17 MAY: ROBERT WILSON AT 'TALKS AROUND THE TABLE' IN GALERIA LUIS SERPA, LISBON

On the 17th May 2011, for the 4^th event of the series ‘Talks Around the Table’ at Galeria Luis Serpa, the renowned American director and artist ROBERT WILSON will be joining a selection of industry specialists, including Architects Teresa Castro, João Luís Carrilho de Graça, Gonçalo Byrne and Manuel Graça Dias, to give a presentation entitled ‘The Lisbon Experience’ where he will discuss how an international artist finds inspiration in our city. The Talks Around the Table project is based around “The City as a Starting Point” and will feature the aforementioned speakers giving presentations about building projects in the areas of Largo de Rato, Avenida da Liberdade and Amoeiras, as well as giving informed answers to common concerns surrounding our urban city.

Texas-born Robert Wilson has had an impressive career ranging from choreographer and sculptor to renowned avant-garde stage director and playwright. In New York in the 1960’s Wilson founded an experimental performance company, Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, where he created the first of his major works, The King of Spain and The Life and Times of Sigmund Freud. He is most well known for his later production of Einstein on the Beach with composer, Philip Glass, and directing several operas for such important names as Richard Wagner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giacomo Puccini and Claude Debussy. Wilson is well recognised as a talented individual having received two Guggenheim Fellowship awards and the Rockerfellar Foundation Fellowship award.

Wilson is held in high regard in Portugal as he has been featured at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Culturgest and Centro Cultural de Belém, created exhibitions for Galeria Luis Serpa and Fundação Elipse and in 1998 Wilson presented the opera O Corvo Brance, with music by Philip Glass, for EXPO ’98. Now he has joined Galeria Luis Serpa Projectos once again to bring us this exclusive presentation centred around his personal experiences as an international artist in the city of Lisbon.

“Everyday life in Lisbon takes place in historical neighborhoods which we call old, among narrow streets and walls suddenly turned modern with graffiti. We know the pavement with tiny stones is not good for high heels, and some days are so bright that the light almost blinds us when we walk down Rua do Alecrim towards the river… Improving urban quality is a common concern for us all. It is also an indispensible part of the qualification and value of Lisbon as a cultural destination.”

The series of talks is moderated by Luis Serpa and takes place every Tuesday at 7pm until June 7^th 2011 at Rua Tenente Raul Cascais, 1B with free admission. The next talks will feature the following guest speakers:

#5. 24th May – Manuel Aires Mateus and Frederico Valsassina: ‘Apartment Building, Largo de Rato, Lisbon’

#6. 31^st May – Manuel Aires Mateus and Alberto de Souza Oliveira: ‘Parque Mayer and Capitólio’

#7. 7^th June – Manuel Graça Dias: ‘The City as a starting Point’

Text by Lucy Mclean