Ana Borralho & João Galante
They met while studying Visual Arts at AR.CO. As actors / co-creators they worked regularly with the theatre group OLHO. They have been working together since 2001, including the plays Mistermissmissmister (2002), sexyMF (2007), World of Interiors (2010) and Atlas (2011).
Together with Mónica Samões, they developed the project No Jogo do Desejo or O Choque Frontal (Workshop / atelier for young audiences – 2008), the video-documentary Eu Não Tu (2009) and the children’s show A Linha or O Deserto já não é uma casa vazia (2009).
Since 2004, his work has been presented at national and international festivals in France, Spain, Switzerland, Scotland, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Slovenia.
They are founding members of the non-musical band Jimmie Durham and the casaBranca Association . They are responsible for the Artistic Direction of the Blue Summmer Performing Arts Festival in Lagos, Portugal.
Mónica Samões
She studied Modern Languages and Literature and studied acting at T.E.U.C.
Over the years she has attended various artistic training workshops in the areas of theatre, dance and voice and has trained in pedagogy and education through art.
She was part of the OLHO Theatre Group, where she worked for 8 years as a performer and co-creator under the direction of João Garcia Miguel, also taking on the production direction of Festival X and Organisations X.
She has also worked with Edgar Pêra, João Fiadeiro, Alberto Lopes, Ana Borralho & João Galante and Lúcia Sigalho.
Has been developing pedagogical work in the area of artistic expression since 2002, having carried out various projects for children and young people, exploring different lexicons and media.
She is a founding member and board member of casaBranca Association.
She is responsible for the production direction of the Performing Arts Festival – Blue Summer.
Clara Sampaio
É artista, curadora e pesquisadora de arte. Doutora em Arte Contemporânea pela Universidade de Coimbra (2022), Mestra em Artes (Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, 2016) com pesquisa sobre os deslocamentos entre curadoria e prática artística e Bacharel em Arquitetura pela mesma Universidade (2011). Investiga questões sobre tradução, linguagem, prática artística e curatorial entrelaçadas a novas institucionalidades e processos colaborativos em arte.
Realizou a curadoria dos projetos CÁPSULA – curso extensivo em arte contemporânea (2017, com Gabriel Menotti); das exposições Tirante (com Felippe Moraes); Táticas de Graffiti e Não Graffiti de Renato Ren e O véu do Real de Re Henri (ambas na Galeria Homero Massena, Vitória, Brasil, 2017), Liames de Kyria Oliveira e Cristhina Bastos, (Galeria Casarão, Viana, 2016 e MARCO – Mato Grosso do Sul, 2017, Brasil), Estudos de Recepção – arte contemporânea em espaços domésticos (2015, também em parceria com Gabriel Menotti), Formas de Voltar para Casa com os artistas Polliana Dalla, Haroldo Saboia, Fernanda Porto e Thais Graciotti (Centro de Vitória, 2014, Brasil), entre outras. Atua na gestão e produção de projetos internacionais que aproximam a arte contemporânea dos campos da cultura e da educação.
Rita Conde
Nascida em Lisboa, em 1999. Estudou Design Gráfico na Escola Artística António Arroio, tendo-se licenciado na mesma área na Escola Superior de Arte e Design das Caldas da Rainha. Mais tarde, frequentou o curso de Produção Cultural no Instituto de Produção Cultural e Imagem.
Em 2021, fez parte da criação do projecto Armazém-Zero, um espaço de Oficinas Criativas, de Ateliê e Programação Cultural Pontual, situado nas Caldas da Rainha.
Em 2023, estagiou como Assistente de Produção e Assistente de Cenografia, na companhia Teatro do Vestido, de Joana Craveiro. Após o estágio, trabalhou temporariamente como Produtora Executiva durante o festival de cinema Indie Lisboa.
Desde de 2024, integrou a estrutura fixa da Associação Cultural casaBranca, ocupando funções enquanto Produtora Executiva no desenvolvimento das suas várias actividades.
Em paralelo, desde 2020 que desenvolve o seu trabalho enquanto artista, nas áreas das artes visuais e vídeo-performance. Em 2024 inicia o curso de Curadoria de Exposições na Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes.
Andrea Sozzi
Born in Prudnik (Poland) in 1977. He studied Sociology in Italy and Portugal and furthered his studies by studying for a Masters in Art and Culture Management at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Trento and Rovereto (Italy).
Has lived in Portugal since 2006, having worked at the CPA-Centro de Pedagogia e Animação at the Centro Cultural de Belém, where he began working as a producer. He has worked with Claudia Novóa, Márcia Lança, at FIAR, the Palmela Street Arts Festival, Materiais Diversos, Rumo do Fumo, Aldara Bizarro, Sofia Dias and Vítor Roriz, and has accompanied shows at various cultural organisations in Portugal and abroad.
In 2013 and 2014 he worked as Production Director of the Dansul Festival and since 2011 he has been a member of casaBranca, responsible for the dissemination and executive production of projects.
Joana Duarte
Born in Lisbon, 1989. She has a degree in Artistic Studies from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Coimbra.
She did her professional internship at the Lagos Experimental Theatre Association, where she had the opportunity to explore the plurality of tasks that make up local associations. She worked in production direction and assistance, executive production, management and administration, sound design, photographic and video recording, among others.
In this context, she was responsible for the production of projects and shows by Nelda Magalhães, Henrique Guerra, Anaïs Thinon, Daniel Matos, Rita Rodrigues, Sofia Brito, Ruben Garcia, Armando Mota, among others, presented in various venues and institutions in the Algarve (Centro Cultural de Lagos, Fortaleza de Sagres, Tempo – Teatro Municipal de Portimão, Auditório Municipal de Lagoa, among others).
In 2014 she began working with casaBranca Association, in the context of the Blue Summer Festival, where she was responsible for logistical support, promotion and production. Since January 2017, she has been part of the structure’s permanent team, taking on the role of Executive Producer in the development of all the association’s activities, highlighting the monitoring and production of the various creations (Atlas, Trigger of Happiness) and projects (community art project My house has a door through which your story can enter, Blue Summer Festival, Gymnasium).
She is a published author, having released her first book Dois Bichos, Dois Contos in 2014.
José Pelicano
Studied architecture at the Modern University. He was part of the organisation of CEAT’s Architecture Seminars and was an assistant at the Macroplan Architecture Project Office. She was responsible for organising and co-editing the annual publication Arquitecturas na Raia. He has designed scenography and props for various theatre and dance productions. He has collaborated with various creators and artistic organisations: João Garcia Miguel, Olho, Olga Roriz, Miguel Moreira, Ana Borralho & João Galante, Teresa Prima, Visões Úteis, among others.
He has been a member of casaBranca and its regular collaborator since 2009 in the area of graphic design & communication (being responsible for the structure’s websites and the graphic design of the Verão Azul Festival) and in the creation of educational projects, having co-created with Mónica Samões the artistic research workshops for children Clube Redondo (2011), the staged readings with children A Chair Up the Mountain (2012), the project Rádio.Lab VAIVEM (2013/14) and the radio theatre project Playtime (2015/16).