Newsletter  285
March 2026

January and February were months of renovation (repairing terraces, replacing mosquito nets), excavation (uncovering more remains of the ancient settlement), and selecting residents for 2026.
A challenging job was also developing proposals for Evora_27. See lower in this newsletter and on the page upcoming events.
This newsletter shows some recent highlights. Residencies and projects earlier in 2025 are on the 2025 page. 

Modris Svilāns (Latvia) just published a video recording of his sound performance, presented on the Open Studio on 21 September. He used field recordings from marble quarries, nature around the residence, and sound of kinetic works that he created for this purpose. His performance was a 23-minutes improvisation of mixing the sounds of the field recordings and the sonic structure of the kinetic objects.  His audience was deeply impressed.

Kimmo Ylönen (Finland) came to create a political and activist artwork exploring the European mindset (see Artists 2025). He is now working on a proposal to get an exhibition on this matter excepted for Evora_27. 
As a side project, he built a waterwheel from second-hand materials and placed it in a creek near the residency. Kimmo believed that those who see the wheel turning in the stream will become more aware of how precious water is. The waterwheel survived a huge flood during the autumn storms in October. And Kimmo was right: people who visited the creek saw it as something very special.

Jil Guyon just published “Threshold”: a video of her performance on the rooftop of Evoramonte Castle in 2023. The video is a moving, surreal and incredibly beautiful visual story. It is a reflection on time: it deals with the fragility and vanity of the human body compared to the centuries-old architecture of the castle. 
In the slideshow shows a still of the video and some images of the making of. It is published on Vimeo. Request her for the password.
Jill made a proposal to screen the video in the scope of Evora_27. 

spring time in Alentejo

Storks and swallows are building their nests. Wild daffodils, wood sorrel, and a first butterfly beg for attention. The only snow that falls is that of the blossom petals of the almond trees. This is spring in the Alentejo.

Also good to know:

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Sophie Tassignon has won two silver medals at the Global Music Awards for her newest album A Slender Thread. What an incredible honour! The album is available on Bandcamp.
Sophie was an artist-in-residence at OBRAS in 2022 and 2024, and she made a deep impression on us and on her fellow residents—as a singer, as a collaborator, and as a person. The photo is of her experience a marble quarry in 2022. Sophie will return in 2026.

Rest and remember is the title of an oeuvre exhibition of Jacobien de Rooij in the Verwey museum in Haarlem, The Netherlands. It shows large-scale pastel drawings of landscapes and animals. It is an innovative exhibition that places rest, stillness, and mental space at its heart. The exhibition is an invitation to reflect on the own relationship with nature, time, and surroundings. The exhibition just opened and will run until 4 May 2026.
In 2002 Jacobien was the first artist in residence at OBRAS, and she returned some 10 times. The photo is of 2017 during her exhibition in Estremoz.  

The three Latvian conceptual jewellery makers: Rasma Puspure Modris Svil­äns and Ginta Grūbe, who had a highly successful residency in 2025 (see 2025) are now working on a project proposal for Evora_27. We very much look forward to it. They will also have a residencyin 2026. 

OBRAS 25!

This year, OBRAS is celebrating 25 years of activity. As we look ahead, we are pleased to announce that OBRAS will continue its work under the guidance of a new management team. A careful and well-planned transition is already underway to ensure minimal impact on the residencies and artistic program. We look forward to sharing more information with you soon.

Evora European Capital of Culture 2027

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Evora will become the European Capital of Culture in 2027. 
The theme of this event is “vagar”, which means wander without hurry. It refers to the vision that “slow” can bring better quality in daily live.  

Several former OBRAS residents submitted a project proposal. The slide show gives an impression (the page future events has more details):

• An exhibition and performance by Rob Monaghan (Ireland). about personal experiences in abandoned quarries
• An exhibition by Osamu (Japan) about a visit of three Japanese priest to Vila Viçosa in 1584
• A performance by Ruth Beattig (Switzerland) and a Walk / Talk in Evora by Giuseppe di Salvatore (Switzerland) on time and on human/stone relation.
• Workshop by Juliette Sallin (Switzerland), with collaboration of Elisabeta Marques (Portugal) on natural vegetation using silk dying and poetry
• A concert / light show by Aurelie Ferière (Sweden) about ocean sounds
• A piano concert by Stefano Falcone (Italy) in an oak plantation
• A project with society involvement by Kimmo Ylönen (Finland) about valuing clean water.
• A multi media event by three jewellery makers: Rasma Puspure, Modris Svil­äns and Ginta Grūbe (Latvia)
• A video project by Jill Guyon (USA) about time and fragility.
• An art & community project by Artvlr
  
• a film being shot at OBRAS, by Andre Marques (Portugal), about a father/son conflict.
  

In addition to supporting these project proposals of former OBRAS residents, we are participating in seven more project proposals: 

• a project on Estremoz Marble getting the UNESCO status of  World Heritage Stone (project leaders Ludger van der Eerden and Noel Moreira),
• an open ideas competition on futures of abandoned quarries (prepared by Antonio Pliz (Holland) (project leader: Paula Simões),
• a set of marble related projects in Vila Viçosa (project leaders Carlos Filipe (CECHAP) and Hugo Qoelho (Exquorum), with a small OBRAS contribution.