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The Portuguese Conspiracy presents Norberto Lobo & Tropa Macaca at MK Gallery
7th September 2019
Norberto Lobo is a prodigious acoustic and electric guitar player from Lisbon with a career hitting upon his first decade. He’s done his profound reading of the most auspicious and melancholic melodies (a place where Steve Reich, Jim O’Rourke, Paulinho da Viola and Carlos Paredes all make sense together unto one existence), has been deeply enriched by the harmonic depth & richness of the samba/bossa heritage (which he knows by heart), and his composition in both short and longer-form is nothing short of remarkable – a sense of structure, narrative and storytelling complete by a total absence of any tics or theatrical antics, in which every turn is revised and remade for maximum fascination for both musician and audience.
Tropa Macaca
Tropa Macaca, André Abel (guitar) and Joana da Conceição (synths, electronics), have been active for almost 15 years now, releasing music through creative labels such as Siltbreeze, Software, The Trilogy Tapes. They believe their poetic music has its own self, its own dynamism. It comes from a direct ontology and through it are forces that manifest themselves that don’t go through the circuits of a knowing. Their new record ‘Animais Sintéticos’ will be released this year on Warsaw’s finest, DUNNO Recordings.
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.