Rewriting History: Porto Summer School on Art & Cinema 2020

In recent years, postcolonial thinking has posed a pressing problem: What to do with the spoils of colonialism in Western museums? A restitution movement began taking place and several political institutions began processes of recognition of the violent practices that colonialism implied.

The Porto Summer School on Art & Cinema 2020 is composed of a group of artists, filmmakers and researchers who have integrated in their artistic practices a work on this rewriting of history, either through the unearthing of dictatorial memory, or, above all, of colonial history. These processes include recognizing the work of the colonized peoples, especially in the production of moving images, rediscovered now in the national archives and also through the contemporary cinema of native peoples, who now have an autonomous voice in the production of images.

In 2020, the Porto Summer School on Art & Cinema will take place from July 7 to 11. The artists and critics confirmed so far for the 3rd edition are: Lucrecia Martel, Filipa César + Coletivo Cadjigue, Karrabing Film Collective, Susana de Sousa Dias, Ben Russell, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay + Hagar Ophir, Lilia Moritz Schwarcz.

The Summer School intends to be an advanced course of new practices of cinema, combining critical thought with the contact with great creators of film and contemporary art. The diversity of procedural approaches, as well as the decisive themes of the present world, will be presented by directors/artists of great international relevance, assisted by thinkers, critics and academics who will discuss the work developed during the week. The Summer School is structured in five days, and each day is dedicated to one of the directors/artists who, at different times and with different structures, will be in direct contact with the participants, in a creative and informal environment.

Key points
–An international summer school aimed for artists and filmmakers.
–A faculty composed of internationally recognized artists/directors and academics/thinkers.
–An intensive regime, for a week, with contact with several creative agents of contemporary cinema.
–Use of the technical and artistic resources of the School of Arts (material for capturing images and sound, post-production laboratories for image and sound, exhibition space, library).
–The Summer School will take place in various cultural spaces of the city (Serralves Museum, Municipal Gallery, Teatro Rivoli)
–The city of Porto, as a tourist destination of great cultural impact.

More information and applications here.

For further information please contact: summerschool.arts [​at​] porto.ucp.pt

School of Arts at Catholic University of Portugal
The School of Arts (SoA) offers an intense cultural program, with artists in residence (in 2020 Ben Russel and  Vasco Araújo; former residents include Nuno da Luz, Ana Vaz, Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, Salomé Lamas and Yohei Yamakado), a cycle of conferences with special guests (artists, filmmakers, scholars), and a periodic calendar of exhibitions at the School’s exhibition space (since 2018, the School presented exhibitions by Francisco Tropa, João Paulo Serafim, Salomé Lamas, Mariana Caló & Francisco Queimadela, Nuno da Luz, Julião Sarmento, Jonathan Saldanha and Guido Guidi). Also, its Research Center (CITAR – Research Center for the Science and Technology of the Arts) has a plan of activities closely related to the School and it is funded by ongoing projects and by the government institution Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

The SoA is currently accepting applications for its Master and PhD programs, as well as accepting international applications for its Bachelor programs.