In his film The Girl Chewing Gum, John Smith overlaps images captured on a London street with a voice that seems to give instructions for what is happening. The movement of the street seems to be predetermined by the artist. He tells people to cross the road, cars to pass or birds to fly. This film is the opposite of fake stories and fake news: if the latter try to pass off fiction as reality, the film tries to pass off reality as fiction. mala voadora recreates Smith’s experience using images from 25 April 1974, as if the revolution were an artist’s staging. As well as revealing the facts that ensured the establishment of a democratic regime in Portugal, this show highlights the mechanisms of fictional construction and, in particular, the construction of manipulated realities. The overlapping of the voice of command on a reality that has already happened creates a situation that is also conducive to the de-banalisation of the images themselves. We want the images of 25 April 1974 to remain intense.
direction Jorge Andrade ‧ text Jorge Andrade ‧ consultancy Joaquim Furtado ‧ with José Neves ‧ video editing João Gambino ‧ soundtrack Sérgio Delgado ‧ set and costume design José Capela ‧ light and technical direction João Fonte ‧ production team Joana Mesquita Alves, Sofia Freitas, Inês Soares Lopes ‧ coproduction MAAT, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II and Escher Theatre (Luxembourg) ‧
mala voadora is a structure funded by the Government of Portugal – Ministry of Culture / Direção-Geral das Artes. All the shows have interpretation in Portuguese Sign Language.
April 26 and 27, 2024 ‧ MAAT Central (Lisbon)
May 31, 2024 ‧ Escola Secundária de Santo André
June 9, 2024 ‧ Musée national d'archéologie, d'histoire et d'art (Luxembourg)
July 25 and 26, 2024 ‧ Hošek Contemporary (Berlin, Germany)
October 18 and 19, 2024 ‧ Cineteatro Borba (Próxima Cena . TNDMII)
October 25 and 26, 2024 ‧ Centro Cultural de Campo Maior (Próxima Cena . TNDMII)
November 8 and 9, 2024 ‧ Sever do Vouga (Próxima Cena . TNDMII)
November 15 and 16, 2024 ‧ A Moagem (Próxima Cena . TNDMII . Fundão)
December 6 and 7, 2024 ‧ Citica (Próxima Cena . TNDMII . Carrazeda de Ansiães)
December 13 and 14, 2024 ‧ Centro Cultural Raiano (Próxima Cena . TNDMII . Idanha-a-Nova)