Part of the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the ‘25 de Abril’ revolution at CRIA / IN2PAST, the conference ‘Commemorations, Revolution and Memory’ brings together historians, anthropologists and museologists, among other researchers from different fields, who have worked on the intersections between commemorative practices, memory, celebration, ritual and revolution. The goal is to encourage the discussion about the contribution of anthropology to the intelligibility of commemorative practices, particularly those relating to the Portuguese revolution of April 25^th, 1974.

The one-day symposium, on Friday October 4^th, starts at 11 am in Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, with 20-minute presentations by IN2PAST researchers Paula Godinho (IHC – NOVA FCSH), Eduarda Rovisco (CRIA – Iscte), and Angélica Vedana (CRIA – NOVA FCSH), and João Paulo Pedro (Techn&Art – Polytechnic Institute of Tomar; FLUC), moderated by Sónia Vespeira de Almeida (CRIA – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST).

Organisers Eduarda and Angélica are both studying the commemorations of the Portuguese ‘Carnation Revolution’, which took place on April 25th, 1974, Eduarda in Odemira, Alentejo, and Angélica in Lisbon. ‘Commemorating April in Odemira (1977-1989)’ and ‘(Co)memorialising April 50 years on: present, future and the new social players’ are the titles of their respective communications.

João Paulo Pedro delivers the presentation ‘A decaffeinated April, please: public consensus and the uses of memory in post-politics’, while Paula Godinho addresses the commemorative ceremonies within the collective resisting fascism and the ‘latifundium’ in a rural setting in the south of Portugal with ‘Sowing fields of possibilities: commemorations and resistance in Couço (1958-1962)’.

After lunchtime, IN2PAST researchers João Leal (CRIA – NOVA FCSH), Manuel Loff (IHC – NOVA FCSH) and Francisco Bairrão Ruivo (IHC – NOVA FCSH; Museu do Aljube – Resistência e Liberdade) share the floor with Luís Monteiro (CITCEM – UP) and José Machado Castro, jurist and former political prisoner, and Maria Inácia Rezola, executive commissioner of the Commemorative Committee for the 50th Anniversary of April 25^th, 1974, moderated by Paulo Raposo (CRIA – Iscte / IN2PAST).

João Leal’s communication is based on Victor Turner’s distinction between structure and anti-structure in relation to ritual, while Luís Monteiro and José Machado Castro address ‘The April 25^th celebrations in Porto: democratic memories of the journey between the PIDE/DGS headquarters and Avenida da Liberdade’. Francisco will get us thinking about the Revolution on its 50th anniversary from the point of view of the Aljube Museum, while Maria Inácia Rezola sets out to analyse how the history and memory of those times circulate and are debated in the public space, and Manuel Loff proposes ‘Celebrating the/a Revolution (1974-2024): the opposed, the ambiguous and the enthusiastic’.

Programme in PDF.