METAMORFOSES focuses on the profusion and the process of integration of the imaginary and the vegetal, mineral and animal themes in a romantic domestic space, bringing to the halls of the house of Quinta da Macieirinha several pieces, some previously exhibited in the former Romantic Museum and other spaces of Museu da Cidade, others never exhibited, showing the unquestionable quality and diversity of the municipal collections. This exhibition also marks the beginning of the evocation of the centenary of the death of Porto artist, Aurélia de Souza, a key moment of the 2022/2023 programme. The celebrated self-portrait of the artist as “Santo António” (Saint Anthony), made around 1902, will be part of the new collection that brings together paintings, furniture, tapestries and textiles, ceramics, crockery and silverware, as well as other surprising sections of the collection, such as sets of fans, cut-out papers and malacology.

This exhibition, the artist's first solo show in Portugal, is centred around her most recent film – “Eu sou uma arara” [I am a macaw] (2022) – which will have its first ever premiere in Serralves. Made in collaboration with filmmaker Mariana Lacerda, this medium-length film is a critical reflection on the impact of deforestation in the Amazon upon its indigenous peoples at a time of political and social tension. This work is also the result of a long period of research and a series of actions in São Paulo where dozens of figures inspired by Brazilian fauna and flora were paraded through the city's streets, like a dense and powerful forest. Heir to the historical legacy of the post-war avant-garde movements, from neo-concrete to tropicália, Rivane Neuenschwander (b. 1967) is one of the most renowned names in Brazilian contemporary art. In her work, the artist combines different media and mediums to build a unique visual repertoire that explores narratives on a wide range of themes, including language and time, popular culture and literature, psychoanalysis and art, nature and society, politics and philosophy, fear and desire. One of her most iconic works, “Eu desejo o seu desejo” [I wish your wish] (2003), a collection of wishes reminiscent of the wish ribbons/bracelets of Senhor do Bonfim, will be placed in the Chapel of Serralves Villa.

Cindy Sherman: Metamorphosis presents a series of works that span the artist's career from her earliest work to her most recent works. The exhibition was organized in dialogue with the artist and in partnership with The Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles, an institution that has collected in depth Cindy Sherman's work for over thirty years. Mainly known for photographs in which she portrays herself as her own model, embodying the role of female media-influenced stereotypes in a wide range of personas and environments, Cindy Sherman shoots alone in her studio, serving as artistic director, photographer, makeup artist, hairdresser and subject. The portrait practice she began decades ago is responsible for some of the most striking and influential images in contemporary art. For this ambitious presentation in Serralves, the museum's galleries will undergo a radical transformation, creating a theatrical set to host the storyboard that the artist's photographs make up. The exhibition will also include new work, especially created for the Serralves Museum: a large photographic mural, which will give the exhibition an additional uniqueness. Generally, the artist does not give titles to her works, trying to avoid preconceived interpretations or pre-interpretations that could influence the viewer, preferring to leave the construction of the stories to the discretion of each person. The images are, however, grouped in series and numbered and explore various themes and techniques, thus reinforcing the differentiation and classification: Untitled Film Still (1983-1984), Fashion (1983-84), Bus Rider (1976-2000), The Fairy Tales (1985), The Disasters (1986-89), The Historical Portraits (1988-90) , Sex Pictures (1992), Horror and Surrealistic Pictures (1994), Masks (1995), Broken Dolls (1999), The Hollywood/Hampton Ladies Portraits (2000), The Clowns (2003-05), Society (2008). In the exhibition in Serralves, these series are presented with no chronological order, but rather building a narrative. In Sherman's works, individual compositions and narratives refer to a complete and complex repertoire of female identities: but while the early works are full of visible emotions, in the later photographs the emotions are gradually excluded. The works are not self-portraits, but representations perfected by the distance from the camera or lens that captures them or, as Rosalind Krauss said, they are “a copy without actually having an original”. In the late 1980s, Sherman felt the need to suppress her presence and created unreal and grotesque images, accident scenes, made up of supernatural and terrifying characters who embodied irrational fears and nightmares and created macabre and repulsive settings. Gradually, the artist's body is replaced by fake breasts, human excrescences, bodily fluids, sexual debris, medical prostheses, which later gave rise to Sex Pictures (1992), one of her most daring series, in which Sherman arranges mannequins into pseudo-pornographic tableaux, deliberately un-erotic that challenge the porn industry standards. The artist's return to the centre of the image took place around 2000 with the series Head Shots, where she features a series of studio portraits, or the disturbing series Clowns (2003-05) and, later, images of elderly women. If the fake or artificial body parts force the viewer to confront the staged aspect of the work, the tragic and vulgar appearance of the characters compels him to feel a certain empathy and respect for them. On the other hand, there is an evident change in the positioning of the camera, in the alteration of the sets, in the saturation and overlapping of props and extraneous elements in the composition, as well as the size of the print. Later, in the Society series (2008), Sherman continues her exploration into distorted ideals of beauty, self-image and aging in a society obsessed with youth and status through characters set in sumptuous backgrounds and presenting these photographs in ornate frames. Sherman goes from analogue to digital and, like her characters, she experiments with various possibilities: truly natural settings in her first images, film techniques such as “rear projection”, studio photography (the place where she has greater control over the image construction), the cyclorama and finally construction images on digital backgrounds. Although her work is generally classified by critics and theorists as being associated with feminism, violence and voyeurism and focusing on representation, the artist herself tends to avoid this theoretical instrumentalization and such associations. When building a character, Sherman does not have a specific person in mind but a genre, and the complexity of the narrative is shaped in the specificity of the relationship between the setting and the character.

Yuri Dojc, a photographer renowned for his portraits of Jewish Holocaust survivors, and Katya Krausova, a veteran British filmmaker who, in 1997, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film (with "Kolya") and is now also the exhibition's curator, show the memories of the inhabitants of Bardejov, a small Slovak seaside town. The exhibition and the accompanying documentary began its journey in 2009 and have already travelled to three continents, in the most diverse venues: from the Cambridge Manuscript Library to the United Nations building in New York, to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, followed by Berlin and Moscow. Currently, several pictures from the exhibition are already part of the permanent collection of the Library of Congress in Washington (USA).

The title of the exhibition marking the centenary of Agustina Bessa-Luís (1922–2019) evokes the name of a film by the director with whom the writer maintained a regular and fruitful collaboration: “Um Filme Falado” [A Talking Picture] (2003) by Manoel de Oliveira. The starting point of the exhibition were the books “Aforismos” (1988), “Contemplação Carinhosa da Angústia” (2000), “Dicionário Imperfeito” (book published in 2008 that brings together excerpts from texts arranged in alphabetical order) and “Ensaios e Artigos” (1951–2007) (2017), which cover a wide range of subjects, themes and personalities. While reading these volumes – which both in terms of form and content can be understood as true revelations of Agustina's world – some of the writer's key ideas were identified. These themes are the entries for this “dictionary-exhibition”, each creating a dialogue with works from the Serralves Collection, by Portuguese and foreign artists, some of whom were her contemporaries. The aim is to create unexpected synapses, reverberations, between selected pieces and words, expanding their respective meanings and possible interpretations. The exhibition, which is to be read as much as to be seen, is presented as a three-dimensional book.

The craft market is made up of around 20 wooden huts, which sell books, decorative items, clothing and gastronomy. Live music, various workshops and entertainment will also be available throughout the month. The market, decorated with bright lights, provides a wonderful Christmas atmosphere that is well worth a visit.

With a reflective and singular career, Vera Mota (Porto, 1982) has been developing her work around the politics of the body, promoting and weighting its participation as a generative methodology and axis for conceptual formulations. Resorting mainly to sculpture, drawing and performance, and thus taking advantage of the breadth and permeability that these disciplines offer, her artistic practice involves a strong material component. In the work of Vera Mota, performance emerges as a means of production, composition or even staging, in a process where the body as the almost always indispensable agent, imprinting its gestures and circulations. The artist pays special attention to the economy of presence, effort and action, the artist proposes successive exercises of repositioning of the body, sometimes subjecting it to processes of almost complete erosion of its characteristics. Assuming a sculptural animism and claiming other perspectives of the body and materiality, Vera Mota reassesses modes of representation, proposing processes and strategies of disqualification, transfer or transfiguration of forms, status or functions, among bodies or the parts that compose them. DISEMBODIED is the artist's first exhibition in a museum - as if from the hands to the head - proposes a permanent and tense dialogue between drawing and sculpture, in which the spectators find themselves involved.

“Who tells a tale adds a tail’” is a proverb used to indicate that a story is added to with each telling, i.e., people add their own details to their account of the very same event or fact. “Story telling” is one of the expressions that best define the oeuvre of artist Paula Rego (Lisbon, 1935 – London, 2022); “adding tails”, which all readers and viewers do, is the most accurate expression that define the visitors of exhibitions. Paula Rego was one of the artists who obtained the most recognition in the country where she was born and raised (Portugal) as well as in England, where she studied and lived until her death, and worldwide. The readings of her work underlined above all the relationship between her painting, drawings and prints with folk and traditional tales (many of them Portuguese in origin), with literature (including for children) and with her autobiography (especially her childhood), as well as on her contribution to a constant questioning and redefinition of women’s role in society. Held in the same year when Paula Rego has passed away, this exhibition, showcases a remarkable amount of her works in the Serralves Collection – including the impressive polyptych Possessão [Possession] (2004) – is an opportunity to once again admire her work.

The Mercado Artesanal de Natal is back for a second edition! For 3 days, Atelier Em Forma brings to the Bonfim area a kind of "pop up store" with the best selection of creative, sustainable and independent projects that are really worth knowing and supporting. From illustration to jewellery, as well as handcrafted ceramics and textiles, artists and makers are excited to show their work! Come buy unique Christmas presents while supporting local creative production! See you there? Local: Atelier Sem Forma - Rua das Doze Casas nº 192

The immersive multimedia show “Misterioso Egito” [Mysterious Egypt] is a creative adaptation of more than 3,000 years of history, which will dazzle the viewer with its visual effects and music, transforming this space into a living testimony of this fascinating civilization. In this thirty-minute journey, accompanied by Ricardo Carriço’s voice, we explore some of the most symbolic moments and elements with iconic “stops”. We discover the treasure of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who celebrates 100 years, we unravel the enigma behind the famous Rosetta Stone (1799), we meet great pharaohs like Ramses II - The Great, we see the great Pyramids, among many other architectural and pictorial elements that are part of this imagination. Get ready for… A journey back in time to Egyptian civilisation, where you are invited to explore some of the most symbolic moments and elements of Egyptian culture.

From 1 to 4 and from 8 to 11 December, get to know the Christmas items, from Portuguese brands, between 11am and 7pm, at Hard Club, the main floor of Mercado Ferreira Borges. The 2 long weekends also feature acoustic concerts on Saturdays and a hairstylist on Sundays. On December 3rd and 12th, Hard Club's main floor stage will host the sounds of Mark Moakley (NZ/AUS), an Australian singer, author and songwriter, and André Carneiro (AiresMusic). And on December 4th and 11th, you'll find Emanuel Alegria, with scissors in hand to give a new look to every hair. From December 17th to 23rd, the party moves to the iconic building of Ateneu Comercial do Porto, from 11am to 8pm. This month when one celebrates Christmas, family, love and magic, the special edition of the Urban Christmas Market will have around 30 Portuguese designer projects to give you several options for original and unique Christmas presents.

This Christmas, give Portuguese crafts as gifts. The “Artes e Ofícios” fair, returns to Avenida Dom Afonso Henriques, close to São Bento Station. In this Christmas edition, the market organised by Santa Clara Associação will be open from 1 to 23 December, with various Portuguese handicraft products and objects. Ceramics, wool, linen, wood, leather, stone and iron objects, traditional toys and games, handmade soaps, cloth dolls and homemade liqueurs are some of the items that make good Christmas gifts.

For the first time, the special exhibition LEONARDO DA VINCI - Man - Inventor - Artist, THE GENIUS, presents a large number of his inventions, such as his machines, meticulously reconstructed on the basis of original sketches from various Codices and built with the materials available in his time: wood, fabric, rope and metal. The computer simulations, which were developed with the Vienna University of Applied Arts, explain the relationship between the original sketches and the 3-dimensional models, the primary way of working, and the improvements of other inventions. Most of the models are interactive. Despite the few paintings he produced, Leonardo's paintings are among the most famous in the world. Not only today but already in his time, some of his paintings were true attractions and were copied by many artists. This exhibition combines a chronological presentation and a comparison of all his paintings in one place and in original dimensions. The fascination of digital replicas consists in the reconstruction of the paintings, in terms of the probable original state with regards to the depth of colour and integrity, and the interesting journeys over more than 500 years of history

Warhol, People and Things: 1972-2022, a collection of 68 photographs, from the 1970s and 1980s, donated to the Mishkin Gallery by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and exhibited, for the first time, in Portugal and Europe. The exhibition reveals "the work of Andy Warhol and his contributions to the development of experimental art, the media and critical art discourse, in conversation with contemporary artists, while also exposing the pioneering pop artist to a new generation in Porto". In addition to Warhol's photographs, contemporary works of art will be exhibited, several of which were commissioned for the exhibition. Among the works on display are "Scenes from the Life Of Andy Warhol" (1982), by director Jonas Mekas, John Miller’s "Middle of the Day" photographs, three films by Jeff Preiss, including his most recent "Welcome to Jordan", 2022, and recent paintings by Anna Ostoya. Works by Portuguese artists Sara Graça and Pedro Magalhães were also commissioned, and pieces from Casa São Roque will also be included, such as photographs by Augusto Alves da Silva and Robert Mapplethorpe. The exhibition program also includes lectures on photography and the relationship between Warhol and Jonas Mekas.

Queer Porto 8's programming once again makes us reflect on important issues related to memory, individual and collective. It is with this motto that we return to inhabit Teatro Rivoli, with the two official competitions, the Casa Comum of the Rectory of the University of Porto, with a programme dedicated to EcoQueer, in addition to screenings at Teatro Helena Sá e Costa and Maus Hábitos. Gestures of memory and celebration, in a programme that evokes and “makes up” necessary pasts, thinks and questions our present, and projects us into the future.

Spiritus –The best way to travel is to feel is an innovative multimedia show that goes beyond the walls of the Church of Clérigos, in Porto. This immersive experience explores music, light, energy and colour, creating an atmosphere of visual poetry, synchronicity and lightness that fills the entire architecture of the Church of Clérigos. Created by OCUBO and freely inspired by the poem “Afinal, a melhor maneira de viajar é sentir” by Álvaro de Campos, Spiritus awakens the imaginary, spirituality and mindfulness in each spectator.

“Coral”, The Gift's tenth studio album, composed and produced by Nuno Gonçalves and Sónia Tavares, is "a record outside the group's usual aesthetic universe". Recorded in Vienna, with the participation of a 48-member choir, it brings together several collaborations, such as those of the composer Bernat Vivancos, producer Bogdan Raczynski, Pauliteiros de Miranda and José Manuel David, Carlos Guerreiro and Rui Vaz from Gaiteiros de Lisboa. It is the centre of this concert at Casa da Música, celebrating 25 years of the band's career.

“Serralves em Luz” is back for a second edition and transforms the entire Serralves Park into an impressive light exhibition, providing the night-time enjoyment of this magnificent space through a surprising experience. After the success of the first edition, mentioned in the British newspaper The Times as one of the 10 best exhibitions to visit in all of Europe, “Serralves em Luz” is back, with the creative direction of Nuno Maya and organised in conjunction with the Serralves team and with light designs by the OLAB Collective, Sophie Guyot, Tamar Frank and Tilen Sepič. Along a 3 km route, twenty-five light installations, using multiple sources, low energy consumption technologies and even plants recovered in the Park itself, provide a magical sensory experience, in an immersive environment that provides new perspectives of this remarkable space and beckons to discover its natural and architectural heritage. Nuno Maya's light designs, created specifically for this exhibition, combine various forms of light with different locations in the Park, awakening in the spectator different visual sensations and emotions, while international interventions focus on luminous and interactive sculptural pieces that enable, for the for the first time, an active role of the audience that can thus transform, through light, the natural landscapes of the spaces. From the workshop for children, designed by the exhibition’s creative director and held with the collaboration of the Serralves Environment Education Service, was also born a video mapping projection on the facade of Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira, created by 2nd year students of Escola Básica da Pasteleira do Porto. In parallel with this great open-air and night-time exhibition, there will be a programme of guided tours and photography workshops, which complements and enhances the experience of the different dimensions present: light, nature, art and architecture. Visit “Serralves em Luz” and enjoy a truly luminous evening.

Botanical Garden of Porto will host an immersive night show, designed with the whole family in mind, where there will be plenty of light sculptures, holograms and visual effects with lights and lasers that will highlight some of the garden’s botanical species. The show is a “sensory and interactive journey” that will feature some of the most fascinating characters from the world of Alice in Wonderland, such as the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, The Caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts, but also with well-known passages from Lewis Carroll's two books, the aforementioned and Alice Through the Looking-Glass. some sound environments and multimedia and interactive installations in mind, that is, there will be an “augmented reality app that will enable to add magic to one of the settings, using a smartphone, and a projection mapping on the south façade of the Galeria da Biodiversidade. This year there is something new. The ticket for the immersive exhibition gives direct access to Galeria da Biodiversidade – Centro Ciência Viva. Talk to us through livechat and find out everything!

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

This Christmas, Serralves Park once again opens its doors to the “Mercado de Natal” [Christmas Market], which promises a magical weekend for the whole family. With free admission for two days, here you can buy creative Christmas presents and products that inspire a more sustainable lifestyle, as well as discover the latest in Portuguese design and enjoy several activities for families. At the “Mercado de Natal” you will find organic gourmet products, Christmas items, decorative objects, toys, personal accessories, workshops for families, street food, and more.

The world’s most famous “old man” will be in the Gardens of Palácio de Cristal waiting for the children to visit, ready to write down all their wishes for this Christmas. Adults can also enter to hear the wishes, take photos and feel the magic of the season.

Tuna de Farmácia do Porto presents the 5th edition of GALENICVS, a festival that takes place for the first time at Casa da Música. Open to everyone, the event, whose number of participants has grown over the years, celebrates the academic spirit in the talent of the various tunas [musical groups of university students] that partake in the competition. It is already a milestone in the calendar of cultural activities of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Porto and its management wants to expand it to the entire city.

David 10 years of career! Two years after a 360º concert at Altice Arena, where he became the youngest artist to sell out the iconic hall, David Carreira returns to the best concert halls to mark the 10 years of his career. The 10-year career tour will include Porto on December 3rd at the Super Bock Arena – Pavilhão Rosa Mota. We can expect a show that will bring David even closer to his fans. A production where music meets dance, plus special effects of light and video in a return to concerts. The audience will have the opportunity to hear all of David's hits since the beginning of his career in 2011 in a concert that marks the first decade of the career of the most versatile artist in Portugal. David Carreira has revealed himself in recent years as an example for the new generation of Portuguese Pop music, having made several successful collaborations with national and international artists, such as Kevinho, Snoop Doog, Justin Timberlake and we can expect several guests at these very special concerts. Even so, he didn't stop there and showed that he wants to take his music and country's name across borders with the release of his latest single "Vamos Com Tudo", official song of Portugal’s Football Team featuring Giulia Be, Ludmilla and Preto Show.

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

2022 is the year to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Lisbon Film Orchestra! And we want to do it with all fans of LFO and movie music. Come on over for the most incredible experience you've watched in recent times. A Conductor, 4 singers, 56 musicians on stage and a very strong audiovisual component will make the musical experience an unforgettable moment. The tradition “it's not Christmas without a LFO concert” is to be kept and this year will be very special. “LFO LIVE – Music from movies and series” will have many novelties in terms of repertoire, such as songs from the series “Stranger Things”, from the films Encanto, Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Frozen 2, West Side Story, among other surprises. But classics like Star Wars, Mission: Impossible or Pirates of the Caribbean are a must. Come and listen to the best music from films and series with the Lisbon Film Orchestra.

“Rei João” [King John] is one of William Shakespeare’s least performed plays. Marcos Barbosa rescues it from that silence with a staging that features dramaturgy by Jacinto Lucas Pires. Written in 1594-96 and published in the “First Folio” (1623), it is a historical play, a genre that allows the audience to have access to the experience of the past as an inspiration to consider the present. This dramatisation of John’s turbulent reign (1199-1216), with the vicissitudes of the war between France and England as its central node, raises a set of questions that assess the state of the nation, now as well as back then. What is this space we call Europe? How can we revive the values of this symbolic place? How do we redefine the people’s representativeness? What is our stance regarding the new migratory reality? How do we relate to the new concepts of identity and nation? Who will fill the void of spiritual power? What are the mechanisms of the power struggle?

Winner of the Silver Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition and 1st Prize at the Grand Geneva Competition, awarded at the Busoni (Bolzano), Rio de Janeiro, Chopin (Warsaw) and Queen Elizabeth (Brussels) competitions, the young pianist Dimitry Shishkin has been critically acclaimed worldwide. In his debut recital at Casa da Música, he presents famous works that crowned his brilliant journey through the most outstanding international piano competitions.

This is a Relaxed Session! From December 8th to January 8th, the Coliseu Porto Ageas Christmas Circus [Circo de Natal] reinvents itself again with the best artists and live music, to show, before our eyes, the most fantastic circus arts. Our more playful side is joined by the musical direction of composer Ramón Galarza, the artistic direction of clown Rui Paixão, the stage magic direction of magician Mário Daniel and a cast of talented circus performers from various parts of the world. On a set that reminds us of a video game or a cyberpunk desert, and which could be a children's version of “Mad Max”, we follow the story of a circus company fleeing the city, after several failed shows. Lost in the middle of the desert, they find a group of “unlucky” people who live isolated there, as they believe it is the only way to make their art and beliefs exist. The company being aimless and the “unlucky” people curious, they decide to celebrate together with music, dance, magic, fire, juggling, clown, hair hanging, rolla bolla, pins, diabolo, cyr wheel and even a globe of death. This is how the Circus Party at the Coliseu will be! Created for all ages, Circo de Natal 2022 talks, in a fun and uncompromising way, about the search for a place of belonging. A place of freedom where, regardless of our differences, what we are or what we want to be, we gain a voice and a community. It is a hymn to art, free artistic expression and culture as an essential asset for building that place. In the end, does the company decide to stay in the desert or continue looking for the way to the city? We reveal this and much more from December 8th to January 8th, with shows at various times. Come and discover an uninterrupted tradition since 1941, which is increasingly renewed.

Christmas and book fairs go hand in hand. Accordingly, we have organised, alongside our Christmas rerun of “Blindness”, a theatre book fair. Books are an extension of our stage. They are chapters of the life and work of this National Theatre. We have titles from our back catalog available, which can be purchased with discounts of up to 80%. A back catalog is not a bag of leftovers. Rather, it's a tribute to what's left. A collection of precious items that the voracity for the “new” has removed from circulation. It has books by remarkable authors – Georg Büchner, Peter Handke, Anton Tchékhov, Joe Orton, William Shakespeare, Brian Friel, Samuel Beckett – assisted by exceptional translators – João Barrento, António Pescada, Luísa Costa Gomes, Daniel Jonas, Paulo Eduardo Carvalho. Santa Claus goes to the theatre. Books are great presents, especially at these prices.

Since releasing the acclaimed album “In Between Words” in 2015, Satori has had his hands full in expanding his repertoire. The latest album, recently released, is “Dreamin'Colours”, a record based on a perfect combination of different trends in electronic music and the artist's Balkan heritage. Alongside his recognised career as a DJ, Satori has been improving his live performances, with his own productions and improvised moments, also using traditional instruments. At Casa da Música, Satori & The Band From Space is presented in band format, allowing us to discover (another) side of him.

Panda e os Caricas are ready to go into orbit in Space! An adventure between Galaxies by visiting each Planet. Stars and Comets lighting up the sky and even Extraterrestrials to enrich the story. But everything has a reason to be. Planet Earth is in danger. And from Space, with the help of the brightest Star, Panda e os Caricas will try to save him. If you are also an inhabitant of this Planet, you cannot miss this adventure! Panda e os Caricas in Space [Panda e os Caricas no Espaço].

Cooperativa Árvore is once again holding the now traditional Natal na Árvore. On display will be available pieces of sculpture, painting, graphic work, ceramics, design and designer jewellery, art books, catalogues, pieces of furniture, etc. Visit Natal na Árvore and buy gifts among the works on display. Yet another initiative by one of the most iconic cultural institutions in the city of Porto, which in 2023celebrates 60 years.

What if the forest isn't exactly what it seems? Maybe those who seem kind are just silly. And maybe those who seem dangerous aren't that dangerous after all. Dishonest and greedy: that's how the wolf is presented to us, in the fairy tales we're told. But what if the wolf is just misunderstood? What if we take his point of view? That incident with Little Red Riding Hood, that scene on the doorstep of the little pigs: nothing is as simple as we think. Through a series of misunderstandings, prejudices, bad luck and bizarre coincidences, the wolf has been portrayed as the villain. It is high time we restore his honour. By radically reversing the existing perspective on the wolf’s role, this performance opens up a space for the need for empathy and tolerance in our present-day society. — Vasco Mendonça

I believe in insignificant things. Just as I believe in big things. They dance with each other. The world is one big dance. Everything has its pair, nothing dances alone, however lonely it may be: poetry dances with music, eggs with chickens, the sea with the sky, the sky with the clouds, vices with virtues, lemon with ginger, shoes with walks in the park, balls of yarn with cats' paws, meanness with everyday life and patience with age. — Afonso Cruz We are going to discover, share and imagine new dance steps, full of small people who turn into big people and big people who turn into small people. — Joana Providência

From Nat King Cole to the classics “White Christmas” or “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”, this band travels through the timeless Christmas repertoire. They blend guitar, voices and percussion to perform unique versions to liven up the festive season.

What better way to conclude an artistic residency than with a premiere of an unusual piece? Rebecca Saunders presents a piece for nine soloists and orchestra, commissioned by prestigious European cultural promoters. The piece is intended for the Ensemble Intercontemporain, which will have the exclusivity of its presentation, except for this concert, in which the Remix Ensemble Casa da Música takes the lead. Complementing Saunders’ work, two orchestral works by Claude Debussy that reconfigured the musical panorama of the time will be presented. The symbolist sinuosity of “Prélude à L'après-midi d'um Faune” is complemented with the lively exoticism of Iberia, a sound construction based on reminiscences of the composer's trip to Spain. A meeting between two composers who made timbre a basic element of their style.

Saint Dominic’s Gospel Choir presents itself as “the largest and most prestigious gospel choir born in Portugal”. Founded and led by João Castro, in 2022 it surpassed the milestone of 1200 concerts, after 20 years on stage. They are back in Porto with songs like “Santa Claus is coming to Town” or “Oh Happy Day”.

Energy, balance and wellness. These are the keywords of Porto SPA Week, an initiative that brings together six SPA and Wellness Centre units from some of the most prestigious hotels in Greater Porto. In addition to a selection of exclusive treatments and beauty and wellness rituals, there are discounts on all offers – to enjoy now or to save for later. The third edition of Porto SPA Week will include the participation of Boeira Garden Wellness Center from Boeira Garden Hotel Curio Collection by Hilton, Satsanga Spa & Wellness from Hotel Vila Galé Porto, Porto Palácio Hotel & Spa, Sheraton Porto Hotel & SPA, Le Monumental Nuxe Spa from Le Monumental Palace andHotel Solverde Spa & Wellness Center, the latter located by the seaside, two minutes away from Espinho. All participating the SPAs and Wellness Centers will provide, exclusively for Porto SPA Week, unmissable treatments with special conditions. But there's more: in addition to the special offers, all the spaces will provide free access to the Wellness Centers for Porto SPA Week participants upon prior booking and availability of each SPA and Wellness Center. Between December 12th and 18th, each participating space will have treatments with discounts of up to 50% and even 10% off on the Spa menu. If you are not able to enjoy these special conditions during the days of the event, you can purchase a “gift voucher”, valid until the end of March 2023.

125 years of Body and Soul. This concert celebrates the 125th anniversary of the Porto Delegation of the Portuguese Red Cross and renews the firm commitment of service to the people of Porto and to Porto.

Ólafur Arnalds returns to Portugal to present “Some Kind of Peace”, an album that translates a new attitude towards life. In interviews, the musician talks about his almost overpowering need to control everything around him and how the global crisis of the last two years has shown us that there are things we have absolutely no control over. Realizing this, he decided to change his attitude and the new album reflects this transformation: “It's so personal that I'm still trying to find the words to talk about it (…) I felt it was important that the album would tell my story in a very honest way. This album is much closer to my heart than any of the others.” Which is saying a lot for anyone who has already collaborated with fellow countrymen Sigur Rós and the equally acclaimed Nils Frahm, worked on Chopin’s music or given soul to a mechanical piano in the acclaimed re:member.

Next Thursday, December 15th, the Palácio da Bolsa will host another ModaPortugal. The initiative brings together up-and-coming fashion designers with experienced companies of the industry. The highlight of the day goes to the eighth edition of the European Young Designers Contest, a competition that brings together 18 promising stylists (future clients of the national clothing and ready-to-wear industry) from renowned schools. From Aalto University, in Finland, arrive Ellen Rajala, Jarno Kettunen and Taneli Ukura. From the French Institute of Fashion come Mouyakabi Diomandé, Paul Billot and Zoé Gerolymos. The Italian Polimoda brings Federico Di Nisio, Fenqjin Yue and Samuel Lewis. The London College of Fashion sends Benjamin Ethan, Dayoung Jang and Leo Prothmann, while the Geneva University of Art and Design presents Agapornis, Niels Raonison and Norman Mabire-Larguier. Representing Portugal, Ivan Hunga Garcia, from the Escola Superior de Artes e Design, Rita Miguel Costa, from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, and Andreia Reimão, from Modatex Porto. After a programme of visits to Portuguese factories – such as Adalberto, Calvelex, Petratex, Riopele, Centro Tecnológico da Indústria de Vestuário, CITEVE and the Valérius Recycling Center – the young designers will show their work before an international jury, made up of experts from the countries represented. The competition will have a final fashion show, accompanied by a dinner and the awarding of prizes to the winners of each country. The Prémios de Excelência Empresarial 2022 [award] will also be given at the ceremony to a number of companies that have stood out in the development of clothing, ready-to-wear and fashion in Portugal, divided into the categories of “E-commerce”, “Exportação”, “Indústria 4.0”, “Investimento”, “Sustentabilidade” and “Volume de Negócios”.

Who are the unknowns Raquel André has been filing for nearly a decade, in images, texts and objects in the context of the Coleção de Pessoas [People Collection] project? How do these people perceive the direct artistic relation she established with them? What do they feel through an encounter experience? Who are these participating witnesses? Who are these spectators? Raquel André’s fourth collection is a performance, a museum, a long talk between her and the witnesses and interlocutors who let themselves be touched by her work. In 2020 the Coleção de Espectador_s started with a participatory website www.collectionofspectators.com, in 2021 it premiered with a group of spectators on stage. — Raquel André

The long-awaited return of Carlos Araújo and Luis Ruvina to Porto’s stages takes place at Casa da Música, where the Hammond Project duo presents “Entre Nós - Concerto no Natal”, with special guests: Paulo de Carvalho, Rui David, Manuel Santiesteban and Coro de Câmara de Barcelo. From original songs to adaptations of the Portuguese songbook preformed in a truly unique way, the evening will be devoted to the Portuguese-speaking diaspora, flamenco, gospel, jazz and pop, in the incomparable sound of the Hammond B3.

After a forced hiatus due to the pandemic, the famous Christmas market, organised by LGSP Events by Lufthansa LGSP, returns to Porto. The LGSP Christmas Market is already a tradition in the city of Porto and will be held in the last weekend before Christmas. From 16 to 18 December, in the magnificent historical venue of Alfândega do Porto Congress Centre, it will be possible to do the last Christmas shopping. At the same time there will be lots of entertainment. Come and discover everything!

Christmas time is celebrated at Casa da Música with programmes full of fantasy and related to the season. The story of the young woman who leaves a lost slipper at a royal ball enchanted Prokofiev. His music for the famous tale Cinderella, by Charles Perrault, will be narrated by Raquel Couto and feature the debut of the young Bulgarian Delyana Lazarova conducting the Orquestra Sinfónica. The Orquestra Barroca and Coro Casa da Música will come together to perform Joseph Haydn's intense and inspiring Missa Cellensis in C major, a major piece in the composer's catalog that explores a wide range of emotions. Christmas is also the time to listen to promising youngsters from the Conservatório de Música do Porto, who are competing for the Casa da Música Prize, and a special programme by the Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa.

Matias Damásio takes the stage for an unmissable concert. Matias Damásio is one of the most inescapable Angolan musicians and songwriters, popularly known for his romantic style. It all started in 2000, with his participation in several music competitions, having won several awards and hits over the years. In 2015 he released his fourth album related to his10-year career, entitled “Por Amor”. This album won the 2nd place in the Top Charts together with the award in the Top Rádio Luanda, thus becoming his “one way ticket” to Portugal. In 2016 he released the same album by Sony Music Portugal, proving to be a success with the song “Loucos” standing out across the country with more than 68 M views on YouTube to date. This year, Matias Damásio was invited by the Spanish artist Vanesa Martin to be featured in a duet, “Porque queramos vernos”, which reached more than 45 million views on Youtube, becoming a hit in the Iberian Peninsula. In 2018 he released his 5th album “Augusta” which immediately became number 1 in the Top Sales in Portugal, selling out the largest concert hall in Portugal, and was also invited to attend the Monaco Better World Forum event where he had the privilege of performing for Prince Charles. The following year, he won the following awards: Lusofonia, Globos de Ouro in Angola, Angola Music Awards, African Entertainment Awards USA, and in 2020 he released a new EP with 6 songs: “Viver, Amar & Dançar”, quickly becoming a hit, highlighting the songs: Luz and Minha Pessoa. The latest singles “O Nosso Beijo” (2021) and “Como Antes” (2022) consolidate Matias Damásio’s career as one of the most successful careers in Portugal.

The event is held on the third Saturday of every month, between 8am and 6pm.  The Antiques Fair takes place in Praça do Doutor Francisco Sá Carneiro, popularly also known as "Praça de Velasquez".  A favourite place for enthusiasts and curious people, collectors and experts, this fair offers a wide variety of genres, under the spectrum of antiques and vintage (books, porcelain, furniture, coins, jewellery, tapestries and paintings). Access is free. 

A 30-year-old singer-songwriter from Porto, Nuno Lanhoso woke up to songs on the piano and later turned to the guitar, taking inspiration from artists like Pedro Abrunhosa, Tiago Bettencourt or John Mayer. He started playing live in Barcelona, where he studied medicine.

Created in 2013, Quatro e Meia started out as five and now they are six: João Cristóvão Rodrigues (violin and mandolin), Mário Ferreira (accordion and vocals), Pedro Figueiredo (drums), Ricardo Liz Almeida (guitar and vocals), Rui Marques (double bass) and Tiago Nogueira (guitar and vocals). They already have two albums released and many packed concert halls across the country.

You are guaranteed to be born and to die. The cycle of life teaches us that after we die, we may be born again having the freedom to return to the physical realm. EVOCAR [Summon] is a play that lives in the imagination and in the possibility of there being a life after death that never comes. It died in this place and now survives degraded into ashes as the body expands through space. It says goodbye to the physical realm and ties itself to the awareness of its body's mortality. Its soul leans on the hope of one day being born.

In 2023, Tiago Bettencourt celebrates the 20th anniversary of his career. In the beginning they were Esquissos (sketches), title of Toranja's first album, today they are mature drawings. Both can be enjoyed live again in the concert that brings the singer-songwriter back to Casa da Música – his greatest hits, both solo and with Toranja, have a guaranteed place in the setlist. Accompanying Tiago Bettencourt will be Orquestra Clássica do Centro, reshaping the power and emotion of his music and lyrics. In fact, it is expected that emotion will be the dominant note in the atmosphere of the evening, judging by the artist’s own words: “Back to Porto, which I love, to a room as iconic as the great auditorium of Casa da Música is always an added responsibility. I leave Porto always moved by the huge hug I feel in every concert I give in that city and for sure this time will be no different.”

On December 19th, Coliseu celebrates its 81st anniversary, with various free-entry events. Come celebrate with us! The programme begins at 5 pm with a guided tour, led by the chairwoman of the Coliseu, Mónica Guerreiro, which will pass through a secret area of the Coliseu: the Wine Cellar. At 6 pm, at Sala Ático, the first performance of the new Orquestra do Orquestra Jardim Passos Manuel takes place. The Orchestra used to perform in the space with the same name, which existed on the site where the Coliseum stands today. Opened in 1908, it was a landmark in Porto's cultural and bohemian life. However, in 1938, the Salão Jardim Passos Manuel was deactivated to start the construction of the Coliseu building, which would open three years later, on 19 December 1941. At 6:45 pm, the announcement and award ceremony of the winner of the first edition of the Prémio Jovens Artistas Coliseu Porto Ageas, in the circus arts category, will take at Sala Principal. The music follows. First, with the release of the three soundtracks of Circo do Coliseu 2020-2021-2022. Over the past three years, we have challenged Portuguese composers to create an original soundtrack and arrangements for the Circus shows presented by the Coliseu, which were then performed live in all sessions. An anniversary day cannot end without singing happy birthday to the Coliseu. We have invited Canto Nono, a vocal octet whose artistic direction belonged, for two decades, to José Mário Branco, for a special performance.

In the exhibition Vida e Segredo de Aurélia de Souza 1866-1922, we observe the planes, colour and light in her works. In the Postais de Natal workshop, we are going to make 3D Christmas postcards and other “gifts” by applying scrapbooking techniques, reusing materials in a game of overlapping silhouettes, colours and textures. Those interested must send an email to se@mnsr.dgpc.pt indicating the intended day.

It is at Casa da Música that UHF end the national tour of the Podia Ser Natal concert, with a more attractive and extensive setlist than that presented in previous performances: Christmas carols, such as the classics Silent Night and Hallelujah, are joined by more than 40 years of songs of the band of António Manuel Ribeiro (vocals and guitar), António Côrte-Real (guitar), Luís Simões “Cebola” (bass) and Ivan Cristiano (drums). A celebration of the creative longevity of these Portuguese rock heroes.