Every week, UMBIGO invites two people to share their 5 cultural suggestions. What can we do at home? From a book to a podcast, album or film: here are recommendations from artists, curators, gallery owners, cultural activists, friends.

We will share the recipe for what makes us better, and we remain united and positive.

—

Helena Mendes Pereira

Books
City of Fears, City of Hopes.
Zygmunt Bauman2005

Almost everything in Bauman’s written legacy (1925-2017) was a warning about the acceleration of the time we are living in (or lived, there is a before and an after COVID-19). In a period tainted by fear, isolation and uncertainty, this is a reflection on our experience and fragility. To read, reflect and help us change.

 The Museum of Innocence
Orhan Pamuk
2008
From the Turkish Orhan Pamuk (born 1952), this is one of the most beautiful novels ever written. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the author develops a narrative about a romance, not impossible, but difficult, that sprouts a collection of objects that tell a story. It’s also a beautiful reflection of what the museums of the future could be.

Museum

Whitney Museum of American Art
Closed to the public, like many (or almost all museums worldwide), Whitney has made available, on its website and social networks, great content about its collections, exhibitions and artists, in a careful, improved collection, almost a reflection of our current concerns.

Álbum
Thanks for the Dance
Leonard Cohen
2019
An album with the songs that Cohen didn’t officially record, having only them as demos. In 2019, his son produced and edited them on CD and vinyl. One of the best 2019 records and also the perfect company these days to be with ourselves.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMMb9CiScI

Radio Show
A playlist de… is a long-standing TSF radio show. Every week, a guest reveals their musical choices, associating each song to a track. The songs acquire new senses and we realize that, quality-wise, we are almost all in agreement.
Link: https://www.tsf.pt/programa/a-playlist-de.html

—
Helena Mendes Pereira (b.1985) is a curator and researcher in contemporary artistic and cultural practices. She works regularly in dramaturgy and collaborates, as a producer, in projects associated with music and theatre, where many of her professional roots lie.

She has a degree in Art History (FLUP); attended a specialization in Museology (FLUP), a post-graduation in Arts Management (UCP); a master’s degree in Communication, Art and Culture (ICS-UMinho) and a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences, with a thesis on Curatorship as a communication process of Contemporary Art.

She is currently the general director and curator of zet gallery (Braga) and is part of the team of Fundação Bienal de Arte de Cerveira as curator. It was there that she initiated her professional career in the summer of 2007. In education and cultural mediation, she regularly organizes visits to exhibitions and museums of Contemporary Art, having already taught the subject in several educational institutions.

Since the school year 2018/2019, she is part of the teaching staff of the University of Minho as a guest assistant. She is a senior trainer and consultant in management and cultural programming. She publishes regularly in newspapers and magazines associated with the field, such as the biweekly As Artes entre as Letras, as well as in the RUA and UMBIGO magazine.

With more than 12 years of professional experience, she is the author of more than eighty curatorial projects, has worked with more than 200 artists, national and international, including Paula Rego (b.1935), Cruzeiro Seixas (b.1920 ), José Rodrigues (1936-2016), Jaime Isidoro (1924-2009), Pedro Tudela (b.1962), Miguel d’Alte (1954-2007), Silvestre Pestana (b.1949), Jaime Silva (b.1947), Vhils (b.1987), Joana Vasconcelos (b.1971), Helena Almeida (1934-2018), among many others.

She has a vast experience in collection studies, having produced and published extensive critical work on art and contemporary artists, including catalogues and other deeper research efforts on artists and curatorial contexts. She is a founding member of Astronauta, a cultural association based in Guimarães, and in 2019 published her first book of poetic prose Pequenos Delitos do Coração.