[3] Presentation and structure of the project

International Colloquium
Longos Dias Têm Cem Anos - Vieira da Silva: um olhar contemporâneo

The year 2008 marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, one of the most important artists in the western avant-gardes. Participating in this centenary celebration, the Centro de Filosofia da Universidade de Lisboa is spearheading a multidimensional project with an International Colloquium concerning the life and work of Vieira da Silva at its core.
Entitled "Longos dias têm cem anos - Vieira da Silva: um olhar contemporâneo", the colloquium will be held in 2009, from January 15th-16th, and it is structured into the following debate platforms:

I. Vieira – Pathways of her life and work
II. Art Crossings
III. Vieira for the 21st century

The first platform is anchored in Vieira's life, presenting personal statements by those who knew her and carefully researched biographical facts, such as the major role of Arpad Szenes in her life and work, her close relation with other artists, or the historical and political events that affected her career.

The aim of the second platform is to present a trans-disciplinary overview of the several dimensions and articulation that could be reported to Vieira's creative activity. This plural interface will gather panelists from different artistic fields – painting, drawing, literature, cinema, music – sharing perspectives and blurring the boundaries between the arts.

The third platform outlines the conceptual bridges between recurrent themes raised by the cultural legacy of the painter and the scope of some disciplinary perspectives like those of Aesthetics and Philosophy of art, Urbanism, Curatorial Studies, Environmental Studies, Women's Studies or even Politics.

Aim and objectives
This two-day colloquium will bring together speakers from the most varied areas of study, with the purpose of illustrating the full amplitude of the creative and existential pathways in the life of this irrefutable figure of the international art panorama of the 20 th Century. The objective then, is to provide a context for trans-disciplinary debate, sharing and articulation of ideas purporting to the themes that arise from the intellectual and artistic experience of Vieira da Silva.