OSSO – Associação Cultural, founded in 2012, constituted by artists and researchers from different fields, supports creation, research, programming and experimental projects, through artistic practices that stimulate critical, aesthetic and political thinking, in the face of their specific contexts and territories.

The collective was born as a consequence of projects by several members, examples of its transdisciplinary and partaking character. Parque (2000/2015), a collective project directed by Ricardo Jacinto, which combined music, installation and plastic arts; Eye-Height (2010/2013), a show by Beatriz Cantinho and Ricardo Jacinto, with Nuno Torres, Francesca Bertozzi, Marta Cerqueira, Filipe Jâcome, among others, where a device, simultaneously set and instrument, welcomed the choreographic and musical output; or Campo Próximo (2015/2020), a site-specific sound project that played with perception and the construction of places, based on the Ph.D. investigations of Diogo Alvim and Matilde Meireles. OSSO, initially in Fundição de Oeiras, then moved to a space in the Architecture Triennale, and is currently headquartered in the village of São Gregório, near Caldas da Rainha. Creative projects are at the heart of the activity, in articulation with academic research and reflections on artistic pedagogy. This is reflected in workshops, ateliers or programming, such as Dias Abertos, where the inhabitants of the village and Caldas are invited to visit the studios, encouraging moments of sharing, reflection and conviviality. Programa de Residências Artísticas emerged in 2018 to host artists, researchers, or trainers. The aim is also to support research, programming and/or artistic training in dialogue with the surrounding community. Applications are made in an Open Call, in the categories of creation and research, where national and international artists and researchers send proposals without preference by artistic area or intersections. But invitations are also made to artists with affinities and spontaneous applications are accepted. The current residents, photographer Rui Pinheiro, visual artist Sara Bichão and Tiago Fróis (Oficinas do Convento), have conceived projects linked to the idea of territory for the NA RUA programme. OSSO’s website says: “This is a multifaceted concept, which can be related to notions of space and place, to the limits of a state or property, identity and community, domain and control. It can concern a limited area of land or fields of knowledge, discipline, activity or experience”.

OSSO hosted us for a weekend during Rui Pinheiro’s stay. We learnt more about the artistic residencies programme and we interviewed Ricardo Jacinto (Artistic Director) in person about the work of the association and the relationship with the community and the territory.

As we arrived at night in the village of São Gregório, its details were barely visible. But, in the sunlight, we realised that it was built on top of a valley, snaked around by a viaduct, and consisted of a central street/road surrounded by houses, some commercial establishments and, unexpectedly, an electric guitar workshop. But our destination, the OSSO headquarters, stands out for its contemporary architecture. Ricardo Jacinto says: «this space was where I had my studio. In my practice, I maintain this collaborative logic and collective creation venues… That’s why I extended an invitation to the association, asking to come here and collectively think about the future of this space». Currently, the team is solid, with a significant number of members, including Nuno Torres, Rita Thomaz, Nuno Morão, Diogo Alvim, Matilde Meireles, Pedro Tropa, Sara Morais. It also receives interns (in articulation with ESAD.CR), several creation, programming and training projects, but also a residency programme that has been consolidated.

At OSSO, we were very well received. The living space, with a kitchen and three bedrooms, directly connected to the various workrooms, such as workshops and a music production studio, with windows open to nature, allows comfort and serenity for artistic creation. In addition to facilitating all the logistics, the team encourages dialogue with the community and the discovery of the territory. Ricardo Jacinto explains: “Once again, the support comes from the idea of trying our best to ensure that the residents develop their work in a way that is always supported by us, i.e. with our presence… All the projects we host use the infrastructures just as we do… We are interested in creating conditions so that people feel stimulated, so that they return and so that the projects can develop for years”.

We followed Ricardo and Rui (with his camera) on a tour of the village, stopping to say hello to the inhabitants in the street or the café, but also to get to know the nature and the surrounding rock pear fields. Later, in the OSSO studio, we accompanied the reflection on Rui’s photographic project about the village, while Ricardo reflected: “regarding creative residencies, the important thing for us are projects, artists or collectives that are interested in directly questioning the territory and the community where we are. Projects that also think about what the connection between rural and urban space can be, the dynamics created, the characteristics of the landscape, the people and their activities”. In addition to Rui, the residents for the 2020/2021 biennium are Sara Bichão and Tiago Fróis. As Ricardo says: “they are artists with whom we identify because of their somewhat recollective practice and the projects that are also born out of contact with specific places, people and communities”. OSSO’s residencies were created as a fully open space in terms of objectives, where it is not mandatory to make a final exhibition. Their aim is reflection and dialogue about ongoing artistic practices. Previous residents, such as Sonoscopia, Oficinas do Convento, Mãozorra – Teatro de Marionetas or MILL (Makers in Little Lisbon), started working on other projects with the association. EIRA – Plataforma Rádio also consists of a series of online and FM broadcasts, with experimental programming that often involves residents. This enhances dialogue with the community and the sharing of the creative projects being developed through the radio.

When we said goodbye to OSSO, we were sure to return. The discussion about contemporary artistic practices, the Portuguese artistic context and artistic residencies was fruitful and inspiring. The location and reception also allowed us to escape the noise and the urban environment, encouraging conviviality and leisure. There was time to visit Caldas da Rainha, a city with great artistic and cultural development. OSSO’s Programa de Residências Artísticas is an asset for researchers interested in practice-based research and/or artists with a connection to collaborative, participatory and community projects, or who wish to explore these methodologies in an increasingly desertified, isolated and ageing rural environment. This may contribute to new engagements and questions about these territories.