The Private Collection of A. Nobre

In her grandparents’ cellar Patricia Portela discovered a box containing the writings and designs of Acácio Nobre, a homo universalis of the Portuguese avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century. It seems however that he and his brilliant ideas have been erased from the history books. In this performance she brings Acácio Nobre’s work back to life. Using a vintage typewriter and wireless keyboard the two performers start a dialogue about Nobre’s archives. In the manner of a silent movie, they question a nation’s collective memory to the rhythmic tapping of the keys of the old typewriter.

• Patricia Portela is an author and theatre-maker whose work includes Banquet, which was also very successful in Belgium. In The Private Collection of Acácio Nobre she also works together with the sound and installation artist Christophe de Boeck (see also Staalhemel by deepblue).