Artistic residencies strengthen hands-on learning at Lusófona University

Experiential learning and artistic experimentation took centre stage in two residencies organised by programmes at Lusófona University, providing students with immersive experiences that combined creative practice, research and direct engagement with local communities.

Students from the cross-disciplinary course Skynet – Contemporary Challenges, offered by the Department of Cinema and Media Arts (DCAM) at Lusófona University - Lisbon University Centre, took part in an artistic residency at OSSO – Associação Cultural under the guidance of multidisciplinary artist Ricardo Jacinto.

Coordinated by lecturers João Sousa Cardoso and Orlando Franco, the Skynet course provides an interdisciplinary learning environment that responds to rapid social and technological change through seminars, collaborative projects and artistic residencies, bringing together students from different academic backgrounds. The programme culminates in the creation of sound and visual works that critically reflect on contemporary challenges.

During the residency, students developed projects within their own creative fields while exploring new forms of artistic expression in an environment dedicated to experimentation, collaboration and reflection, away from the pressures of hyper-productivity and focused instead on more intuitive creative processes.

  

    

       

    

          

    

          

  

The Master's Degree in Photography at Lusófona University also held an artistic residency during the final week of May at the Convento de São Francisco, in the Municipality of Chamusca, as part of the course Space, Place and Perception: Critique and Construction II.

Led by lecturers Soraya Vasconcelos and António Júlio Duarte, with mentoring by visual artist and curator Ângela Ferreira, the residency offered students an immersive artistic experience centred on the landscapes, memories, stories and cultural imagination of Chamusca.

The residency resulted in the exhibition "Dancing in the Dark: Myths, Legends and Rumours of Chamusca", showcasing projects developed through photography, oral history, archival research and the exploration of the local territory. The public presentation of the exhibition provided an opportunity to share the students' creative processes with the local community, highlighting the relationship between artistic practice, heritage and identity.

These two initiatives reflect Lusófona University's commitment to teaching methodologies that prioritise practical experience, interdisciplinarity and direct engagement with diverse cultural contexts, further strengthening the artistic and critical education of its students.