Journey into the Invisible

The Sinel de Cordes Palace is hosting a conversation to present the book Journey into the Invisible, on 23 April 2019, at 19h, with the participation of the authors and various guests — Eliana Sousa Santos, Paulo Tormenta Pinto, Ricardo Castro, Susana Oliveira, Susana Ventura and Tatiana Macedo. This publication is the result of a research project that started with a journey made back in 2016, winner of a competition launched by the Southern Regional Assembly of the Portuguese Association of Architects, and that originated an exhibition at the Thalia Theatre, in 2017, with the support of the Directorate-General for the Arts. Organized around fifteen case studies from central and southern Portugal, the book explores invisibility in its domestic, social, cultural, ludic, religious, medical, military, industrial and infra-structural dimensions, gathering documental, technical and artistic information, that enables the construction of open narratives on the past, present and future of these places.

The book is a journey through what is out of reach, what exists beyond our daily life. It is an itinerary through places we do not know, ignore or have forgotten. Places that, for several reasons, exist in the shadows, inaccessible or inapprehensible spaces. However, these places linger in our culture, they are inscribed in collective memory. Hence, they do exist, though essentially in the form of pictures, events and narratives, real or fictional, documental and artistic. The journey to the invisible is therefore the exact moment in which the experience of these places crosses and overlaps their representation, taking part in the challenge of making visible what is invisible.

Journey into the Invisible has as contributors Álvaro Domingues, Nuno Cera, Ricardo Castro, Spela Hudnik and Tatiana Macedo, and includes critical essays by Eliana Sousa Santos, Inês Moreira, Susana Oliveira and Susana Ventura. Published by Purga in March 2019, the work will be offered to those attending the launch at the Sinel de Cordes Palace, limited to the number of copies available. Luís Santiago Baptista and Maria Rita Pais, the coordinator of this publication, will be attending another presentation at Casa da Arquitectura, in Matosinhos. The two architects and teachers were the commissioners of the 2018 edition of Open House Lisboa.