The sixth edition of the Porto Summer School on Art & Cinema has come to an end and there were many people who went to School of Arts in search of good energy, music and conversations with meaning and memory.
The Porto Summer School on Art & Cinema in Festa 2024 returned this year with an intense program, full of sounds, rhythms and voices that circulated between School of Arts and Batalha Centro de Cinema.
For five days, workshops, talks, music, exhibitions and cinema were the protagonists in a week where political, social and cultural issues were debated in a space dedicated to meeting and reflection.
As far as music is concerned, this edition featured two headliners, Dino D'Santiago who opened the public program with a lot of energy and made the audience vibrate with contagious rhythms, and MC Carol, one of the big names in funk, whose song "Não Foi Cabral" gave the Summer School its title.
One of the main highlights of the program was the opening of the Enciclopédia Negra exhibition, curated by Flávio Gomes, Jaime Lauriano and Lilia Schwarcz, on tour for the first time outside Brazil. The exhibition recalls the silenced memory of millions of black people who built Brazil's history.
As it does every year, Batalha Centro de Cinema, a partner organization, presented a screening of short films as part of the program - Sankofa and its Mirrors - followed by a conversation with director and researcher Ellen Lima.
Closing the event's program was Lilia Schwarcz, anthropologist, historian and co-curator of the program, who spoke with visual artist Jaime Lauriano about "Slavery and reparations: our past in the present", where they discussed the process of creating Enciclopédia Negra and the stories of inclusion, participation and justice behind the exhibition.
Each day, participants had the opportunity to take part in workshops with Marinho Pina, Dino D'Santiago, Lilla Szász, Diogo Nóbrega, Rafael Campos, Keila Sankofa, Pedro Duarte, Jaime Lauriano, Eduardo Katz and Lilia Schwarcz.
Visitors experienced an intense program at no cost, which this year was broadcast live on the School of Arts' YouTube channel and website.
The Summer School will return next year with a new theme and a new poster, which will be announced in due course.