A Terra Como Acontecimento II (The Earth as Event II), extract, video and sound, Romy Castro, 2021

Produced as part of the Saison Croisée France-Portugal supported by the French Institute, BEING -La Terre comme Événement (BEING – The Earth as an Event) is an interdisciplinary and bilateral cultural event that brings artists, academics, scientists and citizens together from both countries to reflect on the various ecological issues of our time. 

This event was born of a dual conviction: on the one hand, that the fields of ethics and aesthetics are inextricably linked, and on the other, that the arts and humanities, being the mirror of the humanities, constitute tools for transmission, reflection, communication and learning that are indispensable for dealing with our contemporary problems. Nourishing collective and individual imaginations, the arts and humanities allow us to discover who we are, to understand where we come from and to act on what we can become. Creativity is at the heart of the development of critical thinking as well as expression, language and innovation; it provides the foundation for members of our societies to rethink the human condition. 

Taking place between Mação (27 May – 25 June 2022) and Paris (17 June – 27 August 2022), BEING -La Terre comme Événement will take place in a variety of formats: two exhibitions, two symposia and a workshop. Through this multidisciplinary approach BEING -La Terre comme Événement intends to provide answers to the questions of WHY and HOW the arts and creativity can bring about ideas and initiatives that benefit a new political and poetic awareness of life. 

This event, rooted in the arts and humanities, uses inclusive methods to raise public awareness in order to encourage engagement at all scales that will foster the global and sustainable transformations needed to build tomorrow’s world. 

Agenda of BEING -La Terre comme Événement  

28 MAY – 27 JUNE 
GROUP EXHIBITION “THE EARTH AS AN EVENT 

with the artists Romy Castro, Alain Séraphine, Patrice Mugnier, 
Juliette Pénélope Pépin, Marten Berkman, Robi Ben Ari and Johnny 
Miller and Mykalle Bielinski 

Opening on 27 May from 6 pm 
at Cine Teatro Municipal de Mação 

28 MAY 
SYMPOSIUM 

with the intervention of Romy Castro, J.A Bragança de Miranda, 
Luiz Osterbeek and guests 

2pm – 6pm 
at the Auditorium of the 
Centro Cultural Elvino Pereira de Mação 

Click here to find the program (FR)

Click here to find the program (PT)

30 – 31 MAY 
TRAINING 

“Why the Arts?”, workshop-training led by Margalit Berriet 

10am – 6pm 
at Instituto Terra e Mémoria de Mação 

17 JUNE 
SYMPOSIUM 

with Romy Castro, J.A Bragança de Miranda, Luis Osterbeek, 
Collectif Tramages and Addictive TV – Orchestra of Samples 

2pm – 6.30pm 
at the Mémoire de l’Avenir gallery, Paris 
(live broadcast on UNESCO platforms) 

Click here to find the program (FR)

18 JUNE – 27 AUGUST 
SOLO EXHIBITION “THE EARTH AS AN EVENT 

Romy Castro 

Opening on 17 June from 6.30 pm 
at the Mémoire de l’Avenir gallery, Paris

Click here for the press kit (FR)

Click here for the catalogue (FR)

Click here for the catalogue (PT)

Click here for the press review

FRANCE-PORTUGAL SEASON 2022 

Implemented by the President of the French Republic and the Portuguese Prime Minister, Saison Croisée France-Portugal is held simultaneously in both countries between 12 February and 31 October 2022. 

This Cross Season, which falls within the framework of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, is an opportunity to highlight the closeness and friendship that bind our two countries, embodied in particular by the presence in France of a very large Luso-descendant community, and in Portugal of a growing number of French expatriates, two dynamic, mobile and active communities that constitute an exceptional human and cultural link between our two countries. 

In addition to a programme that highlights cultural Europe, the France-Portugal 2022 Season also wishes to make a concrete commitment to the themes that bring us together and that our two countries defend in the Europe of the 21st century: the ecological and solidarity-based transition, particularly through the theme of the Ocean, gender equality, investment in youth, respect for difference and the values of inclusion. 

Through more than 200 projects, i.e. more than 480 events, mostly co-constructed between French and Portuguese partners in 87 cities in France and 55 in Portugal, the Season aims to highlight the many collaborations between artists, researchers, intellectuals, students or entrepreneurs, between our cities and our regions, between our cultural institutions, our universities, our schools and our associations: so many initiatives that profoundly and sustainably link our territories and contribute to the construction of Europe. 

The France-Portugal 2022 Season, chaired by Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, is organised: – for Portugal: by the Camões, lnstituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I.P. – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by the Gabinete de Estratégia, Planeamento e Avaliação Culturais (GEPAC) – Cultural Affairs, with the support of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality) and the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transition; Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Environment and Climate Action; Ministry of the Sea; and the Portuguese Embassy in France. 

General Curator for Portugal: Manuela Judice. 

– for France: by the French Institute, with the support of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Recovery, the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the Ministry of the Sea, the French Embassy in Portugal and the network of Alliances françaises in Portugal 

General Commissioner for France: Victoire Di Rosa.