Since mid-June, Lisbon has gained a new cultural and community centre. Jardins do Bombarda, promoted by the Largo Residências co-operative, transforms the country’s oldest psychiatric hospital, Miguel Bombarda – established in 1848 and closed in 2011 – into a space for conviviality and cultural fruition. The birth of this new element in the city’s ecosystem seeks to build “a present that gives voice to the formal and informal movements that continue to work on the future of this place, in a direct dialogue with the local and global community that will temporarily use the Jardins do Bombarda – Cultural and Community Centre – as a place to meet, think and act”, according to press release.

It was from this vicinal exchange and spirit, which dictated the community’s main demands and desires for the neighbourhood and the new environment, that Jardins do Bombarda designed its programme for the various spaces that make it up: there are gardens, a restaurant-bar, an art shop, work tables, venues prepared for cultural initiatives and artist residencies, and, during the summer and autumn, a series of outdoor activities. In August, for example, there were concerts and DJ sets at sunset, independent fairs, multidisciplinary workshops, storytelling sessions and yoga classes.

During September, in addition to a series of workshops and Jam Sessions, Jardins do Bombarda will also host a series of debates in partnership with the Goethe Institut (Uma Revolução Assim, 27 September, Friday, from 10am to 10pm) and a meeting on the themes of Design and the Circular Economy with Milena Kravetz and Sónia Sousa aka Lady Maker (What a Waste, 28 September, Saturday, from 2pm to 8pm).

On Sunday 29 September, the day begins with the Bio Bombarda fair, which brings together a range of exhibitors of natural and organic products in the Pinhal and Romantic Gardens, from 11am to 6pm. At 4pm and until 6pm, the 2nd session of the Bombarda: Past, Present and Future talk will take place, the first of which happened when the space was inaugurated. This time, the guests for the debate are Nuno Faleiro Silva (Clinical Psychologist at the Lisbon Psychiatric Hospital Centre, coordinator of Rádio Aurora), Ana Paula Santos (Librarian), Célia Pilão (Former Administrator of the São José Hospital) and Margarida Cancela d’Abreu (Landscape Architect). The moderator is Marta Silva (Largo Residências), and the event is organised by Largo Residências in partnership with Trabalhar com os 99% and Fórum de Cidadania LX. All the activities mentioned above are free.

For more information, see https://largoresidencias.com/programacao-de-setembro/.