The second edition of the Fusos - Artistic Fusions Festival starts this Friday, June 1st, in Alte, to, for three days, change the dynamics of the day-to-day life of this mountainside village in the municipality of Loulé.
The first edition, last year, had the support of the 365 Algarve program, having been a year to experiment, «but always thinking that it would be a festival to last in time», explains musician and sound designer Carlos Norton, artistic director of the event , in an interview with Musicália-Sul Informação.
That was what happened. After the first edition, Fungo Azul, organizer of the Festival, held meetings with the Parish Council of Alte and the Municipal Council of Loulé, and the will of the three parties was consensual and unanimous: «it would be a festival to bet on».
The balance of the first edition is made by Carlos Norton, recalling how the people of Alte received them with open arms. That's why this second edition is now lived in a more intense way and still with memories of the first. "Almost a year later, people are still talking, above all, about that weird, but very cute thing that happened last year of putting a band playing with artisans on the stage."
Carlos Norton refers to the Orblua concert, with five artisans working on stage, with the sound of their crafts being captured and mixed with the band's sound, in what was a true fusion experience. "That's what stays in people's memories," he adds.
For the mentor of Fusos, this is the best balance that can be done, as the intention is to present something different on stage, intentionally created to merge in the spirit of the festival, so that this is what people remember, «no just a familiar name that came here, but something different and that has stayed with me. And that's what we want for this second year».
Taking the festival to the edge of the mountains is something that is at the origin of the association that organizes Fusos. Fungo Azul bets on cultural decentralization, not only in the Algarve, in relation to the rest of the country, but also within the region. Because, defends Carlos Norton, «everything doesn't have to necessarily happen in Faro or Loulé, but if it happens in one of those councils, it should not be within the city».
Alte assumes a symbolic charge as it is (and becomes) the geographical center of the Algarve, being a village that brings together many characteristics that the organization of this festival was looking for. «It's a beautiful village and allows to have several stages, as we want. In a big city, there would be other services, reception spaces, auditoriums, but this is not the case. But the festival is designed to take place in a village like Alte, abroad, with street or improvised stages…» he explains.
The Festival is much more than music, the Fusion, spiked in the name and concept of the event, it encompasses various arts that intertwine in the 20 activities that take place over the three days. Many have music as their central point, with interactions between music and literature or dance, but also between dance and painting. «We are thinking, essentially, of creating shows that house the various arts and the various possible fusions on the stage. That they are intentional creations, which are not mere coexistence, but that there is a work of creation for an unprecedented work that comes out of this fusion», reveals Norton.
In the loudest names, this Friday night, António Zambujo and Jacinto Lucas Pires they share the stage in an unexpected creation, within the matrix of the festival, which, having no precedents, leaves the artistic director himself without knowing what to expect. “There is a stage, two sofas, and the result will be a fusion between music and literature. What's more, I don't know myself, because when I talked to them, I suggested the show, but I gave it carte blanche. What will happen on stage only the two of them know, if they already know…». Probably only today, in the day itself, will it be known what was prepared.
June 1st, being Children's Day, was designed in that spirit, with fusions between science and art, music and storytellers or a new circus. Throughout the event, interactions take place between theater, cinema, dance, nature, painting, workshops and juggling.
As an event in the Algarve and an Algarve organization, there was a concern to show regional production. If the first edition was entirely from the Algarve, this year they wanted to open up the range to projects with a national dimension, but never leaving aside the promotion of artists from the region.
And so, on the last day, June 3, Migna Mala, a band from Faro, officially launches their new album, preceded by a film inspired by that work. «It has the added value of happening in an old oil press, where they will play in the middle of all the machinery. It's not a conventional stage, it's a unique setting for this launch», reveals Carlos Norton.
This year's edition has not started yet and Fungo Azul is already looking towards 2019, thinking about how to give greater dimension and structure to the festival, so that it gains «a strength, so that it lasts in time and is not something that is always in risk, year after year'.
This thought goes beyond the financial issue, and focuses mainly on programming, with things already being planned for the 2019 edition. this is planned and planned to happen in the 2019 Fusos», concludes Carlos Norton.
Fusos, which starts today, June 1st, and continues until Sunday, presents innovative projects and intentional creations for this concept, which fill an eclectic poster in the various artistic approaches and extends to the seven stages spread throughout the village (Fonte Grande, Fonte Small, Museological Pole, Casa do Povo, Horta das Artes, Professional School and Queda do Vigário), in an itinerary behind the Alte Wanderer, a sound sculpture that runs between stages and where everyone can play on the various instruments incorporated.
A close these three days of festival there Fusada, on a route to the Vigário Waterfall, which welcomes Luís Peixoto, with its electronic folk.
Fusos takes place every day from 14:30 pm, and all events are free.
Fusos is a Fungo Azul organization, with the support of the Municipality of Loulé and the Parish Council of Alte.
Comments