Lisbon will have the original Portuguese cultural center – Showbiz
May is a month of rebirth in Portugal. The height of spring and flowers brings warmer temperatures. To flourish with Lisbon, Espaço Tal, a house of culture essentially of the Portuguese language, opens its doors with the aim of joining all types of art with the best of the language that brings Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cabo together Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique. Talante is located inside the bookstore The delivery space, with the launch book, will be on the 18th “Exhibition object and artists’ book”, by Ferreira Gullar. The curatorship of the cultural center is by Antonio Grassi and Ciça Castello.
“Ler Devagar is the main cultural point of LX Factory. The idea is that it is much more than a place that sells books. It will become a meeting point, a place where it is possible to think about many things besides the book. By being associated with Ler Devagar, we want to build a place where we have programming that deals with other languages, with a greater focus on the Portuguese language”, explains actor Antonio Grassi, who was president-director of Instituto Inhotim, one of the most prestigious in Brazil, until the beginning of 2022, when he moved to Lisbon.
Grassi’s connection to the LX Factory goes back a long way. In 2012, he was the Brazilian Commissioner of the Year of Brazil in Portugal. The celebration left as a legacy an event area decorated with a work by the artist from Pernambuco, Derlon.
“It’s great to go back to the LX Factory, ten years later, and see the area where we organized Espaço Brasil preserved, the way we built it. We received it as a manifestation of the price of the public and the affection of the Portuguese”, says Grassi, who is known to the great for more than 30 works as an actor on TV, among them, such as the soap operas “Chocolate com Pimenta” and “Força de um Desejo” .
Espaço Talante’s programming will be varied and the intention of its curators is to fill the entire day with events of different formats.
“In the morning, we thought of using it for educational training, a conversation cycle, reading books, which has more to do with the nature of the day. In the afternoon, we want people free to explore the space and watch the exhibitions. Between 1pm and 6pm, Talante will be open for people to see beautiful images, listen to good music, in short, be and feel the place. At the end of the day, especially on weekends, the idea is to open for monologues or plays by two people in an intimate format, as well as events that bring bohemia to the LX Factory. We will have fado nights, poetry soirees. Always a space for the word in Portuguese”, says photographer and casting producer Ciça Castello.
The choice of exhibition for the opening takes into account the universal importance of Ferreira Gullar and the originality in Portugal.
“In addition to his great history as a literary author, Ferreira Gullar had a production as a visual artist that is not always known. And being in a place with a literary nature, like Ler Devagar, makes a lot of sense to have the opportunity to show in Portugal, for the first time, the other side of a great artist”, adds Antonio Grassi.