Carolina Varela em residência no Espaço Alkantara
a invenção do descanso
- 29.06 — 12.07 2026
starting from the end.
what remains when it is impossible to carry on?
is it possible to stop?
shadow-like bodies move through urban space, carrying the weight of what they cannot let go of and the vertigo of what they have not yet learned to name.
fall? suspension? detour?
is it possible to stop?
to regain strength, to lose oneself without disappearing?
on a journey between sacrifice and devotion, myth and wounded reality... where rest cannot be found, is it possible to invent it?
Carolina Varela returns to Espaço Alkantara from 29 June to 7 July for another artistic residency developing her new creation, a invenção do descanso [the invention of rest].
Performances
16–18 July — Biblioteca de Marvila
24–26 July — Moinho da Juventude
21 October — Teatro da Cerca de São Bernardo, Ciclo Afro-Portugal
Credits
Artistic Direction Carolina Varela Performance Carolina Varela and Lukanu Mpasi Creative Support Cire Ndiaye, Melissa Rodrigues, Sara Graça Assistant Director Cire Ndiaye Dramaturgical Support Melissa Rodrigues Costumes and Set Design Eloísa d’Ascensão Composition and Lyrics Support As Docinhas (Cire Ndiaye and Lee Meneres), Luís Perdiz, Lukanu Mpasi Cultural Mediation Aissa Seidi Electronics and SoundDesign Luís Perdiz Photography and Video Documentation Aissa Seidi and Tiago Moura Lighting Design Lee Meneres Artwork Petra.Preta Production Director Ivone Fernandes-Jesus Production Support Sammer Ramos, Rita Almeida and Francisca Financial Management Associação Mergulho Urbano – Ambiente e Arte / Trypas-Corassão Associação Cultural Promoter Associação Mergulho Urbano – Ambiente e Arte Project funded by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES), Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, POR ASSOCIAÇÃO Residencies Sekoia – Artes Performativas, Espaço Alkantara, Associação Cultural Moinho da Juventude, Espaço Fernando Ká – Associação Aguinenso, BOTA, OSSO Non-financial Support Africandé, Bazofo-Dentu Zona, Fios Palmeira
Carolina Varela (Coimbra, 1992) is an emerging multidisciplinary artist whose practice, since 2017, has brought together music, theatre and performance with craft-based knowledge such as soap-making and natural cosmetics, herbalism, and textile arts. She has collaborated as an instrumentalist and sound designer on various projects, including Aurora Negra, Vitória & the Kalashnicoles and Rosa Mimosa y sus Mariposas. In theatre and performance, she has worked as a performer with Mónica Calle and Cire Ndiaye, and was part of the programme A roda que não tem fim...