Über alles

Performance

2021

Who are the “heróis do mar” (“heroes of the sea”) that will “levantar hoje de novo o esplendor de Portugal” (“raise Portugal’s splendour again”)? Must this glorious past of a nation that enslaved entire nations continue to represent what it is to be Portuguese? Who truly belongs to this “nobre povo” (“noble people”)? [excerpts from the Portuguese national anthem]

I think that symbolic, linguistic, and narrative elements are of great relevance in the exploration and analysis of national imaginaries: they infiltrate public discourses about the nation, shape identities, and grant legitimacy to regimes. 

In the performance Über alles – the title is borrowed for the first line of the German anthem, meaning “above all”, a line that nowadays is not sung because of the dark meaning it acquired over time – I wanted to explore the history, stories, and iconographic elements of modern nationalism in relation to Portugal.

During the show, a group of performers do different actions: they stretch a dough used in making Pastéis de Tentúgal, on the of most iconic Portuguese sweets; they ask questions to the audience based on sociological surveys; they sing songs about sexual perversions with nationalistic undertones; the skip rope following complicated patterns until exhaustion; and I ask them uncomfortable questions about who they are in relation to the group. These actions reflect on the role that these symbols have in the formation of the mythology of a nation and in the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion associated with Portugal-flavoured nationalism.

The research material used for the performance was later shown in the exhibition More people have been to Portugal than I have.

Shows

BoCA – Bienal of Contemporary Arts at MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon

October 8–9, 2021

Teatro Municipal do Porto

October 29–30, 2021

Artistic direction, research, and performance

Carlos Azeredo Mesquita

Dramaturgy

Yasmina Reggad

Creation support

Luísa Saraiva

Co-creation and performance

Ángela Diaz Quintela

Fabíola Fernandes

Lea Taragona

Luísa Saraiva

Music direction

Julius Gabriel

Lea Taragona

Musical co-creation and sound operation 

Francisco Antão

Executive production

Maria João Santos

Produced by

Calote Esférica

Co‐produced by

Teatro Municipal do Porto 

BoCA – Bienal of Contemporary Arts

Funded by

Residency grant “O Espaço do Tempo” – BPI/Fundação ”la Caixa”

DGArtes – Direcção-Geral das Artes/República Portuguesa

Supported by

Campus Paulo Cunha e Silva/Teatro Municipal do Porto

Circolando

Acknowledgements

Gil Fortuna and Vasco Coelho Santos/Ogi by Euskalduna Studio, José Carlos/Pastelaria Moinho Novo, Tentúgal, Centro de Formação Profissional do Calçado de São João da Madeira, Sérgio Coutinho

Duration

3 hours

Shows / Photo credits

1–9

Teatro Municipal do Porto / José Caldeira

10–15

BoCA – Bienal of Contemporary Arts at MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon / Bruno Simão