MECANIkA (France-Portugal)

The meeting between two creators of images, a puppeteer and an illustrator, Paulo Duarte and Tjalling Houkema, which leads us into an imaginary full of shadows, images and sounds, between dream and reality, between sleep and wakefulness.

Pour Bien Dormir combines puppetry and ancestral techniques, such as shadow theatre, with small technological touches, a common feature in Paulo Duarte's work, in the exploration of different artistic languages.

^{"An invitation to name the invisible monsters and challenge them to play (...). In a journey through the world of shadows, illusion and animism are the vehicles of the poetic narrative; in the game of mutation of forms, scales and contrasts, the disturbing characters incite curiosity, the frenzy of fright and laughter. In the passage from the haunted to the enchanted, the soundscape created by Morgan Daguenet's music welcomes us into a dreamlike space of mystery and evasion. In that space between dream and reality, it is possible to dance with fears in order to calm them, face what comes to life when the lights go out, peek at the unsettling. Pour Bien Dormir challenges us to play in the shadows and to scare to discover what lights up next." - Catarina Firmo, Sinais em Linha}

BIO

The company MECANIkA was founded by the Portuguese puppeteer and builder Paulo Duarte, based in France.
MECANIkA’s goal is to develop and explore contemporary puppetry, interacting with other contemporary artistic fields, in a form known as image theatre.

Paulo Duarte is graduated in Painting from Faculdade de Belas-Artes in Oporto University and in Puppet Theatre by ESNAM - École Nationale Superieure des Arts de la Marionnette de Charleville-Mézières. After the ESNAM he founded with David Girondin Moab the Cie Pseudonymo, which he co-directed until 2006, and he extended his experiences in several areas: set design, acting, direction, design and puppets construction and scenic objects, object theatre. 
He joined the company LàOù – marionnette contemporaine, dividing the artistic direction with Renaud Herbin and Julika Mayer, from 2007 to 2011.
He has worked with Roman Paska, Joan Baixas, Fanfare Mineable, CREA - Théâtre de Tournai, Zaven Paré, Allen Weiis, among others. He directed several training workshops at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona and in AMK (Turku, Finland). 
He has been participated as a puppeteer and puppet builder in various artistic projects for other companies, in addition to the development of personal projects. He participated in several editions of FIMFA with: “A Hora do Diabo”, “Deep News”, “Écumes”, “Petites Âmes” or “Deep News #2”.

_CREDITS

_{Concept: Paulo Duarte, Tjalling Houkema Performer: Paulo Duarte Soundscape and programming: Morgan Daguenet Lighting design and programming: Fabien Bossard Outside eye: Igor Gandra Photography: Pedro Sardinha, Eris Massua Coproduction: MIMA - Association Filentrope, Association Bouillon Cube, Théâtre Le Périscope, Association Marionnettissimo, with the support of Région Occitanie in the scope of “résidences associations” Partners: MIMA, Mirepoix; Marionnettissimo, Tournefeuille; Théâtre du Périscope, Nîmes; Bouillon Cube, Causse De La Selle; Usinotopie, Villemur-Sur-Tarn; Espace Périphérique, Paris; Au Bout Du Plongeoir, Thorigné-Fouillard - Rennes; Jardin Parallèle, Reims; Théâtre des Quatre Saisons, Gradignan; Teatro de Ferro, Porto; FIMP, Porto; Momix, Kingersheim Support: DRAC Occitanie, Région Occitanie; Pyrénées Méditerranée, la Région Occitanie; Pyrénées Méditérranée, Spedidam; Collectif En Jeux; Montpellier Méditerranée Metropole}