50'25 - Through the Prisons of Portugal

Commented concert - exhibition

"The centrepiece of this series of concerts is to bring the Great Portuguese Music of the 21st Century into contact with an audience that may not be very familiar with this type of cultural manifestation, of true High Culture, of the Culture of a People that fought and liberated itself, an action in which music played a fundamental role."

Miguel Leite

With the support of the Mission Structure of the Commission for the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of 25 April, the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services and the Directorate-General for the Arts, this project consists of an original artistic intervention that will be taken to ten prisons in Portugal throughout 2025. It covers various regions of mainland and island Portugal, the male and female inmate population of the most diverse age groups, including the youngest in the Education Centres.

This project will feature Pedro Emanuel Pereira at the piano and in musical creation/composition, who will be accompanied at each concert by a guest musician and Miguel Leite, who will contribute with historical and musicological comments. "50'25 - Through the Prisons of Portugal" - will feature the creation of an artist's book by multidisciplinary artist Ana Mar. This book will include photographic content by the artist, original creative texts written by the inmates, as well as a QR code that will link to an audio recording of 10 original musical works by Pedro Emanuel Pereira, inspired by the inmates' creative texts.

Symbolically, this cycle of concerts will begin in Lisbon's Caxias Prison - where many political prisoners of the old regime were held - and will end in Guimarães Prison, the birthplace of pianist and composer Pedro Emanuel Pereira.

After the end of the tour in prisons, this project includes the exhibition of the photographic documentary of the project through the lens of the artist Ana Mar, who will capture unique moments throughout the 10 concerts.