Atlas Tjörn becomes Atlas Workshop! Ana Borralho and João Galante creates a workshop with 50 people on stage. The result – a work in progress show!

We meet a symphony of different people with different jobs and backgrounds, all of them claiming some sort of position in their society. Together they form a kind of atlas, a complex social tapestry. When the participants enter the stage, the theatre is transformed into a political space, where the division between actor and audience is erased.
Artist couple Ana Borralho and João Galante met during the 90’s when they were both studying at the art school AR.CO in Lisbon. They have worked together since 2002, with projects involving performance, dance, installations, sound and video art and photography. Through their art they want to explore the relationship between the spectator and the artist, between art and every day life, the private and the public.

To fully understand their work, according to Borralho and Galante, one should not view them as a duo – this would imply a certain contradiction, but rather view them as one. For example they don’t perform facing each other on stage – instead they always face the audience. Just like the traditional family portrait they never look at each other, but at us.
Borralho and Galante’s work has been presented at international festivals all over the world. The couple are also artistic directors at the art festival Verão Azul (Lagos/Portugal), and the electronic music festival Electrolegos (Lagos/Portugal). They live and work in Lisbon and in Lagos, Portugal.

Concept, lights, direction: Ana Borralho & João Galante
Lighting consultant: Thomas Walgrave
Sound: Coolgate
Artistic assistance: Fernando Ribeiro
Dramaturgic cooperation: Rui Catalão
Producer: Andrea Sozzi (casaBranca)
Production: casaBranca
Co-production: Maria Matos Municipal Theatre
Residence: Atelier real, alkantara
With support from: Junta Freguesia de Santos-o-Velho