The 16th edition of InShadow - Lisbon Screendance Festival is in full swing. Until the 15th of December, the capital's only video dance festival promises to move the city with an innovative programme that includes video dance, documentary, animation and performing and visual arts.
Museu da Marioneta, Teatro do Bairro, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Galeria and Cisterna of Faculdade de Belas Artes da Universidade de Lisboa (FBAUL), hub multidisciplinar SAFRA and Casa do Comum are some of the spaces where this initiative from Vo'Arte will take place, giving stage to a series of proposals that emphasise the "constant flirtation between the body and the image", as Pedro Sena Nunes, the Festival's Co-Artistic Director, says.
This year is the 16th edition of InShadow. What's the secret to keep the festival alive after 16 years?
In a world that is so complex and yet so simple, reaching the 16th edition is a moment of absolute magic. Above all, it's a work of resistance and resilience. Of animation, passion and dedication. This is where the idea of continuity comes from.
We believe that continuity is where everything comes together. Therefore, a festival of this nature, which requires multiple movements (and I'm talking especially about the partnerships that are born around each edition), is, above all, an endeavour to improve - improving the evaluation process, the values that are in place, exploring new paths. Always, of course, in adventure.
Reaching 16 years was easy. I can only imagine another 40!
And what are the biggest challenges that come with organising an event with such an international attendance in the city of Lisbon?
The big challenge is to rediscover, year after year, ways of preserving our essence, our reason for being. We want InShadow to continue to be original, different. To bring questioning, thought and the correlation of themes. To continue attracting audiences and artists to unconventional places. If this were just another festival, doing what many others do, there would be no point in continuing to build it.
So the biggest challenge is to ensure the renewal of the enormous vitality of this encounter between the performing arts and the visual arts. Knowing how to continue to give stage to the representation of the body in the image, whether fixed or moving.
In what ways do these notions of body and image ‘come into play’ in the Festival's curatorial process?
To think of the body is always to think of it in contemporary times, as something that is constantly changing. This contemporary body, which is also human, obviously goes beyond its humanity when we think of it as being inserted into technological challenges, challenges of representation, and this is in line with the world of the image. Contemporary society is a vibration in the image.
For us, this relationship between body and image is a place of shelter, and InShadow is the place where the shadow is praised. For there to be shadow, there must first be light, and it is precisely this luminous point that we intend to continue giving space to. We want to be a pontiff project that builds bridges between body and image. Since the body is also an image and the image is also a body, we show each edition how these two notions enter into dialogue. This is the genesis of the Festival.
Over the years, what changes have you seen in the submissions made by artists?
Before we created InShadow, we organised an international exhibition called Dança Sem Sombra. So that's 20 years of looking at these challenges. What I can say is that, from a creative point of view, there has been a great deal of innovation in the approach to the themes, and also, from a narrative point of view, in the conciseness with which the messages are worked out. The most surprising fact, however, is that both of the features I've just mentioned are absolutely rooted in the advance of technology. Thanks to this, images and sounds are now guaranteed to be more powerful from the point of view of their architecture, and this architecture combines with greater quality.
Over the years, I have increasingly felt an exponential increase in the quality of the proposals. Even when someone decides to use a camera from the 80s to record a piece of work, what stands out in the end is the technical, aesthetic and narrative quality of the project.
Turning to the theme of the projects, has the emphasis been more on the poetic, the social or the political component of the proposals?
In terms of themes, there is a constant touch of topicality. From year to year, we see political, social or more poetic issues being tackled. At the speed at which the world is spinning, every year there are issues that are absolutely glaring and challenging for those who create. I believe that this is the advantage of art: to make people think about what surrounds them.
It's absolutely incredible that there is such a constant variety of themes, and that the subjects portrayed in the proposals only vary in terms of their current relevance. If the political theme of 10 years ago was one, the theme of today will be another. But politics continues to be represented.
What can we expect from this year's edition? Are there any projects that stood out during the selection process?
There is usually a group, country or guest artist who stands out. This year it's Marlene Millar, a director from Canada with absolutely outstanding work in the areas that interest the Festival. We've had a long-standing relationship with her, even if from a distance. This year, we can finally count with her presence at the Festival, which will be marked by awareness-raising and training activities. She will also present her own work and be part of our Official Jury.
Another highlight is Sam Asaert - a Belgian photographer and film-maker with incredible work. Part of our Official Jury, he will have a presence very similar to Millar's: he will organise courses and raise awareness, show his own work and open an exhibition at the Faculty of Fine Arts Gallery.
Also noteworthy is the arrival of the Spanish company Baal at the Museu da Marioneta, with the show Space Travellers - a work very much focused on LittleShadow, the section of the Festival dedicated to children. We want InShadow to be trans-generational and that's why we've created these moments so that children can also be intoxicated by the world of movement, images and the body.
I could list many other things, and it would take me to the limit to say that everything is very relevant in this edition! For example, I can't hide my enthusiasm for the opportunity to premiere the performance The Heroine's Journey, by Anouk Froidevaux; or Sopro, by the CiM company, which has just premiered in Athens and will be present at the Festival, in unusual spaces of everyday life, such as railway stations.
I would also like to highlight the strength of the Cinemateca Portuguesa and its support in organising special sessions to revisit the history of cinema and the direct relationship it establishes with dance - this constant flirtation between the body and the image.
In fact, I'd say that this edition is a highlight in itself. All the proposals are absolutely extraordinary and, in some way, they end up touching each other, in dialogue with each other. The ideal spectator would be one who could see everything and, within this constellation of artistic opportunities and experiences, weave their own narrative.
The full programme is available on the InShadow website.