John Romão
Executive and Artistic Director
John Romão is a Portuguese curator, cultural programmer and theatre maker. He has been working in theatre and cross-disciplinary artistic practices. He has a BA in Theatre (Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, Lisbon), a post-graduation in Curatorial Studies (FCSH – New University of Lisbon) and is studing a Master in Cultural Management (ISCTE, Lisbon) . He took part of the internacional theatre project École des Maîtres (2005) and studied Contemporary Art Aesthetics and Theories at National Society of Fine Arts (Lisbon).
Founder, executive and artistic director of BoCA – Biennial of Contemporary Arts (www.bocabienal.org), in Lisbon, through which he develops synergies between cities and cultural institutions, commissions and curates projects based on inter and transdisciplinarity: Tania Bruguera, Gus Van Sant, Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Grada Kilomba, Meg Stuart, Salomé Lamas, Agnieszka Polska, Vhils, João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Tânia Carvalho, among others.
In theatre he worked with Tania Bruguera, Romeo Castellucci, Rodrigo García, Tiago Rodrigues, Gus Van Sant, Jorge Andrade, Mariana Tengner Barros, Jorge Silva Melo, Jean-Paul Bucchieri or Maria João Machado.
For 11 years (2006-2017) he worked as dramaturg and assistant director to the Spanish-Argentine theater diretor and dramaturg Rodrigo García, in theatre and opera, at Festival d’Avignon, Théâtre National de Bretagne, Schaubuhne Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, BSN Annecy, Centre Dramatique National de Madrid, touring extensively in several international theatres and festivals. He was assistant director of Romeo Castellucci in the Venice Theatre Biennial / Biennale College (2010-11) and represented him at the Festival d’Avignon in the project Voyages du Kadmos (2012).
He has often been lecturing Theatre Practices in universities such as Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (ESTC) and Escola Superior de Dança (ESD), in Lisbon.
As creative director and producer, he conceived and implemented several projects: RExFORM International Performance Project (2020), in partnership with MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (Lisbon); Ecotemporâneos, in partnership with EGEAC (Lisbon’s City Council); founder and director of Futurama – Cultural and Artistic Ecosystem of Baixo Alentejo (2020), in Beja, Mértola, Serpa and Castro Verde.
His work has won some distinctions and awards: Portuguese Most Inventive Personality 2019 / Expresso newspaper; Prémios Novos 2014 – Theatre; National Young Creatives 2012 – Theatre; Almada Terra das Artes e da Criatividade 2010.