Meet the artists selected for the 1st Artistic Residency at KEF

12 Sep 2024

---

Jamaican-American David J. Amado, Portuguese artist Francisca Neves and Brazilian Bruno Ribeiro are the first to debut the Artistic Residency programme launched in August by KEF. This initial initiative aimed to support artists in the process of writing projects across a wide range of creative fields.

The jury, composed of the Foundation's Executive Director and Board, evaluated nearly 40 applications from various countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, the United States and Brazil.

 

David J. Amado. @Rob White

 

David J. Amado, who situates his work at the intersection of fine arts, queer intellectuality and the ghetto, will use his time at KEF to focus on completing the script for the show "(Des)Protegidos" (Unprotected), a choreopoem. The performance uses Portuguese-language poetry and dance to explore the experiences of five Black queer men, covering topics from brotherhood, body dysmorphia, and homophobia, to self-hatred and racism. “The project aims to amplify the voices of a marginalised group within the LGBTQ+ community, confronting social expectations about Black masculinity. "(Des)Protegidos" is an intense narrative that challenges stereotypes. It is a courageous mirror of reality that demands reflection and dialogue,” Amado defines.

David J. Amado is a choreographer who holds a degree in Music from Columbia University in New York. He is also a classical dance pedagogue and filmmaker with a career spanning three continents. He began as an apprentice at the Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance (AOTD) Company, under the direction of Enrique Cruz de Jesus, in New York. Since then, he has danced with Ballet des Amériques and Corpo Cidadão in Minas Gerais, Brazil. He was featured in Dance Teacher magazine (USA, June 2016 edition) and studied classical dance pedagogy with the International Dance Council of UNESCO in association with the Classical Dance Alliance (New York). He currently resides in Lisbon. He is a beneficiary of the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGARTES) support programme (2020). He is developing his first feature film during a screenwriting residency with Netflix and the Portuguese Film Academy.

 

Francisca Neves. @Pedro Sacadura

 

Francisca Neves will dedicate herself to researching the characters of Arena, a play about the act of performing itself. The proposal is to reflect on the forms and processes through which two young women (one actress and one non-actress) will give voice and body to their fictional identities.

“In contemporary performance practice, the use of so-called non-actors has gradually been gaining space. Arena questions the place of representation and its relationship with reality through two distinct approaches - personal and professional. Arena is an experiment,” she explains.

Francisca Neves has a degree in performing arts and film. Her transdisciplinary practice focuses on the fields of dance, theatre and film. She is a graduate of the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Balleteatro, ESMAE, P.A.R.T.S., Lee Strasberg (USA) and the Sorbonne. Most recently, she participated in the films “A Sibila” by Eduardo Brito; “Dias de Cama” by Tatiana Ramos (IndieLisboa award); “Midnight Glow” by Pedro Harsnoury (Sophia Awards); and “Rio Acima” by Janais Reis (Film Academy awards), among others. In 2024, she completed a semester at the Actors Studio NY and was selected for the theatre lab at the Venice Biennale with Tim Crouch. She has just finished directing her film “Fertile Species” (in post-production) and is rehearsing the play “Nós somos as netas de todas as bruxas que vocês não conseguiram queimar”.

 

Bruno Ribeiro. @Rodolpho de Barros.

 

Bruno Ribeiro intends to make significant progress on his historical fiction novel “The Life and Humour of João de Sá Panasco, the former Black slave, court jester and knight of the Order of Santiago”.

The story revolves around a young Black man born in Congo, who at the beginning of the 16th century sees his life drastically transformed when he is captured by slave traders, taken to Lisbon and sold as property to King João III of Portugal. Panasco quickly embarks on a series of extraordinary adventures, including alongside Prince Luís, the king's brother. With a charismatic personality, sharp intelligence and unwavering determination, he wins respect and social status never before imagined for someone in his condition.

“Panasco knows that his true battle is against the prejudices deeply rooted in society. An endless battle. In a satirical, critical and cutting tone, the novel intends to look at our past to try to understand — or perhaps confuse even more — our present,” Bruno provokes.

Bruno Ribeiro is a writer, translator and screenwriter. With a Master's in Creative Writing from the Universidad de Tres de Febrero, in Buenos Aires, he is the author of, among others, Como usar um pesadelo (Caos e Letras, 2020), Porco de Raça (Darkside, 2021), Era apenas um presente para o meu irmão (Todavia, 2023), and the yet-to-be-published O Dono e o Mal (Alfaguara). He received the Brasil em Prosa, Machado DarkSide, and Todavia Non-Fiction awards and was a finalist for the Jabuti Prize.

In addition to offering a space for creation, KEF will promote conversations about the artists' creative processes and present their work to the local community. A new open call will be announced soon, this time for visual artists.