The show at the Centro Cultural Vila Flor in Guimarães, titled “Drawing Sounds with the Light of Fingers,” comes as a result of an invitation from this biennial to three artists. Together, they propose an “impromptu visual and sound narrative” on stage, the organizers explained.
In addition to this performance, the fifth edition of the Bienal de Ilustração de Guimarães begins with the inauguration of several exhibitions, including ‘A Linha Clara,’ dedicated to cartoonist and illustrator Cristina Sampaio, who will receive a lifetime achievement award.
“The clear line of digital purity is dark and adept at uncovering the analog and contradictory human nature. It is a line of a trained polygraph catching liars, sly people, and fools worldwide; a mirror of kind colors reflecting our very yellow smile,” described the exhibition curator, researcher Jorge Silva, regarding Cristina Sampaio’s work.
Cristina Sampaio has been working as an illustrator and cartoonist since the 1980s, boasting a lengthy list of collaborations with national and international press and published work for children. She has received several awards, including the World Press Cartoon and the Stuart Award for press drawing. She is also part of the animated cartoon collective SpamCartoon.
The Bienal de Ilustração de Guimarães was established to provide visibility to authors working in the field of illustration in Portugal, with exhibitions, talks, workshops, involving professionals and students, and awarding prizes.
Besides Cristina Sampaio’s career exhibition, BIG will feature an exhibition on illustrator Madalena Matoso, who won the biennial’s Grand Prize in 2023, for originals created for the book ‘How to See Invisible Things?’ done with Isabel Minhós Martins.
Painter Ilda David will also exhibit drawings made for the book ‘Amor de Perdição’ by Camilo Castelo Branco, in a 2012 edition, along with an exhibition ‘Iron Hand, Velvet Glove,’ featuring designed Polish film posters from the 1960s and 1970s.
The 94 illustrators and artists competing for this year’s National BIG Prize, comprising recent names and well-known figures in Portuguese illustration such as Yara Kono, Tiago Galo, Mariana Rio, André Carrilho, Raquel Costa, Alain Corbel, Catarina Gomes, and João Fazenda, will be displayed in a collective exhibition that also opens on Saturday.
The winners of the Grand Prize, Revelation Prize, and Acquisition Prize will also be announced at the biennial’s start, prior to the opening of the collective exhibition.
The exhibitions are hosted at the José de Guimarães International Arts Center, Palácio Vila Flor, Sociedade Martins Sarmento, and the Center for Art and Architecture Affairs.
Under the artistic direction of author Tiago Manuel, BIG – Bienal de Ilustração de Guimarães is organized by the municipality of Guimarães and the cultural association MOTOR, ending on December 31.
