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Between April 2nd and 4th, researchers will gather at the University of Coimbra’s Science Museum, in central Portugal, for project MAGICA’s International Conference on the Magic Lantern: Study, Safeguard, Uses and Reuses.
The conference will feature the outcomes of this research project focused on the study, safeguard, uses and reuses of the magic lantern in 19th-century Portugal, whose co-PI is CESEM – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST researcher Luísa Cymbron. The magic lantern is an image projection instrument which played a central role in visual culture from the 17th to the 20th century and served as the basis for a new audio-visual show with a high educational, social, and artistic impact, being a forerunner of cinema.
The conference programme includes various keynotes and panels, with the participation of IN2PAST researchers and MAGICA team members Luísa Cymbron (with the presentation
‘Sounds of the armies and of the theatres in the magic lantern slide collection at the Museu da Ciência of the Universidade de Coimbra’), Luzia Rocha, Joana Peliz, and Maria Sempiterno, also from CESEM, or Marta Soares, IHA – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST.
On the last day of the conference, participants will head from Coimbra to Lisbon and will visit the National Archive of Moving Images of Cinemateca Portuguesa – Cinema Museum (Arquivo Nacional das Imagens em Movimento da Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema), and the MAGICA exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (Museu Nacional da História Natural e da Ciência – MUHNAC), where they can also attend a magic lantern show by Abi Feijó (animation film director and producer), Elsa Cerqueira (lanternist/ narrator) and Samuel Martins Coelho (musician).
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IN2PAST – Associate Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Heritage, Arts, Sustainability and Territory is funded by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P. under reference LA/P/0132/2020 (DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0132/2020)
