According to the Directorate-General for the Arts (DGArtes), in a statement released today, Zia Soares has been selected to represent Portugal alongside Ellen Cristina Pereira da Costa (Brazil), Wilfran Barrios Paz (Colombia), Stephannie Davis (Costa Rica), and Leonel Abdul Góndola Valdes (Panama).
The Special Project “Confluences of Afro-Ibero-American and Diaspora Performing Arts” challenges professionals from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Portugal to rethink public policies through a space for reflection and collective mapping, addressing the current state of public policies and the professional development and employability conditions of Afro-descendant artists in different regions.
The group’s work will focus on three main areas: the current state of Afro-descendant performing arts in their local contexts, analysis of existing public policies and regulatory frameworks, and the current conditions of professional development and employability for Afro-descendant artists in the region.
The DGArtes noted that the insights from the meetings, which will occur both virtually and in person, will form the basis for the creation of Ibercena’s Strategic Plan 2026-2030.
The five group specialists were selected from 62 applicants, based on professional experience in the performing arts and involvement in cultural policy processes for the Afro-descendant sector.
Additionally, the selection considered the candidates’ ability to influence cultural strategies in their respective regions.
Zia Soares, artistic director, director, and actress at Teatro GRIOT, was born in Bié, Angola, in 1972.
Her early artistic journey included ballet and percussion with the National Ballet Company of Guinea-Bissau, circus arts with the Amsterdam Balloon Company, theater with the São Paulo-based Theater Company “Os Sátyros,” Brazil, and she was one of the founding actresses of Teatro Praga, where she worked from 1994 to 2000 as director, director, and actress.
In cinema, she has worked with directors such as Pocas Pascoal, João Botelho, Pedro Filipe Marques, Uli Decker, and Romano Casselis, and collaborated on projects with visual artists like Kiluanji Kia Henda, Mónica de Miranda, and Neusa Trovoada.
The Special Project “Confluences of Afro-Ibero-American and Diaspora Performing Arts” is promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Youth of Costa Rica, Teatro Popular Melico Salazar, and the National Program for the Development of Performing Arts (PROARTES), with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and institutions from the other four participating countries: FUNARTE of Brazil, the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge of Colombia, the Ministry of Culture of Panama, and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports of Portugal, through DGArtes.
The Ibercena Program, created in November 2006 and of which Portugal has been a part since 2019, currently includes 17 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Cuba, and Portugal.
