Arte das Musas | Fora do Lugar - Portugal

Founded in 2000 in Lisbon by Filipe Faria, Arte das Musas creates and implements original projects in the areas of music, disciplinary intersections, sound art, documentary film, ethnography, visual arts, photography, dance, cultural mediation, territorial development, publishing, and programming. It draws upon the nature of Filipe Faria's creations, both working individually and in collectives, positioned between the ancestral and the contemporary, the erudite and the popular, inspired by the dialogue between art, culture, and human ecology.

In 2012, Arte das Musas chose to approach its projects — and the planet — from the perspective of the rural world: sustainable, inspiring, and rooted in Idanha-a-Nova, a UNESCO Creative City of Music — arguably the most beautiful place in the world. This territory has established itself as the primary source of inspiration and is now the home of Arte das Musas, serving as the starting point for all its endeavors.

In the same year, the company founded Fora do Lugar - Early Musics International Festival, in Idanha-a-Nova, UNESCO Creative City of Music, which it has been directing and producing, and in 2003, it founded the Terras sem Sombra Festival, which it directed and produced from its inception until 2010. In 2007, Arte das Musas established the MU record label and publishing house, which now has 38 titles.

In 2018, the Etno Series project emerged, bridging ethnomusicology and contemporary creation, with 4 titles: "From the branch of a tree. The 8-hole palheta. A reinterpretation of the instrument of José dos Reis (Monsanto, 1911-1996)" and "On the subject of dialogue – Reinterpretation of Manuel Moreira's Viola Beiroa (Salvador, 1891-1970), Penha Garcia. A dialogue with Belchior Dias' renaissance guitar (Lisbon, 1581)", both in partnership with the Institute of Ethnomusicology – Center for Studies in Music and Dance (INET-md/FCSH/UNL).

A precursor to Arte das Musas, Sete Lágrimas ECMC, founded in 1999, is a consort with a discography of 16 titles and a performance history in Portugal, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, Spain, China, Sweden, France, Belgium, Norway, Luxembourg, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Croatia. Later, in 2012, the company founded the ensemble Noa Noa, with a discography of 4 titles and performances in Portugal, France, Belgium, and Japan.

In 2020, Arte das Musas unveiled the Museum of Lost Sounds, a collection of essays on the landscape — soundscapes and photography — authored by Filipe Faria. Titles include "Antes dela dormir” (Before she sleeps, 2022), "Aqui estão as palavras todas” (Here are all the words, 2022), "As cantigas são tantas que a mim até se mudam” (The songs are so many that they even change for me, 2023), and "A minha vida foi essa toda” (My life has been all of that, 2024). Each volume revolves around a voice and place, expanding into a book, an exhibition (photography and sound), and a soundscape.

n 2023, Arte das Musas launched Casa Comum, a residency program commissioning new works from musicians and artists across different disciplines. Concurrently, the Guardados project, authored by Filipe Faria and curated by Paulo Longo, develops contemporary creations around photography, film, sound, and music, inspired by objects — “guardados” (treasured, preserved, guarded, protected, kept safe) preserved over time.

Arte das Musas has produced numerous projects, including interdisciplinary performances such as "Todas as noutes passadas” (All of the nights gone by, 2016) and "Como dormirão meus olhos?” "(How will my eyes sleep?, 2017), sound art projects like "Soundscapes #1–#6: Biophonies, Geophonies, and Anthropophonies" (2018/19), and "Cinco sopros para uma paisagem” (Five breaths for a landscape, 2020). It also developed books and documentaries like "Risco Branco Risco” (Line White Line, 2021/22), "Canção para Leanor [Song for Leanor]- Soundscape on redondilha by Luís Vaz de Camões (c. 1524-1579/80) for traditional pottery from Zebreira, Idanha-a-Nova (2nd quarter of the 20th century)" (2024), "Songs that hardly concern the skin" (2024) by Tomás Longo and Filipe Faria, between Paris and Idanha-a-Velha, or "De Profundis - New music for double bass" (2024) by Duncan Fox.

In 2021, the film “Olha para mim, que pode não ser verdade amanhã” (Look at me, it may not be true tomorrow), directed by Filipe Faria, was selected for the official program of the Festival du Cinéma et des Cultures Européenes in Strasbourg (France), organized by MESA - Maison de l'Europe Strasbourg-Alsace, and in 2024, for the program of the Salva a Terra Ecofestival.

In 2020/2021, Arte das Musas developed the video-dance, music, performance, and photography project “Se chovesse um oceano” (If it Rained an Ocean) — a partnership between Filipe Faria and dancer, choreographer, and director, Winnie Dias (Brazil). Produced by Arte das Musas, in partnership with the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova – UNESCO Creative City of Music – and with support from the Directorate-General for the Arts, the project — premiered in an exhibition and performance at the Centro Cultural Raiano — is composed of a collection of 14 films, directed by Filipe Faria and Winnie Dias, filmed in Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal (Germany), Zurich (Switzerland), and Idanha-a-Velha (Portugal) with dancers Futaba Ishizaki (Japan), Naomi Brito (Brazil), Rafaela Bosi (Brazil), Rafaelle Queiroz (Brazil), Fuyumi Hamashima (Japan), Isabella Heymann (Australia), Borja Bermudez (Spain), Hayley Page (Australia), and Winnie Dias (Brazil), with art assistance from Branca Peixoto (Brazil), Bruna Cosfer (Brazil), and Rita Santos (Portugal), set to music by Sete Lágrimas, Filipe Faria (Inselberg Partita, No. 2), and Noa Noa.

“Se chovesse um oceano” was included in the official selection of the following festivals: MiMo – Milano Mobile Film Festival (Milan, Italy) — Winner: Best Music Video; Super9 – Mobile Film Fest (Portugal) — Winner: Best Mobile Experimental; IMARP - Mostra Internacional de Dança 2022 (Brazil); Flatlands Dance Film Festival (Nevada, USA) — Quarter-finalist; Lift-Off Film Festival - First-Time Filmmaker Sessions - Pinewood Studios (London, England); Athens International Art Film Festival (Athens, Greece) — Winner + Honorable Mention (top 3); Mobile Filmmakers International Fest 2023 (Israel); InShadow – Lisbon Screendance Festival (Lisbon, Portugal) — Video Installation + Shortlist for Rising National Artist ETIC Award; FIVC – International Screendance Festival of Chile (Chile) — Semi-finalist + Finalist; and On Art – Dance & Music (Poland).

In 2024, Arte das Musas developed the project BACH — a sonic and visual essay, a dialogue between Bach's music and new particles, created and recreated by Filipe Faria and Sérgio Peixoto for Sete Lágrimas, woven through photography and soundscapes by Filipe Faria—unfolding into a performance entitled “L3 - Leipzig Lisboa Luanda” (with Angolan dancer and choreographer Fábio Krayze), premiered at the GREC Barcelona and Bachcelona Festivals, in a book-album (music and photography), and a series of two video-dances directed by Filipe Faria.

The projects of Arte das Musas circulate in seasons and festivals in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Sweden, Bulgaria, Malta, China, Belgium, Norway, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Japan, Croatia… and have partners such as: Centro Cultural de Belém, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Casa da Música, Centro Cultural Raiano, Companhia de Dança de Almada, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, APORDOC – Associação pelo Documentário, DOCLISBOA International Film Festival, SPEA – Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Fundación Juan March, Macao International Music Festival, Stockholm Early Music Festival, Festival Baroque de Sablé, Opera de Lille, Gent Festival van Vlaanderen, Musiekcentrum De Bijloke, Flemish Opera, Bozar Bruxelles, Stavanger Konzerthus, Český Rozhlas, Varaždinske Barokne Večeri, Elbphilharmonie Laeiszhalle Hamburg…

Since 2020, Arte das Musas has been an effective member of REMA - Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne/European Early Music Network and has received, since 2015, the EFFE - Remarkable Festival seal from the European Festivals Association (EFA), with the support of the European Union. In 2014, it was invited to the Advisory Committee for the candidacy of Idanha-a-Nova to the UCCN as a UNESCO Creative City of Music and has represented this territory internationally within the institution as a stakeholder since 2015.

Arte das Musas has had the structural support of the Ministry of Culture/Directorate-General for the Arts since 2003 and the partnership of the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova since 2012.

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