Actos de Língua

Opening

4 September / 18h

 

Exhibition

5 September - 18 October 2026

Thursday to Sunday / 12pm - 6pm

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Public Program

Every Saturday 

12 September - 17 September / 18h

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Download the Public Program here: 

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In this video installation, Carlos M. Oliveira and James Newitt bring together their respective practices of choreography and moving image, in order to address the bodily expression of language and the friction that occurs in communication between people.

The work highlights differences between languages whose expression passes through the body, exposing a multiplicity of modes of communication and their possible cohabitation. It explores a sensitivity to the diversity of bodies while blurring divisions between ability and disability. The idea of translation as equivalence of meanings is rejected, and instead the work considers meaning that is in permanent transformation, supporting other forms of common existence.

Actos de Língua problematizes what it means to live in a community made of differences, in which language is an act of constant translation and transmission: a social gesture that carries clarity and misunderstanding, as well as murmurs, tremors, and vibration. 

 

 

Artistic Direction: Carlos M. Oliveira e James Newitt 

Videography: James Newitt 

Choreography: Carlos M. Oliveira 

Sound mix and composition: Diogo Alvim 

Performers: Maria Meneses, Ana Trincão, Aliu Baio, Tarlie Lumbie, Ana Ribeiro, Tony Weaver Sound recording: Maria Khadija 

LGP interpretation: Teresa Figueiredo 

Audio description: José Gregório Rojas 

Audio Description Consultancy: Aliu Baio 

Audio Description Script Review: Mafalda Banquart 

Lighting: Luís Moreira 

Exhibition construction: David Leitão

Filming studio: Espaço Parasita 

Artistic residencies: ARS-ID / Projecto Pontes, Associação Parasita 

Executive production and administration: Lysandra Domingues 

Production: Cotão 

Co-production: Anda&Fala 

Support: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, República Portuguesa - Cultura, Juventude e Desporto I DGARTES – Direção-Geral das Artes; Carpintarias de São Lázaro

Acknowledgments: Diana Niepce, Raquel André,  Sofia Neuparth, Inês Cóias, Lucas Almeida,  Carlos Fernandes, Thyra Dragseth

 

 

 

PUBLIC PROGRAM

 

The following program for the exhibition Actos de Língua, proposes to broaden its references and concerns by inviting a group of artists, academics and filmmakers who address themes as diverse as the non-normative body in the arts, the relationship between moving images and the movement of bodies, as well as the connections between expanded choreography and expanded cinema.

 

Friday, September 4th | 6 PM | Floor 1 and Terrace 

 

OPENING 

 

Saturday, September 12th | 6 PM | Floor -1 

 

CRASH 

Presentation by Diana Niepce of excerpts from works by artists with disabilities, for a reflection on the limits of art, ethics, and transgression.

In Portuguese with Portuguese Sign Language Interpretation 

 

Saturday, September 19th | 6 PM | Floor -1 

 

SCREENING OF 3 FILMS BY ELAINE SUMMERS 

Followed by a conversation with Sílvia Pinto Coelho and Ana Godinho 

In Portuguese with Portuguese Sign Language Interpretation 

 

Saturday, September 26th | 6 PM | Floor -1 

 

SEGMENTS OF SCORES 

Presentation by James Newitt and Carlos M. Oliveira on the use of scores in the project Actos de Língua 

In Portuguese and English with Portuguese Sign Language Interpretation 

 

Saturday, October 3rd 

 

2 PM | Floor -1 

AUDIO DESCRIPTION IN THE VISUAL ARTS 

Workshop with José Gregório Rojas 

In Portuguese 

 

6 PM | Floor - 1 

BODIES AND LANGUAGES 

Roundtable discussion with performers from Actos de Língua: Aliu Baio, Ana Ribeiro, Ana Trincão, Maria Meneses, Teresa Figueiredo, Tony Weaver

Moderated by Diana Niepce 

In Portuguese with Portuguese Sign Language Interpretation 

 

Saturday, October 10th | 6 PM | Floor -1 

 

SCREENING OF THE TUBA THIEVES BY ALISON O'DANIEL 

Followed by a conversation with Ellie Gá and Ana Ribeiro 

Film with descriptive subtitles in English and conversation in Portuguese and English with Portuguese Sign Language Interpretation 

 

Saturday, October 17th | 7 PM | Floor 1 

 

CONCERT BY DIOGO ALVIM 

Based on material created for the soundtrack of Actos de Língua, with spatialization of the installation's six sound channels

 

Sunday, October 18th | 6 PM | Floor 1 

 

CLOSING

 

 

 

Films by Elaine Summers are shown courtesy of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, with special thanks to the Artistic Estate of Elaine Summers.
The film by Alison O'Daniel is shown courtesy of Open Captions LLC.

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