Porto Design Biennale 2023
July 25, 2023
Open Call: Ten projects selected for Satellite Activities
The list of winners includes, among others, actions in the area of gastronomy, cinema cycles, installations, performances, an event that starts from the recovery of the board game Petróleo.
Barco Salva-Vidas no Douro, Casa Estúdio Carlos Relvas, Munícipio de Golegã Barco Salva-Vidas no Douro, Casa Estúdio Carlos Relvas, Munícipio de Golegã
In the context of the Open Call for Satellite Projects, promoted by Porto Design Biennale, the jury - composed of Alexandra Balona, Alexandre Jacinto, Luísa Saraiva, Nuno Coelho and Rute Chaves - selected 10 projects to integrate the Satellite Activities of the third edition of the event, to be held in the cities of Porto and Matosinhos, between 19 October and 3 December 2023. On the table will be extended and original forms of discussion around the preservation of water resources, land decontamination, readings on global power relations and tests around recyclable materials.
The following projects were selected:
Alchemy of the water molecule in molecular gastronomy, by Rui Mota
A workshop with chef Rui Mota to share experiences of molecular gastronomy around the idea of water sustainability. Recipes, techniques and tastings will be presented, based on practices of water conservation that can be adopted at home or in restaurants.
Culturing the Deep Sea: towards a common heritage for allkind, by TBA21–Academy
Appealing to a sense of caring between humans and the ocean floor, an intensive workshop will raise awareness to ocean landform protection through art and design. This will be followed by a symposium with experts and a film screening.
Dive-in: Design em Projeção, by Patrícia Sequeira Brás and Joana Rafael
Dive-in is a programme composed of films, talks, video installation and a book, seeking to explore the interactions between design, water and social relations. The cycle of movies will be accompanied by talks and an installation in the former projection room of Passos Manuel, creating an immersive experience. The cycle closes with the launch of a book featuring critical texts from the field of design.
HYDRA, by Lucas Damiani
A hybrid event, halfway between installation and performance. Using water and its changing states as the main element, the project paves the way for fiction and the imagination of other forms of life. Through the mixture of bodies, sounds and materials, ever-changing liquid landscapes emerge.
Mapping Water Bodies with Salt Traces, by Salt Traces
Reflection on the impact of climate change on water bodies is promoted through a series of activities comprising a workshop, story activation and a cooking session. Participants are invited to combine techniques of creative expression and personal narratives in a critical thinking exercise about food and our relationship with the sea.
MUD MATTERS, by Irena Übler e Mónica Braga dos Santos
Mud Matters investiga materiais de resíduos reaproveitáveis e materializados numa série de objetos em cerâmica reciclada. Serão experimentadas várias receitas de pastas cerâmicas com lamas de ETAR incorporadas, mostrando a possibilidade de trabalhar com desperdício e criar novas formas de aproveitamento da água.
Problemas Úmidos, by Bartlebooth (Antonio Giráldez López, Pablo Ibáñez Ferrera)
Problemas Úmidos proposes a two-part think tank to address territorial design problems linked to water in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. First, the project articulates a public programme of talks with activists, designers and researchers whose work addresses processes such as historical extractivism, water streams, political ecology or monocultures. This will be followed by a workshop open to non-specialist audiences that will address the past, present and future of extraction territories located in the north-west of the Peninsula.
Tabi. Tabbi. Tabique. Tabby. by Jola Idowu
Based on the building material Tabby — cement made from oysters — an exhibition on preservation cycles is proposed in which the materials appeal to the memory of diasporas around the world. With an emphasis on Portugal's colonial past and its relationship with the United States of America, the project includes the creation of a website that will serve as a map-archive of stories of marginalised communities.
Testing the Waters, by The Ironing Board (Marta Ríos e Miguel Parrrra)
Testing the Waters is a social design project that researches and problematises water management in urban public spaces. Using the guided tours typically offered to tourists in Porto, the project will tell stories about public fountains in the city’s historic centre, collecting testimonies and enhancing collective ways of dealing with the prospect of water scarcity.
Torneio de Petróleo, by Joana Rafael and Inês Moreira
Cycle of debates that revisits the disused board game “Petróleo'' to problematise the process of dismantling and decontaminating the land of the Matosinhos refinery. For the event, a new board and pieces of “Petróleo” will be produced and, in parallel to the game, the legacy and challenges of the oil refinery will be discussed. The event will result in a podcast.
The call for applications received more than 250 submissions from 40 countries, including proposals for exhibitions, workshops, talks, and performances under the theme "Being Water: How we flow together and shape each other".