Dashed Concert: João Grilo
The Stranger
Program of Concerts, Conferences, Exhibitions and Performances 2025
10th Apr at 18:30
Auditório Ilídio Pinho – Blackbox
Ivu’kar is a fictional documentary that João Grilo is creating with his mother, exploring their relationship with the invisible. In collaboration with a team of real and imaginary characters — such as Santiago, Quico, Inês, Mafalda, Zé, Gracinda, the bird, the line, and the sphere — the project becomes a catalogue of affections, a map, a language, and a ritual.
This presentation is just the beginning. Ivu’kar will be unveiled in October, but before that, João wants to share the behind-the-scenes of his creative process: unfinished ideas, works in progress, and, of course, meaningful conversation.
João Grilo (Porto, 1993) is a sound artist, performer, composer, poet, and lyricist, interested in the languages of absurdity and wonder.
As a creator, he has worked on THEORIES in collaboration with photographer João Hasselberg, and on HVIT with filmmaker Miguel C. Tavares.
He is co-author of Ī PRU VI’ZAR, with Marcos Cavaleiro, and frequently performs live as an improviser and creator. He is a member of the band Tigre, where he is a composer, lyricist, singer, and pianist.
João has self-published two poetry books: Observatório (2019) and Teoria do Sim (2023). He composed and co-wrote the chamber opera Pequena História de Um Povo com Memória, and created the sound design for various theatre plays — including Parallax by Inês Garrido, and O Gato Malhado e a Andorinha Sinhá, directed by António Parra for A Turma company.
In dance, he composed the soundtracks for coexistimos, Artificĭu, and fio^, by Inês Campos, as well as Considerate Lilia, by Inês and Teia Campos. In circus arts, he composed for Solos a 180º, by Radar360, and in film, for As Horas by Marta Reis and Marta Sousa Ribeiro, and Lisboa by Madalena Boto.
Beyond his work as a sound creator for dance, film, and theatre, he currently focuses on two personal projects: FRESTÃO and IVU’KAR, which bring together poetry, music, performance, and movement, exploring themes such as the subliminal, the invisible, the absurd, collective biography, laughter, and tears.
He has recorded over a dozen albums with artists such as Retimbrar, Unsafe Space Garden, Paal Nilsson-Love, Christian Meaas Svendsen, Marcos Cavaleiro, Demian Cabaud, Mané Fernandes, and Coreto Porta-Jazz.
— biography
