Tell.Me 2026: Living Archives of Memory and Identity
The Tell.Me 2026 International Symposium Exhibition brings together eight artists and researchers from diverse backgrounds to explore the intersection of art, memory, media, and society through a transdisciplinary approach. This online exhibition establishes itself as a global meeting point for voices and cultural perspectives, bridging the Lusophone world and beyond.
At the heart of the exhibition is the use of tactile processes to recover and repair fragmented biographical narratives. For example, in “Mending the Mirror,” embroidery acts as a semiotic intervention on photographic paper, where every stitch is an intentional act of emphasis, erasure, repair, or signalling. Similarly, “Linhas de Proteção” explores “drawing as weaving,” using repetitive gestures on cotton fabric to articulate personal narratives of Afro-Brazilian identity and migratory experience through symbols of protection.
The exhibition also investigates how contemporary technology can facilitate a “ritual of connection” rather than creating distance. The “Anamnese In Nexum” platform utilises transmedia storytelling and augmented reality to activate “Narrative Portals,” transforming communities from passive receivers into co-creators of their own intangible heritage. In “Sacred Tree: Summoning Gelora,” the mobile phone becomes a tool for empathy; by physically bowing toward the earth—a gesture mirroring the artist’s act of collecting discarded flowers—participants awaken digital creatures in a shared sanctuary of connection.
Throughout the exhibition, identity is framed as a distributed and relational construction. The solo performance “Panj” enacts a form of “biographical translation,” using a father’s photographic archive and a traditional wooden chest (peti) to trace the trauma of the 1947 Partition and the emergence of a queer diasporic identity. This movement between the intimate and the historical underscores that memory does not exist in isolation but emerges through material conditions and social structures.By integrating artistic creation into an international scientific symposium, this exhibition reinforces that artistic practice constitutes an essential form of research and knowledge production. As a global platform, Tell.Me 2026 invites visitors to explore this collective cartography of voices and lived realities, reflecting on the stories that define us and the evolving relationship between memory, technology, and human experience.
António Maneira
University of Saint Joseph, Macau
Local Chair, Macau
Selma Pereira
CICANT / ISMAT – Ensino Lusófona
Local Chair, Portimão