joel Sines and Miguel Branca), and an even younger actress (Teresa Fonseca Costa), in the ‘suburban’ universe, under the direction of Sandra Salomé and musical direction (featuring live) by hip hopper Fuse. It places us in the ‘scene’ of an increasingly confused world, also using for this the symbolism of a plastic installation by Acácio Carvalho… An ‘underground’ musical? An “videoclip alive”? A ‘total theatre’? ... Seeing is believing and disbelieving! It takes place in the space of a bold project, encompassing a Hotel, a Music Library and a magnificent Concert Hall (MO.U.CO), which has taken on the role of co-producer. Only on December 10th, 11th and 12th.

In conjunction with the exhibition DESENHOS DE MESTRES, this workshop returns to the materials and processes used in ancient drawing. From iron gall inks to silverpoints, from black stone to soft charcoal, from spolvero (pouncing) to the “trois crayons” technique (sanguine, charcoal and chalk), drawing has always adapted a huge variety of natural and manufactured materials to situations of intense exploration. This workshop will explore one of the cross-cutting mediums to the history of drawing which, despite the intermittence and discontinuity in its use, is currently experiencing a revival as an artistic medium – the silverpoint. In this workshop, participants will familiarize themselves with the history of this medium, with the processes and tools associated with it, and explore its possibilities by drawing the museum spaces and its gardens.

“The hour before sunset has a magic all its own...” Rosa Luxemburg wrote to her friend Hans Diefenbach in a letter sent from Wronke prison, in the summer of 1917. Based on this correspondence, Colombian artist Milena Bonilla invites us to think about the possibilities of building an imaginary universe that navigates between literature, botany, sporadic historical references and collective mythologies. Here, “that hour before sunset” appears as a conception of a magical temporal moment that links past and present through the creation of emotional resonances. For the construction of this exhibition, the artist explores the limits of the archive as a way of connecting collective memory. The project infiltrates itself in the symbolic interstitial spaces between the garden of Palácio de Cristal, the Municipal Library Almeida Garrett and Galeria Municipal do Porto in order to relate different forms of knowledge output to investigate the concept of something that we could call 'suspended historical temporality'.

The fear of failure (simultaneous with the desire for success), boosted by the capitalist economic system (which infects all other social and cultural systems), has become both one of the greatest human driving forces and the value of judgment by which we evaluate ourselves, serving as a measure that establishes social hierarchies. But the concepts of failure and success are never free from prerogatives: the idea of success is intrinsically linked to several determining factors - skin colour, gender, sexuality, etc. - and, above all, to fulfil the expected roles within these categories. Failure, and learning from failure, take on an important role in artistic output - between dissatisfaction, rejection, doubt, error and experience, the idea of successively trying and failing can fuel speculative experimentation and conceptual creation. Assuming the premise of failure as a tool of counter-hegemonic resistance, this exhibition, curated by Marta Espiridião, calls for criticism of the static models of success and failure, and for questioning their role in the construction of personal and ordinary life.

A few days before Christmas, another edition of “Sábado Feira” will happen, this time to promote broader artistic appreciation. This fair, whose name indicates the day of the week it will take place (Sábado means Saturday), allows the public to come into contact with and enjoy works of photography, painting, illustration, but also posters, zines, ceramic pieces, among other designer works. Developed by artists Mariana Malhão and Dylan Silva, this fair seeks to raise the profile of new names in the arts in general, through open calls where artists can register and promote their work.

Thirty years ago, the world was different. But some of the songs that today still have the ability to gather crowds were intensely played on radios and concert halls. Some of these songs were created by a collective named “Resistência”, a group of friends who came up with a clear intention of joining guitars and voices, gathering the best songs of a generation. The success of this superband brought together a generation around songs like “Nasce Selvagem”, “Não Sou o Único” and “Um Lugar ao Sol”. The albums “Horizonte” (2014) and “Ventos e Mares” (2018) are part of the band's second life, testaments of a history that is far from the end.

On Saturday, December 11th, we have the first session dedicated to Mário Bonito with the screening of the musical “The Red Shoes”, programmed by the architect in the Cycle “O Bailado no Cinema”, in 1951. A masterpiece of British cinema from the 1940’s, THE RED SHOES is focused on the relationship between life and art. Guided by a businessman visibly inspired by the figure of Diaghilev (Leonid Massine, one of the Russian businessman's collaborators, has a role in the film), a young dancer becomes a star, but has to face the dilemma between giving herself entirely to her career or sacrifice her love. Technicolor photography by Jack Cardiff, fabulous art direction by Hein Heckroth and music by Brian Easdale have created one of the most beautiful musicals ever.

The audience is called to participate in this special concert by helping the artists on stage to perform a new composition. The work to be premiered is a commission to Cathy Milliken, composer, oboist and founding member of the prestigious Ensemble Modern, and is entitled “Night Shift”. It is based on Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream” which is about conflict and resolution. The Fairies are the influencers, and the Mechanicals are the ones who live life in a pragmatic way. The presentation at Casa da Música includes texts in Portuguese created especially for this occasion and promises to become an unforgettable experience. An initiative promoted by the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne, the Connect project challenges conventions and has a European dimension, with the collaboration of prestigious contemporary music ensembles — in addition to the Remix Ensemble, the London Sinfonietta, the Asko·Schönberg and the Ensemble Modern.

There is a word: Lusobourger. In the 1960s, the Portuguese migratory exodus created a national exclave in Luxembourg representing about one sixth of the population of the Grand Duchy. Portuguese-descendant playwright and stage director Pedro Martins Beja takes us back home and back to the past, and does so through a mixtape. In this recording of memories, Portugal is not so much a real, historical place, but a country far from childhood, imagined through words and sounds. A sound spectrum of memory, made up of fado echoes on a raucous radio and television commercials, the pig slaughter feast and tales of werewolves and witchcraft – the incongruous line-up of a cassette shared by young and old, by the ones who left and the ones who stayed. In “O Começo Perdido: Mixtape #1” (The Lost Beginning: Mixtape #1), we hear the fulfilled dreams and the shattered illusions of a country that lives outside its borders. Here, Pedro Martins Beja will dive not only into his old mixtapes, but also into the ones belonging to the members of a cast that combines Portuguese and Lusobourger actors. After “Castro's” recent tour of Luxembourg, this show is yet another reflection of the cooperation programme between Teatro Nacional São João and Théâtre National du Luxembourg.

On Thursday, December 16th, we will screen Martin McDonagh's dark comedy, “In Bruges”. After a hit in London gone wrong, two assassins are sent to quiet Bruges, Belgium, to disappear off the map for a while. Ray hates the city and is irritated by the failure of the hit, while Ken looking at his colleague in a patronizing way, lets himself be carried away by the calm and beauty of that legendary Belgian city with strong medieval features. During their stay, they have a series of encounters with both tourists and locals, a dwarf American actor, prostitutes and a mysterious woman. The vacation ends when the boss calls one of them and orders him to murder the other. The labyrinthine streets of Bruges then become a surreal scene of persecution.

When Bach composed the “Christmas Oratorio” in 1734, he intended to combine the traditional structure of sacred cantatas, with arias, recitatives and choirs, with an innovative narrative concept centred on the figure of the Evangelist, played by the tenor. The work consists of six cantatas with different vocal and instrumental devices, each intended to be performed on a specific day of the Christmas season. In this special concert conducted by Stefan Blunier, the Orquestra Sinfónica and Coro Casa da Música join four prestigious international soloists to perform the first three cantatas, which describe the birth of Jesus, the annunciation and adoration of the shepherds.

"Mama, grandma, Forest, Cake." The spoken word, narrated from a book that opens, suggests the transforming power of the setting into imaginary. "Look out, wolf, dangerous." The mother narrator warns the unknown. And the Little red riding hood-ballerina, in her unique journey, dances in the moonlight with the lying wolf, in the forest that is also her grandmother's house with such a big mouth that it turned out to be the wolf, which wasn't that bad but who was hungry. The hunter hears the scream and does not kill, but saves. The moral is appeasing. A play assembled from unexpected contrasts that serve to illuminate each of its elements, animated flesh and blood characters, and inanimate objects of the set. The body expression and the dance reveal the profile of the sound of the syllable and the music. Who can remain indifferent to the wonderful Duet of Cats and the Exaltation of Animals? The image, the movement, the sound and the word perfectly synchronized, in a play in which there was once upon a time an enchanted, dramatic and vividly enchanting story.

Christmas is a time of dreams and fancies. In this iconic workshop of our Educational Centre, the Teatro a Quatro company invites participants to unleash and express their fancies in artistic activities, in the form of writing, performance, music and illustration/plastic direction. Is there an art wish waiting to be fulfilled? Nothing better than giving that dream wings on the stage where dreams come alive.

It's the mystery of the year: the tree is already put up and decorated, the lights are shining all over the house, the rabanadas (French toast) and custard are abundant on the table, but the stockings hanging on the fireplace and the presents' corner for the whole family are still … empty! More than enough reason to get (or not) in distress, because... Santa Claus has disappeared. Let the magic of Christmas come and solve an adventure that we wish to be a happy one! At the Fernando Sardoeira Pinto Auditorium (Futebol Clube do Porto Museum) and under the ingenious and performative baton of Rui Ramos, this is another “História com Magia para Dragõezinhos” aimed at children, but without forgetting the elders. The event is designed for family participation, because in this enchanting universe, even adults have a blast!

On December 18th and 19th, the WWM - Winter Wine Market returns! The Christmas edition of VINHOS a Descobrir, an ideal Wine Market for people who loves wine and especially for those who like to offer excellent wines on their Christmas gifts, at fantastic prices! At the Ferreira Borges Market, a beautiful space in the city, in the heart of Porto's historic centre, we bring together wine lovers and wine Producers, sharing novelties, to once again be dazzled and love it! Meet who produces these excellent wines and have a unique experience, in a large place, in a relaxed atmosphere, with permanent entertainment by DJ Tatá Pimentel. This edition has more than 380 references, by 43 Producers, from various regions! We look forward to seeing you!

On Sunday, December 19th, we will have an absolutely special session dedicated to the little ones and as a tribute to the architect Mário Bonito, one of those responsible for the children's section of the “Cineclube do Porto”. Dumbo, Disney's all-time classic, will be screened on Sunday at 11am. A little gem from Walt Disney Studios. DUMBO is an adaptation of a series of popular stories by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, which tell the adventures of an elephant marked by difference: Dumbo is small in size and has huge ears. But he will discover that these allow him to fly. A film that shows that “the difference” doesn't count.

CHRISTMAS is always a very special time, but this year it's going to be amazing! Picture this; a stage, with amazing musicians and singers performing the Christmas songs we all know. That's what we'll be able to see, in the first edition of “The Cotton Christmas”, a show with an exclusive repertoire of Christmas classics, with soul, funky and lots of fun, which will bring together AUREA, CAIS SODRÉ FUNK CONNECTION and the special guest NBC on the same stage. In the words of AUREA, this will be the ideal show to “take the whole family and have a good time, making us forget the hard times we all went through in recent months”. CAIS SODRÉ FUNK CONNECTION, the true funk locomotive, will give life to all the songs, sung by AUREA, TAMIN and NBC, distributing happiness, smiles and good vibes, like true Christmas gifts. Get those voices ready and …let it snow!