MECANIkA (France-Portugal)

The details of each puppet and the sequence of events reinforce the impression of strangeness that emanates from the cold spaces of dormitory cities. Visual artist and puppeteer Paulo Duarte conceived a visual and sound journey inspired by the novel After Dark by Haruki Murakami.

NOVO takes a dreamlike, amused, tragic and contemplative look at the city and people living in it. This multi-dimensional project examines the relationship between the banal but dizzyingly complex material reality of the city and the utter uniqueness of the simplest human situations. The project in its entirety tackles the issue that has come up hundreds of times regarding the portrayal of a city using a wide variety of registers.

"Are contemporary cities, like contemporary airports – all the same? Can this convergence be theorised? (…) Convergence is only possible if we get rid of identity."
- Rem Koolhaas, Junkspace, Manuels Payot 1995, 2001

^{"Taking the art of manipulation in unexpected ways, the genius of Paulo Duarte, at the origin of NOVO-LA NUIT, redefines the activity of the puppeteer to that of the manipulator. Transporting sound and light to the four corners of his fields of representation, the artist takes the audience on a journey towards a world that awakens. This is all the subtlety of this man who strives to accompany the technical object, consequently enriching the use of scenic material." - Aux Sens} 

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-Mezieres. 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 Artistic collaboration: Nicolas Lelièvre, Morgan Daguenet Assistant director for NOVO – A Noite: Mila Dargies Programming and construction Robot Eri: Paulo Duarte, Michel Ozeray Puppets and scenography: Paulo Duarte Programming and sound universe: Morgan Daguenet Lighting design: Louis Guerry Scenography construction: Emmanuelle Debeusscher Concept and workshop direction NOVO: Nicolas Lelièvre Acknowledgments: Fabien Bossard, Igor Gandra Coproduction and support in residency: La Vignette, Scène Conventionnée Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3; Salle Guy Ropartz, Ville de Rennes; ARS Numerica - MA Scène Nationale, Pays de Montbéliard; Espace Périphérique - La Villette à Paris; TJP - Centre Dramatique National Grand Est; La Fabrique Chantenay, Ville de Nantes; Au Bout du Plongeoir - Plateforme Artistique de Rencontres et Création Thorigné-Fouillar - Rennes Support: DRAC Occitanie, Région Occitanie, Pyrénées Méditerranée}