Heterogeneous audience fills the Musicians Association for the AL-Bauhaus Dream Factory

New European Bauhaus (Within The Festival)

On the 9th of June, the event “AL-Bauhaus Dream Factory” took place at the Associação Cultural e Recreativa de Músicos, in Faro, as part of “The Festival New European Bauhaus” taking place in Brussels (as well as in other European cities) between the 9th and 12th of June. With the aim of celebrating the New European Bauhaus movement, this event presented exhibitions, lectures, debates and creative workshops that allowed us to imagine, dream and co-design the future cultural spaces of the Algarve, so that they are beautiful, sustainable and for everyone.

This event also aimed at good practices, projects and creatives from Faro and the Algarve, whose work is part of the New European Bauhaus movement and intended above all to invite those present to reconnect to the true identity of our region through the projects presented and of the ideas discussed.

More than 200 people participated in the event. A very heterogeneous audience that included children from Jardim Escola João de Deus, high school students, university students from the Visual Arts course at UALG, ASMAL users, teachers from different disciplines, artists, creatives, specialists, activists, entities and the curious!!

​The afternoon began with a creative design workshop, led by the Association of Designers of the South and attended by 2nd year students from Jardim Escola João de Deus. It was with great enthusiasm that this group of children imagined the cultural buildings of the future and saw their work on display at the event. The exhibition space also featured a showcase of projects that won the Regional Architecture Prize and 6 XL tapestries, the result of the LIXARTE project. This pilot project, which consisted of creating tapestries from garbage (mainly marine), inspired by the work of African artist El Anatsui, was born with the aim of disseminating the messages of the European Ecological Pact (EU Green Deal) and students from schools EB23 and secondary in the municipalities of Olhão and Faro. The LIXARTE exhibition then moved on to the city of Portimão, the beginning of the tour through the Algarve.

At the AL-Bauhaus Dream Factory, other projects and artists in the region working on the theme of sustainability were also made known. The plastic artist, Joana Rocha toasted all visitors with the piece “Bioco”. Associação Amarelarte presented the clothing recycling project "Upcycling Clothes and Minds". Guilherme Gonçalves exhibited his clothing and decoration pieces inspired by the Ria Formosa.

With a full audience, the “AL-BAUHAUS Dream Factory” program included a participatory debate of ideas and concepts, inserted in this great movement that is the New European Bauhaus, with the motto “New Cultural Spaces”. Among the results presented, we highlight the ideas of students from the Visual Arts course at the University of Algarve, who drew attention to the pressing need for artists to settle in the region, advancing with ideas for the creation of artistic residencies, workshops and galleries and unveiling the willingness of students and teachers of this course to make efforts in this direction.

The Open Mic moment followed with three very interesting talks. Mariana Pestana, Researcher at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Lisboa, was the first to take the floor. He presented the Bauhaus do Mar project and its importance for changing cultural consciousness and values: “we have to stop looking at the sea as an inexhaustible good and work even more towards coexistence between human beings and the environment”. José de Brito, Landscape Architect of the Committee for Coordination and Regional Development (CCDR) of the Algarve, also spoke to us about how we can “live more consciously” and integrate in the construction of our landscapes values ​​and knowledge from the material and immaterial heritage of the region. Presenting a more technical aspect, Cláudio Calveri, Consultant for Digital Cultural Strategies, introduced us to the concept of “Civic Crowdfunding” and how this tool allows us to be cultural agents and develop projects within the scope of the New European Bauhaus and thus contribute for a more beautiful, sustainable and inclusive future.
The highlight of the afternoon was the Al-Bauhaus Talk, “(Re)Constructions with Identity, Innovation and Nature”, which featured Architect José Alegria as keynote speaker and moderator of a panel of guests that included: Adriana Nogueira, Regional Director of Algarve Culture; Lurdes Carvalho, Director of Regional Development Services at CCDR Algarve, and Teresa Valente, Architect of the Urban Regeneration Service of the Spatial Planning Division of the Department of Infrastructure and Urbanism of the Municipality of Faro. With the theme “The importance of local knowledge and materials”, Architect Alegria praised the characteristics of Algarve architecture and promoted the concept of geoarchitecture, that is, the integration of the four elements, fire, air, earth and water in the design and construction of buildings. buildings and spaces. This was the motto for a debate without taboos, which included interventions from the audience and whose main conclusion was the need to develop a relationship between civil society and political power for urban planning that respects the environment, but also the built heritage. and the well-being of citizens.
The event continued through dinnertime and into the night, with moments of fun and celebration. It was with good mood and sustainability tips that influencers Peanuts (Joana Jesus) and Maia Viegas put all those present to participate in the live quiz "Who ever: ugly, unsustainable and individualistic". to the sound of DJ Renato Aka Renato.

The AL-Bauhaus Dream Factory event was produced by AL-BAUHAUS, beautiful, sustainable and for all Algarve, an initiative promoted by a group of regional partners, namely:

• Associação Al Mouatamid Ibn Abbad
• Associação Cultural e Recreativa de Músicos
• Associação Designers do Sul
• Darquiterra
• Europe Direct Algarve | CCDR Algarve
• Faro2027 | Município de Faro
• Ordem dos Arquitetos Secção Regional do Algarve
• Sul Informação
• Universidade do Algarve

Believing in the potential of the Algarve and the Algarve, it is the objective of this group of partners to inform, inspire and clarify this great European movement in the hope that the Algarve and its agents can actively participate in the construction of the New European Bauhaus.