The Materiais Diversos Festival promotes the meeting of different audiences and imaginaries around the arts (dance, theatre, music and performance) with thought, questioning actuality and fostering cultural participation as a condition for citizenship. Born in Minde, in 2009, it spread to Alcanena and Cartaxo (in 2013) and became one of the most representative projects for programming outside the large centres in Portugal, attempting to think and act from the places it originates. It had been occurring annually until 2017 and became a biannual event starting with its 10th edition in 2019.
From the 5th to the 15th of October 2023, the Festival Materiais Diversos will be in Alcanena and Minde with a program of dance, theater and music shows, installations and conversations. Slowing down and making people, places and processes visible are the mottos of the 12th edition of the festival.
Uirapuru is a piece that draws inspiration from the entities inhabiting the Brazilian forests and from the mythical imaginary of the Brazilian woodlands. The forest as a unique cosmology—wild and enchanted—and as a return to a deep, unknown hinterland. The uirapuru is a Brazilian bird that is seen as the singer of the forest. Uirapuru means “man turned into bird” or “embellished bird” in Tupi-Guarani, the language spoken by Brazil’s native peoples. Its existence is wrapped by an indigenous tale, the story of a lover from an impossible love turned into a rare bird, whose singing would make the ones who listened to it delusional. A mythical bird, hardly ever seen, with a beautiful singing, known for bringing good fortune to those who listened to it, the symbol of a Brazil that despite being devastated still sings. — Marcelo Evelin
Sofia Matos
sofia.matos@materiaisdiversos.com
+351 913633452
Diversos