LUSA 10/10/2024

Lusa - Business News - Portugal: Lisbon home of late fado singer Mísia to host artist residencies

Lisbon, Oct. 9, 2024 (Lusa) - The former Lisbon home of the late fado singer Mísia (1955-2024) is to be used to host artists from various fields, while some of her personal effects are to go on auction in November, the Kees Eijrond Foundation, which she assigned to oversees these tasks, has announced.

The executive director of the Kees Eijrond Foundation, Mirna Queiroz, said on Tuesday that the project "was thought of, but not fully detailed" with the fado singer, who established contact two years ago with the Netherlands-based foundation that acquired her house in Lisbon's Alto de Santa Catarina neighbourhood.

The idea is to open the house up to artistic residencies, but also to host international artists passing through Lisbon, explained Queiroz, emphasising that the aim is to "keep Mísia's legacy alive."

The house - where as she noted "you can still smell Mísia's perfume" - is currently being offered as a temporary home to Jamaican-American performer David J. Amado.

The foundation opened applications and three projects were selected: from Amado, from Brazilian writer Nuno Ribeiro and from Portuguese actress Francisca Neves.

These artist residencies "present projects centred around the word in Portuguese," explained Queiroz.

Also present at Tuesday's news conference was one of the fado singer's heirs and friends, Sebastian Figueiras, with whom the foundation works closely.

Figueiras said that this is a project that "Mísia would love" if she were still alive.

The house will also open its doors to the public, not on a continuous basis, but with "guided tours on a theme," explained Queiroz. 

Figueiras recalled that Mísia, one of whose best-known songs was ‘Manto da Rainha’ (The Queen's Mantle) at one point planned "mini-concerts" in her home, where she would receive a few people in an intimate setting - and that this was a possibility in future.

As for the planned auction of items such as dresses, jewellery, feathers, shawls, hats and photographs of the performer, it is to take place in November, meeting the wishes of many fans who wanted to keep a memento of the artist, explained Figueiras.

According to FIgueiras, who is and one of Mísia's three heirs, the proceeds from the auction "will go towards building a tomb, a final stone to honour her career."

The fado singer's ashes are buried in Lisbon's Alto de São João Cemetery.

Besides Figueiras, the other two heirs are Isaac Barros and Rizério Salgado.

Figueiras said that one of Mísia's stage dresses will be donated to the Fado Museum and two others have already been donated to Lisbon's MUDE Design Museum, which already has a significant fashion collection.

The Kees Eijrond Foundation, which is based in Utrecht, has financial interests in hospitality and a branch in Lisbon, having previously supported the dancer and choreographer Jorge Salavisa (1939-2020), explained Queiroz.

She said that the foundation will oversee the curatorship of the residence where Mísia lived, for which it will set aside an annual budget, taking into account its maintenance as a space for artistic creation, with the aim of "keeping Mísia's legacy alive."

Mísia, who was considered an innovator of the musical genre of fado, died on 27 July in Lisbon at the age of 69.

Mísia was her stage name; her real name was Susana Maria Alfonso de Aguiar. Born in Porto, she had a career spanning some 34 years, during which she performed on the most varied stages in the world and received various awards.

She released her first album 'Mísia' in 1991.

 

NL/ARO // ARO.

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