The Nodar Artist Residency Center coordinated by Binaural / Associação Cultural de Nodar, situated by the river Paiva on the border between the municipalites of S. Pedro do Sul and Castro Daire, organizes and produces the development of multi-disciplinary artistic projects (with emphasis on sound, visual and intermedia arts), followed by public presentations in the region. The resident artists, in the scope of the development of their artistic projects, are encouraged to establish interactions with the site, its geographic and social space, identity and memory.

Since March 2006 lived temporarily in Nodar more than 60 contemporary artists (most non-Portuguese), who developed art projects in conjunction with local communities. Collective memory, legends and myths, identity, gender and age, topography, music, sound heritage, landscape, vegetation, water and fire, dynamics of consumption, artifacts and tools, life and death, language and agriculture, were some of the realities that formed the basis for the conception and realization of artistic projects. Concerts, workshops, exhibitions, lectures and video projections were held in several villages in the region with growing interest and participation.

The decision to start a center of artistic residencies in Nodar was motivated by the desire of the members of Binaural, an artists collective dedicated to contemporary media arts media, in deepening the research on the possibility of an exploratory artistic practice in close interaction with a specific rural context and lay the foundations of a platform for regular exchange of ideas and practices with artists and international organizations acting in the same area. These motivations were possible to implement by the coincidence of two of the founding members of Binaural (Luis Costa and Rui Costa) having their roots on the village of Nodar.

Nodar Artist Residency Center promotes the development of exploratory artistic projects, which, through contemporary languages and technology, discuss the various elements that shape a place. Many works of art made in Nodar take a transdisciplinary approach, crossing over several artistic practices, often canceling its borders to seek a hybrid effect that amplifies its expressive possibilities.

However three lines of artistic interaction that have been explored in Nodar can be isolated: Sound, Space and People.

Interaction with the Acoustic Environment:

The team that manages the  Nodar Artist Residency Center is formed by some sound artists, who work with the landscape’s acoustic dimension. As such, the Center was placed from the beginning of its activities at the forefront of international thinking and practice on the so-called “soundscapes”, having hosted some of the most respected sound artists of today, who, using  idiosyncratic techniques of capturing, editing and manipulating sound, created works based on particular aspects of the acoustic context of Nodar.

Interaction with Geographic Area

The landscape surrounding Nodar is on the one hand, beautiful and manifold (mountains, rivers, caves, traditional architecture, terraced fields, etc.).. Furthermore, we are witnessing an irreversible process of transformation of how the space is occupied by people. These two realities have made up ground for the creation of works of art in nature, which both capture the dreamlike aspects of the landscape and question possible future uses of the same.

Interaction with People

We have encouraged from the very beginning of our activities for artists to interact, question and to some extent “provoke” the locals. As a result of communication processes various art projects have been developed where aspects of the most archaic collective memory and the new habits and experiences were a cause for reflection and expression.

Some Names and Numbers (until 2009)

Resident Artists in Nodar:

Aaron Ximm (USA), Alfonso Oblanca (Spain), Alfredo Escapa (Spain), Alicja Rogalska (Poland), Amaya González (Spain), André Gonçalves (Portugal), Andrea Brandão (Portugal), Antonio Della Marina (Italy), Antonio Mainenti (Italy), Antonio Pedro (Portugal), Arnold Haberl (Austria), Ben Owen (USA), Cédric Anglaret (France), Christine Niehoff (Germany), Cristina Tascón (Spain), Dennis Báthory-Kitsz (USA), Duncan Whitley (England), Evelyn Müürsepp (Estonia), Francisco Janes (Portugal), Ignacio Martinez (Spain), Iñaki Ríos (Spain), Ingrid Quiroga (Spain), Ivan Dominguez (Spain), Jason Kahn (USA), Joana Nascimento ( Portugal), John Grzinich (USA), Jurate Weiss Jarulyte (Lithuania), Keiko Uenishi (Japan), Klaus Filip (Austria), Lezli Rubin-Kunda (Israel), Luciana Ohiera (Brazil), Colbert Maile (USA), Maksims Shentelevs (Latvia), Manuel Paiva (Portugal), Manuela Barile (Italy), Maria Idília Martins (Portugal), Marta Alaiz (Spain), Marta Bernardes (Portugal), Martin Clarke (England), Melanie Velarde (Australia), Mirian Vega ( Spain), Natividad Plasencia (Spain), Nilo Gallego (Spain), Noemi Fidalgo (Spain), Oscar de Paz (Spain), Pablo Rega (Spain), Pali Meursault (France), Paulo Raposo (Portugal), Peeter Laurits (Estonia ), Roi Fernández (Spain), Rui Costa (Portugal), Rui Silveira (Portugal), Satoshi Morita (Japan), Sergio Bonilha (Brazil), Sergio Cruz (Portugal), Silvia Zayas (Spain), Stevie Balch (USA) Suzanne Caines (Canada), Svetlana Bogomolova (Russia), Tamara Rodriguez (Spain), Toomas Thetloff (Estonia), Vered Dror (Israel), Viv Corringham (England), Wolfgang Dorninger (Austria), Xesus Valle (Spain)

Number of Resident Artists in Nodar: 64

Total Participants in Workshops: 150

Total Participants in Conferences and Lectures: 375

Total Attendance in Events in Nodar: 750

Total visitors to exhibitions (estimated): 2,500

Some pictures of artists developing their projects: