Reflecting a programme identity that thrives on traversing artistic territories, languages, geographies, and time, BoCA’s 4th edition spans six weeks across 30 cultural, heritage, and natural sites in Lisbon and Faro. From theatres and museums to cultural centres, natural spaces, and nightclubs, “Invisible Present” brings together artists, thinkers, and communities presenting mostly new works commissioned, produced, or co-produced by BoCA. This biennial asserts itself as a platform for circulating new ideas, images, and narratives, revealing the present’s multifaceted meanings.

We inhabit a present marked by the vertigo of speed, which often renders invisible the very human aspects that demand our awareness—freedom, justice, and equality. These values are only visible if we commit ourselves to perceive and protect them actively.

In Pasolini’s short film La Sequenza del Fiore di Carta, the central character dances and walks forward until he reaches a threshold beyond which he cannot proceed without realizing what’s truly happening around him. Is there room for innocence while ignoring the pain and violence of a world in constant flux?
Addressing migratory movements, historical erasures, extractivism, racial and gender violence, Presente Invisíveldissolves geographical, physical, temporal, and identity borders. It amplifies the voices and visibility of those previously silenced, finding resistance in tradition—a visceral force that roots us beyond the rush of contemporary life.