Between September 25 and 27, Aveiro celebrates the centenary of one of its dearest and most multifaceted artists, Vasco Branco (1919-2014). His shared and vibrant existence is forever rooted in the Beira-Mar neighbourhood, the struggle of the salt workers, the tools, the labour and the lagoon, which turned out to be the greatest subjects of his work, whether we’re talking about Literature, Cinema, Ceramics or Painting.

Co-produced by VIC Aveiro Arts House / Navalha and the City Hall of Aveiro, and integrated within the European Heritage Days, this celebration will try to live up to the restless and plural spirit of the artist. In this vein, it will combine an exhibition of Vasco Branco’s ceramics and paintings; an installation developed from his ceramic casts; an itinerary through some of his public works, a round table; two outdoor movie sessions, featuring his movies with live music; a shared reading of some of his texts; and the launch of a book that reflects the intimacy of both man and work towards the city of Aveiro, titled Legends of Salt City.

Only style can connect the diversity of processes and resources exercised by an artist who was experimental throughout all the extension of his breathtaking work, jumping from one art form to other in a split of a second.

Vasco Branco wished for a life beyond mediocrity and Salazar’s dictatorship, and actually accomplished one it in many ways and through many arts. He was awarded with countless national and internacional prizes in both Cinema and Literature, like the Special Mention at Cannes’ Festival Internacional du Filme Amateur, having later been invited to integrate the jury of this festival. With ceramic panels disseminated throughout Aveiro’s streets and other faraway locations —such as the Almeida Memorial Hospital, in Japan— only style can connect the diversity of processes and resources exercised by an artist who was experimental throughout all the extension of his breathtaking work, jumping from one art form to other in a split of a second.

Filled with trophies and encounters, Vasco Branco’s home auditorium —which, since 2017, has once again started hosting an all-round cutting-edge cultural programme— was a headquarter for the artistic resistance to the fascist regime, where leading figures from the counterculture frequently met. His enthusiasm expanded towards the diffusion of art and culture, through the co-founding of initiatives such as Cineclube de Aveiro‘s, AveiroArte, Clube dos Galitos or Fundação João Jacinto de Magalhães, through his collaboration in magazines and newspapers like O Mundo literário, Bandarra, Litoral and Libertação or through the teaching of Cinema and Ceramics.

Aveiro celebrates 100 years of love for the arts for life and for a city with which Vasco Branco debated through all forms of artistic expression that he practiced.

As his daughter, the writer Rosa Alice Branco, points out: “Between September 25 and 27, Aveiro celebrates 100 years of love for the arts for life and for a city with which Vasco Branco debated through all forms of artistic expression that he practiced; it celebrates that pure and diaphanous blue turned river and delta for games and dreams, and the way in which from that same blue he sculpted the body of a mother and a lover; it celebrates the inner strength that lies in the origin of all experimentation and beyond any certified formulas; it celebrates the love for each and all people that —in an instant or throughout a lifetime— crossed paths with his look, his breath; it celebrates his genuine concern with the fate of the people and the planet that we inhabit.”


So, what’s going on?

Saturday · 19 September

16h00 | Museu da Cidade
Variações quase sentimentais sobre uma cidade
Inauguração da exposição de pintura e cerâmica / instalação

Friday · 25 September

21h30 | Jardim do Museu de Aveiro / Santa Joana
Filmes VAB apresenta
Open air movie session, featuring live music by por Samuel Martins Coelho and Hugo Branco

Saturday · 26 September

11h00 | [ Online Streaming here! ]
Roteiro Impopular de Aveiro
Itinerary through Vasco Branco’s public work, conducted by Sérgio Azeredo

16h00 | ATLAS Aveiro — Edifício Fernando Távora
Conversas do Trianon
Round table, with Anabela Branco de Oliveira, Jaime Borges, Lauro António, Maria João Tudela and Vasco Pinto Leite, moderated by Rosa Alice Branco

21h30 | Jardim do Museu de Aveiro / Santa Joana
Filmes VAB apresenta
Open air movie session, featuring live music by por Samuel Martins Coelho and Hugo Branco


Sunday · 27 September

16h00 | ATLAS Aveiro — Edifício Fernando Távora
Legendas da Cidade Salgada
Lançamento do livro de homenagem a Vasco Branco, por Valter Hugo Mãe

17h30 | [ Online Streaming here! ]
Variações quase sentimentais sobre uma cidade
Online visit to the painting and ceramics exhibition

21h30 | Teatro Aveirense
À Boca de Cena
Shared reading of texts by Vasco Branco, with Rosa Alice Branco



Credits

Organised by Câmara Municipal de Aveiro

Produced by VIC Aveiro Arts House / Navalha

Artistic direction: Hugo Branco, Rosa Alice Branco and Vasco Afonso Branco

Production assistance: Carolina Maldonado Branco, Lana Gunjic, Liliana Caetano, PedroNogueira, Renata Rodrigues, Rita Maldonado Branco and Viktorija Žilinskaitė

Video: João Garcia Neto

vascobranco.org

#100anosVascoBranco


Photo credits

100 Anos de Vasco Branco animated logo designed by Rita Maldonado Branco

All photos from Vasco Branco’s painting and ceramic works by Sofia Soares