Talks to Women Artists Vijay Patel

For the fifth and last episode of this series we are lucky to have Bea Renscisovski and Lívia Barts joining us. Bea is a professional standard and latin dancer and both Bea and Lívia take part in same-sex ballroom dance competitions. Lívia is a graphic designer and finds her inspiration within the streets of Porto. Both are from Hungary and decided to migrate to Porto in 2017. Since then they have renovated a three-storey residential/commercial house and starting to find the time to enjoy Porto’s alternative art scene as well as developing their own projects.

This first five-part series InterStruct Talks to: Women Artists promotes a dialogue with 5 different creative agents within Porto. With this series we want to recognize diverse women artists and their contributions to the art scene of Porto. These dialogues reflect on diversity not only with our discussions on the creative processes, but also with the different social and cultural context to which this work is being made.

In this fourth episode we were lucky to have Shannon Lawn with us. Shannon is a singer and songwriter from New Zealand, where she has pursued an education specialising in vocals. Her work in Porto is at once experimental with elements of Soul, Jazz & HipHop and on the other hand she uses her voice and different machines to create a band on her own. Her loving music speaks also about travels as it took her not only from New Zealand to Melbourne, but also to Perth, Cambodia, Germany, Camino de Santiago and Portugal.

Welcome to the first series of our podcast InterStruct Talks To…! The Podcast for intercultural dialogue within the context of Porto.

Just like many other areas of culture, the contemporary art scene is still a male dominated area. While women practitioners have traditionally been represented within images, there is still a low representation within the construction of these. This first 5-part series InterStruct Talks to: Women Artists aims to bring together 5 different artists. We invite a range of creatives from visual art practices to performance and literary based art forms. These dialogues reflect on diversity not only with our discussions on the creative processes, but also with the different social and cultural context to which this work is being made.

To initiate this series, we were fortunate to speak to Melissa Rodrigues who is a researcher in the areas of Anthropology and Performance, she currently works as an artistic educator at Serralves and Centro Internacional das Artes José de Guimarães (CIAJG). Graduated in Anthropology from Universidade Nova de Lisboa and gained a Masters degree in Contemporary Dance / Performing Arts and Performance at FBAUP. Melissa takes an active role in anti-racist activist, feminist campaigns such as “Chá das Pretas” and Núcleo Anti-Racista do Porto.

InterStruct Talks To:…! The Podcast for an intercultural dialogue within the context of Porto.

This week we were happy to speak to Celia Lóstrego, who is a ceramic and porcelain jewelry designer. She graduated in Oriental Studies – Sanscrit and Indian culture in Vilnius, Lithuania before starting her path in artistic ceramics at Cadiz Art School in Spain. Since 2016 she has lived in Porto where she also guides workshops, in which she shares her knowledge about ceramic creations while talking about her travels – Still inspired by her project that lasted for two years “Ceramistic on the road”, where she hitchhiked from Romania to the Middle East and South East Asia, creating new collections in each country and sharing knowledge with local, both traditional and contemporary ceramic artists at their studios and wrote about these experiences afterwards.

Just like many other areas of culture, the contemporary art scene is still a male dominated area. While women practitioners have traditionally been represented within images, there is still a low representation within the construction of these. This first five-part series InterStruct Talks to:Women Artists promotes the dialogue of 5 different creatives of Porto. With this series we want to recognize diverse women artists and their contributions to the art scene of Porto. These dialogues reflect on diversity not only with our discussions on the creative processes, but also with the different social and cultural context to which this work is being made.

Interstruct Talks To…! The Podcast for an intercultural dialogue within the context of Porto.

This first five-part series Interstruct Talks to: Women Artists promotes the dialogue of 5 different creatives of Porto. With this series we want to recognize diverse women artists and their contributions to the art scene of Porto. These dialogues reflect on diversity not only with our discussions on the creative processes, but also with the different social and cultural context to which this work is being made.

In this second episode, Serena Barbieri is sharing with us her artistic processes as well as her collaborations in Porto. Coming from Italy, she is currently attending a PhD in Contemporary Art at the Colégio das Artes da Universidade de Coimbra. Her practical work, elaborated by the act of wandering and collecting in urban or natural environments, is examining different conditions of perception, as well as memory and endurance.

Since November 2017 she is also acting as a cultural curator by leading an artist studio in the heart of the alternative art scene in Porto Atelier Santo Isidro. It is a space to build artistic dialogues within Porto’s art and culture scene participating in the simultaneous inaugurations "Sobe e Desce" of the galleries and studios in Rua do Bonjardim and Rua de Anselmo Braancamp.