PARAGEM FESTIVAL – PERFORMATIVE INSTALLATION “UNTITLED” by João Ferro Martins

August 19 | 6:00 PM

Location: Avenida dos Pescadores – Praia da Luz Org.: Bóia – Cultural Association and CM Lagos with the support of DGArtes/RTCP Duration: 60 min Free entry

Curated by BÓIA – Cultural Association, João Ferro Martins presents a sculptural piece inspired by the world of street musicians. Currently in development, the creation is based on the theme «(On) holiday in the Algarve», proposing a sound intervention that establishes a dialogue between the landscape, public space, and the experience of the beach season.

BIOGRAPHY: João Ferro Martins (Santarém, 1979) is a visual artist, musician, and performer. He holds a degree in Plastic Arts from ESAD – Caldas da Rainha and develops an interdisciplinary practice where sculpture, installation, and sound continuously intersect. He regularly exhibits in national and international museums and galleries, also collaborating on theater, improvised music, cinema, and performance projects.

ABOUT THE PARAGEM FESTIVAL: In the context of the eighth uninterrupted edition of the PARAGEM Festival – Contemporary Artistic Practices in Beach Season, which takes place between June and September 2026 in various locations — some of them for the first time, such as Lagos: thank you, Centro Cultural de Lagos and Municipality of Lagos! — we seek, in each territory, contexts of tourist and summer enjoyment related to the collective beach imaginary. This first extension will once again be based on a transdisciplinary program, aiming to promote relaxed access platforms that facilitate the approach to artistic creation and contemporary culture in summer daily life. The goal is to involve as many people as possible in their holiday routines, offering, in unconventional spaces, a carefully curated, unusual, disruptive, and surprising selection, sometimes subtly. And it's not just us saying it: many different individuals and entities, both public and private, independent structures, and media have said so in various (circ-)instances. The programming includes artistic interventions rich in disciplinary intersections, such as performative installations, performance-conferences, performative walks, aquatic drifts, psychogeographic strolls, situated literature, performative readings, performance, outdoor cinema, DJing, and live acts in "tourist attractions," among other proposals. What continues to drive us, curatorially, is the presentation of artistic-cultural events through the sometimes unusual combination of the arts and the context. Under the motto “(On) Holiday in the Algarve,” we will once again challenge multi, trans, and interdisciplinary artists to present, create, and reinvent themselves through performative actions and artistic interventions that creatively respond to the theme in situ. We want to provide effervescent days in Lagos, capable of shaking and expanding the stabilized perception of a holiday destination through encounters with artistic occurrences that surprise and astonish. At the same time, we want to contribute to an unforgettable holiday for everyone.