The dream of Lu Araújo, creator of the MIMO Festival, born in 2004 in the Brazilian city of Olinda, of bringing the concept to Porto was old, she had already shared it with the Observer in an interview, but only now. Come true. “Actually, when I wanted to internationalize the festival, Porto was the first city I thought of, at that time I even spoke with councilor Paulo Cunha e Silva, the thing did not happen, but I never stopped dreaming of Porto”, he confesses. .
For four editions, between 2016 and 2019, the MIMO Festival occupied the city of Amarante and the banks of the Tâmega River, but the relationship between the promoter and the municipality ended in court. Lu Araújo sued the Municipality of Amarante, co-producer of the event, for breach of the commitments assumed with the festival, after the cancellations that occurred as a result of the pandemic. He won the process, but ruled out the possibility that the initiative would return to the city, further increasing the desire to launch the concept in Porto. “It is the realization of one of my great dreams,” he said at the official presentation of the event, this Monday.
From September 23 to 25, the MIMO Festival will occupy 11 stages spread throughout the historic center of Porto, “in a kind of heating of what could be the next editions. On the main stage, located in Amor de Perdição square, names such as the Brazilians Emicida, Chico César or the Orquestra Voadora, the Franco-Nigerian singer and composer Asha, the Congolese multi-instrumentalist Ray Lema or the Portuguese Branko, the pianist Pedro Burmester will perform. with the Matosinhos String Quartet and the duo Maria João and Mário Laginha.
In the churches of Carmo, Carmelitas, Taipas or São Bento da Vitória, classical and instrumental music will reign with performances by the Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa, an internet phenomenon, but also by Nishat Khan, an Indian sitarist who will come to Porto for first time, or the Brazilian soprano Chiara Santoro, who will present a recital to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Brazil.
Another moment that Lu Araújo highlights are the artists from the Amazon who, in collaboration with the University of Porto and the Museum of Natural History and Science, will star in various activities that combine art with technology, such as video art, video mappingprojections of trees, conferences or performances by names like Rafael Bqueer or Uyúra Sodoma, translating into different languages the idea of Planet Earth as a common home for all living beings.
One of the novelties of this edition is the implementation in the programming of a space entirely dedicated to the culture of Sound System, installed in the heart of Jardim das Virtudes, where Channel One and Brother Culture, from the United Kingdom, promise to bring together sounds, from the reggae to hip hop, overlooking the Douro River. In addition to the concerts, some of which are absolute premieres, the MIMO Festival will bring together workshops, film screenings, poetry rains and conferences in 50 parallel activities for the whole family.
For the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, this “is the largest musical event in the world that the city has ever hosted”, highlighting its free and roaming, but also the various nationalities present and the crossing of musical styles as different as jazz. pop, Brazilian Popular Music or hip hop.
“MIMO is a festival without equal at a national and international level,” Moreira stressed. “Since the end of D’bandada, the people of Porto have been waiting for a festival of this nature in the city. MIMO was in Amarante and very well, we would never have thought of going to Amarante for the festival, but when I found out that Amarante did not want to go ahead with the festival, I spoke with Lu at the end of last year”.
Source: Observadora
