Ep. 17 JOÃO MALATO CORREIA +1 — faces of Centro de Dia

Описание: PLAY(THE)GROUND – spring 2025
INVISIBLE TERRITORIES
JOÃO MALATO CORREIA

Welcome to the new season of PLAY(THE)GROUND EM CONVERSA. Here you can listen to the conversations with the artists who took part in the PLAY(THE)GROUND residency during spring 2025.

PLAY(THE)GROUND is a multidisciplinary residency designed for individuals seeking space, dedicated time, and vibrant dialogue to initiate or advance projects that engage with the unique territories of Lisbon. Open to artists, curators, researchers, collectives, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds, the residency encourages collaborative and experimental practices rooted in specific landscapes, institutions and communities, often focusing on invisible, overlooked or marginal spaces.

João Malato Correia

In this episode of Play(the)ground Conversations, we speak with painter João Malato Correia, whose residency project took place at Centro de Dia Nossa Senhora dos Anjos.

Self-taught and born in Portalegre, João Malato Correia lives and works in Lisbon. With a background in hospitality management, he approaches painting as both a discovery and a necessity. His practice gravitates towards nature and human nature, exploring colour, movement and rhythm in an attempt to capture fleeting moments and intangible states of mind. Often painting live, João embraces the unpredictability of working outdoors and the intimacy that emerges through portraiture.

During his residency, João developed the project Caras do Intendente (Faces of Intendente). Initially intending to paint hands, the process gradually shifted towards portraiture. The residents and workers of Centro de Dia generously agreed to pose, opening a space of trust, vulnerability and shared time. Despite the challenges posed by limited experience and time constraints, painting became for João not only a technical exercise but also a form of companionship.

The project resulted in three live portraits, presented alongside a studio painting depicting a card game. Beyond the artworks themselves, the residency was marked by moments of conversation, listening and presence. Much of João’s time at the Centro de Dia was spent in the company of its community, sharing stories, experiences and everyday moments. These human encounters form the invisible core of the project — a territory shaped through affection, care and lived connection.

MAISUNO+1
Maisuno+1 is a curatorial, project and research collective that acts towards the transformative power of art through the creation of incremental relationships and ecosystems between artists, communities and territories.
  / maisunomaisum  

https://maisunomaisum.pt/playthegroun...

Host: Sophia Niederkofler
Sound editing: Frederike Ohnewald
Design: Hara Pragkasti
Photo: João Malato Correia

We would also like to thank our partners, supporters and all the individuals who make this residency possible.

FINANCIAMENTO / FUNDING: DGARTES
PARCEIROS / PARTNERS: AMRT – Associação para a Mudança e Representação Transcultural, Cooperactiva Alfragide, Associação de moradores a partilha, NOVA-FCSH, FBAUL – Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa
APOIO / SUPPORT: Artistas Anónimos, HortasLX, Lisbon Drawing Club, Muro Atelier, Colorfoto
COMUNICAÇÃO / COMMUNICATION: Afrolink, Gerador