Abstract

MADEIRA, Cláudia. Performance Art and the Portuguese Colonial War: Relations in Historical Time. Media & Jornalismo [online]. 2016, vol.16, n.29, pp.07-12. ISSN 1645-5681.  https://doi.org/10.14195/2183-5462_29_1.

This article explores the relationship between Portuguese performance art and the Colonial War. Their synchronization in the historic time between the 1960s and 70s could lead us to believe that, as with the themes of the Dictatorship and the Revolution, the performance art being produced in Portugal at the time might well have addressed the Colonial War. Paradoxically, however, there is no record of any performance art of the period directly addressing the issue. On the other hand, the memories stirred by the 40^th anniversary of the Revolution and issues such as the returning colonists, the Colonial War, as well as the economic crisis and the re-emergence of a “revolutionary script” in the new Portuguese social movements (disseminated by various areas of the media) has led both to the emergence of artistic projects in which performance and performativity have been acquiring an important role, and to new interpretations of some performance projects that took place between 1960-1970. In 2015, Ernesto de Melo e Castro referred to António Aragão's Funerão de Aragal (Aragal's Funeration) - devised within the scope of the Concerto e Audição Pictórica (1965) (Concert and Pictorical Hearing) -, characterizing it as “clear symbolism taking into account the dead from the wars in the African colonies.” In this context, what roles can performance art take on in telling the story of the Portuguese colonial war?

Keywords : Portuguese performance art; Portuguese colonial war; memory; performative history; speculative history.

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