11. Porto, Portugal
Good start. I got a seat with extra leg room. This is the third time that I got moved to a better seat. A golden tan, charm and a bright smile go a long way with the trolley dollies... I thought I’d have a G&T but the gin was served in a sachet, so I couldn’t. I sat in front of a screaming baby. Why aren’t children put in the hold of the plane?
The temperature was cooler than I’d been used to - 25 degrees. By the third day it had hit 40.
Claire Binyon and the Currin Clan - Gary (dad), John (aged 8 and 362 days) and Daniel (aged 2 years, 11 months) were my wonderful hosts. The kids are just brilliant. Claire is Head of Department at the theatre school, ESMAE and coordinated my schedule. They’ve lived here for 12 years and it was really good to spend time with them.
A small group of Liverpool’s artistic community had descended on Porto. Paula Simms had directed a play here. Patrick Dineen had composed the music and John Burke was visiting. Lee Beagley has been spending a lot of time here and considers Porto as one of Europe’s main centres of arts and culture...
Porto was Capital of Culture in 2001. There was a three year build up to it. The year was a big success. Lots of exciting projects, international productions, financial enhancement for every theatre’s artistic programme (the National Theatre’s budget was increased from 5 million Euros to 8 million), and a street theatre programme and related training course resulted in performances seen by up to 10,000 people.
Since 2001 Porto’s artistic infrastructure has collapsed. 2001 is cited as a disaster, arts managers stating that it would have been better for the city if Capital of Culture had never happened. It appears that the change in local government from left to right is at the core of the problems, that since 2001 investment in culture has been marginalised.
I met 10 or so individuals and/or organisations that had been part of the 2001 programme. It was unanimously felt that there had been no thought as to the years that followed, there was no strategy that led to the year and certainly no plan for subsequent years and it is now a ‘cultural desert’.
As in Istanbul, Pécs and Budapest I was again commended for undertaking this research and encouraged that the setting up of SMAC (the small/medium arts collective) is seen as an important movement. It would seem that in Porto there was a will to strengthen the small/medium sized infrastructure but in the mainstream this didn’t happen. However the impulse is there, as shown by the underground movement MDF - a co-operative of small companies formed by ESMAE graduates and currently occupying an abandoned factory owned by the school.
I met with Isabel Alves Costa who was responsible for the theatre programme in 2001 and was, until recently Artistic Director of the Rivoli Theatre, the municipal theatre dedicated to programming innovative, ground breaking work. The theatre was recently taken over by a private producer and now presents Jesus Christ Superstar. There is now no publicly funded small scale venue that presents theatre or dance that pushes the boundaries or influences the creation of new work.
I’m grateful to José Luis Ferreira, International Arts Director at the National Theatre, for providing me with a potted history of Portuguese theatre and for his insight into what went wrong with 2001. There are a number of opportunities for develop links between Porto and Liverpool (cities with a number of similarities) and there is a commitment from a number of arts managers and artists in both cities. The National Theatre is keen to develop these links, as are Claire Binyon and Gary Currin at ESMAE and John Burke and Paula Simms at Zho Theatre. We’re talking about a project under the banner of Building Bridges to realise this ambition.
I also had meetings with Xico Beja who set up the ESMAE school which provides a four year vocational degree course, Julio Moreira who worked on the 2001 programme and is now the Producer at the Casa da Musica, Alberto Magno Director of Festival de Fabrica and Joclécio Azevedo, Director of Nucleu Experimental Coreografica an association of dance practitioners. All of them had stories to tell about the expectation of 2001, the excitement of the year and the ‘catastrophe’ that followed.
It would appear that the only legacies that 2001 provided was the monumental and successful (artistically and commercially) Casa da Musica; and the second stage that was developed by the National Theatre (even though they have to run two venues now, on the same money that they received in 1999 when they only had one...). The other benefit of 2001 was that artists and arts managers developed their skills. It’s sad though that so many could not sustain their theatre companies or secure work and have now moved to other cities. In the lead up to 2001 there were 15 independent theatre companies. In the years that followed 10 folded. 5 now remain, but only 2 are in receipt of (a tiny amount of) funding, and it would appear can only exist thanks to co-producing with the National Theatre.
Take note future Capital Cities of Culture.
I applaud the artists and arts managers that have stayed with the city and I sympathise with those that felt there was no option for them but to leave. There is an optimism, demonstrated by several people I met, not least Helder Sousa and Xico Beja, that there will be a turn in Porto’s artistic fortunes and that young artists, frustrated by the neglect shown by the politicians and events that followed 2001 will result in a stronger artistic infrastructure.
But why should they have to fight to achieve artistic excellence? Why, following being Capital of Culture is culture so marginalised? Why elevate a city to such cultural highs only to dash hopes, aspirations and creativity? It shouldn’t happen. Measures should be put in place to ensure artistic growth. Otherwise what’s it all for?
Advice to Liverpool which was repeated often by artists and arts managers is to ensure that expertise is kept in the city, that the infrastructure is developed, to think beyond 2008, to invest in what exists, invest in local artists, emerging artists and work that pushes the boundaries.
In terms of balancing ‘me time’ and work, Porto was perfect. Four days of meetings, four days of doing bugger all. At one point I was so relaxed that I set out to buy green wine in my slippers. I had to double check to make sure I’d put my shorts on. The green wine is not green but is bottled before it has fully fermented. It’s a sparkling, low alcohol (12 per cent) white wine. Nice to drink in the afternoon. I got a bit piddled on it several times. It’s a bit like Concorde. I also spent John’s 9th birthday eating chocolate cake, burgers, crisps and popcorn. We went Ten Pin Bowling. I came fifth. Daniel came 2nd and he’s only 2.
