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The Portuguese Conspiracy presents Lula Pena & João Pais Filipe at MK Gallery
15th June 2019
Opening Concert
Lula Pena
“Songs are suffused with a bleak loveliness; over graceful acoustic guitar, strummed and tapped, she fashions bittersweet tales. This is music of a deep, raw intensity.” The Times
Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and poet Lula Pena; with a unique, deep voice, inspired by multiple cultural references. Lula’s voice is haunting, her guitar style unique and her approach to her music deeply emotional and intense, taking in folk blues, flamenco, Latin, French chanson, fado and bossa nova.
Website // Youtube // Bandcamp
João Pais Filipe
João Pais Filipe is a drummer/percussionist and sound sculptor from Porto. His career as a musician is characterized by the approach to a wide range of styles and languages with different bands, while maintaining regular activity in the world of improvised music, having participated in numerous projects alongside such as Steve Hubback, Fritz Hauser, Evan Parker, Marcello Magliocchi, Stefano Giust, George Haslam, Carlos “Zíngaro” and Rafael Toral. In addition to his musical journey, João Pais Filipe develops Gong Making, Cymbals mithing and other metal percussion instruments, through which he explores the acoustic properties of these objects as their potential sculptural dimension and imagery.
Website // Youtube // Bandcamp
Paula Rego: Obedience and Defiance at MK Gallery
13 June to 22 September 2019

Showing works spanning her entire career since the 1960s, this will be the first major retrospective of Rego’s work in England for over 10 years. The exhibition includes previously unseen paintings and works on paper from the artist’s family and close friends, which reflect Rego’s perspective as a woman immersed in urgent social issues and current affairs.
About the season:
“The events programme for the exhibition has been deeply infused by Paula Rego’s independent spirit of defiance: Collaborative, diverse and explorative, the path trailed by the generation of artists present, has been opened up and enlightened by Paula Rego’s beacon of creative autonomy and freedom.
We feel the programme is therefore, as much an atmospheric companion for the retrospective, as it is a tribute to Paula Rego’s deep, and long lasting influence in cutting through the thick air of Portugal’s “dusty” legacy of political dictatorship at many levels. Then and now, Paula’s fearless art touches, enlightens and expands.”
Generously supported by Camões Institute.
Coming Next
29 June – Dullmea + Von Calhau
13 July – To Trips & Joao Doce
27 July – Film COLO, Teresa Villaverde
10 August – Negra Branca + Filho da Mãe
17 August – Short Film Sessions
‘The Mesh and the Circle’, Francisco Queimadela & Mariana Caló
‘The Artificial Humors’, Gabriel Abrantes
‘Flores’, Jorge Jácome