Cristina Planas Leitão is a performing arts curator, playwright and choreographer. She works as a consultant and curator for foundations, cultural organisations and companies. Her integrated curatorial practice centres on the development of sustainable creative formats, new narratives and caring relationships within the performing arts, with a growing interest in experimental practices that are politically and socially engaged. She is particularly interested in the intersections between curatorial, organisational, research and educational practices. Over the years, Cristina has blurred the boundaries between disciplines, nationalities and hierarchies, seeing the role of curating as one of facilitation.

Since April 2025, she has been Artistic Director of Materiais Diversos. In 2025, she co-founded SUPERNOVÆ with Natalia Álvarez Simó (ES), a consultancy and curatorial platform. Since 2024, she has been part of the group of curators contributing to the new Something Great Arts Centre (DE), which is scheduled to reopen to the public between 2026 and 2030. Since 2024, she has been coordinating the Artistic Research Module at ArtEZ (NL) – Bachelor of Arts/Dance Artist. Her work as curator and later Artistic Director of Teatro Municipal do Porto, DDD – Festival Dias da Dança and CAMPUS Paulo Cunha e Silva (2018-2024) has left a transformative legacy, including the launch of a key residency centre in 2021, the expansion of the institution’s international reach and the promotion of global collaboration.

Her influence is not limited to curating, as she provided dramaturgical support for Marco da Silva Ferreira’s new work, Fcking Future; she was a member of the jury for the Portuguese Platform for the Performing Arts (in 2023 and 2025) and a nominator for the SEDA – Salaviza European Dance Award by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. As a choreographer, Cristina considers her work to be an act of resistance and care, delving into themes related to social and political movements and their interaction with the performing body in the context of theatre.

Collaborates with the Materiais Diversos Cultural Association since 2017.
She has developed her professional activity on the fields of arts production and programming, through her work with national and international structures such as the Institut Français (2012—2017), as programmer for the Festa do Cinema Francês, and producer and distributor for Midas Films, while also responsible for the department of Home Video (2014—2017).

She has a Bachelor Degree in Artistic Studies, a variant on performance arts, from the Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (Faculty of Humanities of the University of Lisbon), and a post-graduate degree in Museology from the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas (Faculty of Social and Human Sciences) of the Nova University of Lisbon, and also attended the course Cinéma et Audiovisuel at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University — Paris 3.

Has been a part of the Materiais Diversos Cultural Association team since 2015.
Her professional path began while she was a producer and doing PR for the Galeria Zé dos Bois (ZDB) Cultural Association (2002—2005), and continued while manager and executive producer at Bomba Suicida — Association for Cultural Promotion, where she developed work with the choreographers Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Tânia Carvalho and Luís Guerra (2005 — 2014). She is the co-founder of SUMO — Association for cultural dissemination, with Ana Rita Osório and Andrea Sozzi.

She has a Bacheor Degree in Communication Sciences from the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (1992—1997) and completed the Curso de Gestão — Produção das Artes do Espectáculo (Management Course — Production of Performance Arts) of Forum Dança (2002). She has a post-graduate degree in Comissariado em Arte e Novas Tecnologias (Commissioner in Art and New Technologies) from MECAD — Media Centre d’Art i Desseny, Barcelona (2003) and in Cultura Contemporânea e Novas Tecnologias (Contemporary Culture and New Technologies), from the Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas (Faculty of Social and Human Sciences) of the Nova University of Lisbon (2006—2007).

She was born in Porto in 1984. In 2017 she completed the Performing Arts Management and Production course at Forum Dança. She has produced projects by artists such as Rui Neto, Lígia Soares, Sara Duarte, Anabela Almeida, Keli Freitas, Katrin Kaasa and Rita Brütt. She has collaborated regularly with Má-Criação and Teatro do Silêncio. She was production assistant on A Vida Vai Engolir-vos, by Tónan Quito, and Palhaço Rico Fode Palhaço Pobre, by João Pedro Vale and Nuno Alexandre Ferreira (BOCA). She collaborated with Materiais Diversos on the production of Marinho by Margarida Mestre, A Menor Língua do Mundo by Alex Cassal and Paula Diogo and Burning Eclipse and Dream is the Dreamer by Catarina Miranda.

She has a degree in Communication Sciences, with a specialisation in Consultancy, from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (2013), and a postgraduate degree in Art Curatorship from the NOVA University Lisbon/FCSH (2021). She develops her work at the crossroads between multidisciplinary cultural projects and contemporary artistic practices. Her interest focuses on initiatives that promote artistic creation and production at local, national and international level, encouraging dialogue with communities and critical reflection on artistic practice.

Since April 2025, she has been coordinating communication for Materiais Diversos. She was responsible for the communication and press of Galeria Zé dos Bois, in Lisbon (2022-2025), as well as the multidisciplinary festival Jardins Efémeros and the cultural space Venha a Nós a Boa Morte, in Viseu (2014-2018), contributing to the affirmation of the city as a centre for artistic creation.

She has participated in international projects linked to institutional communication and socially involved artistic practices, with experience in contexts such as Maputo, Budapest and Cork.

With a degree in Management from the Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão (ISEG) at the University of Lisbon, she decided to move closer to the cultural environment and in 2023 completed a master’s degree in Cultural Studies and Management at ISCTE, specialising in Heritage and Cultural Projects.

Since 2021, when she helped found the Albardeira cultural association in Ourém, she has been closely involved with the association’s activities in the areas of production, communication and treasury. In communications, she has already been in charge of press relations for the artist Bia Maria (2021-2022) and the victoria project (2024), she has also worked with the Chinfrim Discos label (2021) and is a member of the communications team for the Portuguese festival Bons Sons (2022 and 2024), and more recently, for the Vapor Festival (2024). In cinema, she managed social media and the ad campaign for the Portuguese premiere of ‘Crossing – A Travessia’, for distributor No Comboio (2024). She is now a member of the Materiais Diversos team providing communications assistance. In her spare time, she also dabbles in embroidery and other textile arts.

Martinho Filipe graduated in Communication Sciences (2022) from the University of Lisbon (ISCSP-UL), having been published by his university’s editions with a dissertation on Cinema and Body Politics. He complemented his studies with additional training in the areas of Cultural Communication, Accessible Communication, Image Capture and Editing (CENJOR – television specialization) and Photography. He mainly works within the intersection between Performing Arts and community-centered projects.

He currently works as a communications and production assistant at Materiais Diversos. He was responsible for the communication of the company Formiga Atómica (2023/24) and since 2023 has been coordinating the communication of Sociedade das Primas, an emerging artistic structure based in Lisbon.

In his free time, he works on various multidisciplinary projects in the areas of directing and photography – mostly related to musical projects, or theatre.

He graduated in Theatre from the School of Arts and Design in Caldas da Rainha, at the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. Since 2012 he has collaborated with the Materiais Diversos festival as head of box office, distribution, executive production and accessibility coordination. In 2015 he joined the team behind the show “E morreram felizes para sempre”, in Lisbon, as stage manager, front-of-house manager and box office manager. In 2016 he completed his internship at Plataforma 285 and began working in the production department at Vo’Arte. In 2019 he collaborates with some creators on a freelance basis and takes on the role of project manager at the Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa. In 2022 he starts working with Jonas&Lander as administrative and financial manager. In 2023 he collaborated with the team behind the show “A Morte do Corvo” as stage director. In 2024 he joined the team at Materiais Diversos as a financial and administrative assistant.

She joined Materiais Diversos in 2022 as Executive Producer of the Regular Programme.

She graduated in Artistic Studies – Performing Arts in 2019, and entered the Master’s programme in Cultural Studies and Management in the same year. She is currently finishing her dissertation on the Lack of Professional Opportunities for Cultural Students in Higher Education.

In 2019 she worked as a production and communication assistant at the cultural co-operative Largo Residências. Between 2019 and 2021 she collaborated with Largo Residências on the Bairro em Festa Festival, as a volunteer coordinator, responsible for sales and merchandising inventory.

Graduated in Arts and Humanities with a major in Communication and Culture and a minor in Heritage Sciences from FLUL in 2018. Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship and Cultural Studies, in Cultural Management, in 2020. Interned at the DGPC – Museums department, in 2019. She wrote her dissertation: The private sector in the Portuguese Museum Network. She volunteered at the 1st edition of the MIL festival in 2017 and at the FMD in 2019.

http://www.saraorsi.com/