Raquel Lima in residency at Espaço Alkantara

Raquel Lima moderated the post-show talks at the Alkantara Festival 2023, the same year that UNA – União Negra das Artes, an association co-founded by Lima, organised Terreiro in partnership with Alkantara. A project for people interested in exploring ritual practices as artistic and cultural expressions. She now returns to the studio at Espaço Alkantara with her latest work, ULULU:

In the ancient from São Tomé and Príncipe culture, ululu is the burial ritual of a baby’s umbilical cord in the family’s large backyard and the casting of the placenta into the sea. According to the older generations, this would ensure that children would grow up, travel the world, but always know how to return to the land where they were born. This is a staged conversation in three voices, exploring circularities, stories, movements, and sounds that pose questions: What if inhabiting non-human geographies is the only solution in the face of the impending extinction? How can this be done without losing the memory of rituals that are useful for such a transformation? Where can clues be left for a possible escape toward a return?


The show will be on stage for the first time at Teatro do Bairro Alto on 3, 4 and 5 April 2025.