Leiria lab
An international workshop and exhibition · Portugal · July 2024
The encounters behind the workshop
The path to Leiria began during Barbara’s artistic residency in France in 2023. People she met there wanted to help Baci Sospesi travel beyond Italy. The 2024 workshop was organised through Barbara’s association, Blu Shabaka APS, in collaboration with Lorena Terzi of KulturNest e.V. (Berlin) and Fausta Cardoso Pereira and Paulo Kellerman of Hirundo NGO (Portugal). Members of the local artistic community helped bring the workshop to life.
The collaboration was made possible in part by support from Culture Moves Europe, funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut.
Ten artists took part. Before making work, they encountered the project through its origin and selected audio portraits, with transcripts and translations. The voices came first because an artistic interpretation needs to encounter the human experiences at the project’s centre.
Listening before making
The workshop opened a reflection on encounter and separation. Each participant brought a practice and a way of working into this shared field. The project offered a clear artistic proposition; participants brought choices and interpretations that could not be scripted in advance.
For Barbara, participation includes the conditions of the encounter: who is invited, how people give time, how decisions are made and how contributions are credited. These questions are part of the work’s form.
The flag and the exhibition
During the workshop Barbara made the Baci Sospesi flag prototype in jute, cutting and sewing it by hand. Its visible stitches hold the time and physical labour of making. She wanted to give form to affection, empathy, hope, sensitivity and courage.
Livraria Arquivo warmly and generously welcomed the artists, hosting the workshop, its final presentation and the exhibition of the works created. The closing exhibition also presented the Baci Sospesi flag publicly for the first time. All proceeds from the sale of the works, auctioned at the exhibition, were donated to EAPN Portugal, the European Anti-Poverty Network in Portugal, raising €800.
Filming Baci Sospesi
In 2024, director and video artist Pedro Tomàs, together with video artist Josè Grilo, began filming a medium-length documentary dedicated to the Baci Sospesi project. Filming continued until September 2025.
From a workshop to a permanent place
The relationships formed in Leiria continued. A collective exhibition accompanied the September 2025 celebration of the permanent Baci Sospesi installation at the Museu Moinho do Papel. Barbara Sbrocca and Abílio Febra created its sculpture and three red benches beside the River Lis.
A lab, a flag, an exhibition and an installation are different forms through which the project can enter a place. The people and knowledge involved change its body while its principles remain clear.
Begin a new lab
A future lab can begin with a group, a place and a reason to come together. Write to Barbara about who you would like to involve, where you are and what practices or resources you can bring. The conversation can establish the relationship to the manifesto, the way the group will work and how its contributions will reach other people.