A series of meetings focusing on the reality of migrant communities living in Portugal and the role of culture in their path to become fully integrated into society. This year, the program will unfold over three weeks, in the form of three talks that will help bring to light different realities present in our society, but not properly acknowledged.
Pari passu
“On the flying carpet, facing Mecca,
I have but one certainty: my I is You” — Muhammad Rashid
At the invitation of Estúdios Victor Córdon, Teatro Praga proposes the series of meetings “Pari passu”, dedicated to the acknowledgement of migrant artists and various aspects of their cultures, which, although present in the public sphere, are still made invisible by multiple social factors. In this first series, dedicated to Islam, “Pari passu” will offer a talk and a lecture on each of three Saturdays in November, with the presence of guests with knowledge of Islam. The TALKS will deal with the relationship between Islamic art and tradition, the presence of Islamic art in the Portuguese public sphere, and contemporary Islamic art. The three LECTURES will be an attempt to bring us closer to Islamic art and culture in three ways: religion and culture; the historical presence of Islam in Portugal; and the Quran. On the afternoons, you will also be able to watch or take part in RECREATIONAL PRACTICE moments of dancing and music, while enjoying – pari passu – food, books and much more at the LITTLE MARKET.
What good is it to know the past without acknowledging the present, thus compromising possibilities for the future? In recent years we have witnessed, both in politics and in dance, the celebration of a historical systematization without critical positioning and filtered by a hierarchy of values that often prevents the acknowledgement of the diverse and vague contemporaneity.
Cultures evolve with migrant communities and various forms of knowledge. Who was Herculano Mercês? Who sewed Almada’s clothes? These questions are just as important as: When was the last time you saw someone dancing an Iranian dance? Wasn't it yesterday, right next to your house? How many steps took someone who couldn't take steps?
“Pari passu” is a space for the acknowledgement of Islam today, weakening the mythification of the past and looking particularity in the eye.
Dates