Expo2025 Osaka. Fado and Siza Vieira to “present a country that perhaps not everyone knows even in Portugal” – Observer

The fado of Carminho and Camané, the New Lisbon by Dino D’Santiago or the architecture of Álvaro Siza Vieira. This is where the Portuguese representation will be at Expo 2025 Osaka, which was revealed this Thursday, three months before the start of the world exhibition that takes place between April 13th and October 13th, in that city in Japan.

The overall investment for the operation is 21 million euros, Joana Gomes Cardoso, Portugal’s general commissioner at Expo2025 Osaka, told journalists, who expects to reach 1.4 million visitors to the Portuguese pavilion.

Portugal is one of the 161 countries present at the World Exhibition dedicated to the theme “Designing Future Societies for Our Lives”. Portuguese participation in the Exhibition will have the theme “Ocean: Blue Dialogue”, with the involvement of more than 150 companies, associations, local authorities and national artists. In her speech, the commissioner chosen by the socialist government described a “representation that matches the best that Portugal has”, highlighting that, in Japan, it will prove to be “a country that perhaps not everyone knows even in Portugal”.

“The country we are going to present is not the country of the 20th century. XVI which, in fact, the Japanese already know well. It’s also not the nice little nation at the tip of Europe”, he made a point of highlighting. “In Osaka, we will present a country that perhaps not everyone knows even in Portugal, a country full of self-esteem, full of confidence, a leading country with a vision of the future”, he noted.

The Portuguese pavilion, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is still under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of March. It is a pavilion made of sea cables: “There are more than 9,000 sea cables, fishing nets, all recycled”, stated the commissioner, who adds that of the 184 days of exhibition, “160 are currently filled with exhibitions, with concerts, with debates, with conferences”. “It’s quite an intense schedule”, he ponders.

No dossier shared with the press at the time of the presentation, this Thursday, in Lisbon, all the events that make up the “art and culture exhibition” were not detailed, which includes “graphic design, fashion, visual artists, illustration and music”, in the words of the Commissioner General.

In the area of ​​music, it is known that the young composer Máximo Francisco composed, recorded and released Pangeaan official Portuguese song at the Osaka Expo. Fado singer Carminho will perform in Osaka on June 10th, as part of the celebrations of the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities. And singers such as Dino d’Santiago, Branko, Bruno Pernadas and Júlio Resende “will represent Portugal throughout various moments of Expo Osaka”, the document reads.

There will also be a tribute to Amália Rodrigues, a fado singer who “played a crucial role in the introduction and popularization of fado in Japan”, having even performed at the celebration of Portugal Day at Expo 70, in Osaka. The tribute concert In the Time of Cherries, in partnership with Lisbon City Council, it will bring together the voices of fado singers Ana Moura, Camané and Ricardo Ribeiro, accompanied by a fado trio: José Manuel Neto (Portuguese guitar), Pedro Soares (fado guitar) and Daniel Pinto (bass guitar) ).

In the field of visual arts, little is known other than that artists such as Fernanda Fragateiro, Daniel Blaufuks, Ana Aragão, Add Fuel or Vanessa Barragão “will be present in Osaka”. As for graphic design, an exhibition by Atelier barbara says is planned, and in the field of arts and crafts, the Saber Fazer program, from DG Artes, will be present.

It was about a year ago that it was known that, for the first time, the Portuguese Pavilion at a world exhibition would not be created by a Portuguese architect and that the Japanese Kengo Kuma would be the author of the space. To the Observer, architects and workshops Portuguese people reported a feeling of “favoritism” in the international competition and the Order of Architects lamented the lost opportunity to give international visibility to Portuguese architecture.

Avelino Oliveira, president of the Order of Architects and present at the presentation of the program this Thursday, assures the Observer that this is an “outdated topic” and wants a “turn of the page”. “We are interested in contributing to Portuguese architecture”, “valuing Portuguese architects”, continues Oliveira, who welcomes “that architecture is present, with one of the activities carried out in Portugal with strength”.

It is clear that architecture took a prominent place in the Portuguese program in Osaka. “I would venture to say that this pavilion will be at the service of Portuguese architecture like probably none before,” said Joana Gomes Cardoso in her speech, highlighting Kengo Kuma’s “strong relationship with Portugal”, as he “carried out the renovation of the Art Center Modern by Gulbenkian and is completing the conversion of the old slaughterhouse in Porto”.

Inside the pavilion imagined by the Japanese, it will be possible to learn about Portuguese architecture, “through exhibitions, meetings with architects and partnerships with architecture schools”, says the person in charge. The press dossier highlights the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the work of architect Siza Vieira, declined from the major exhibition presented by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in 2024 in Lisbon. The general commissioner clarifies that the Portuguese Pritzker will not travel to Japan “for health reasons”, but “many Portuguese architects” will be in Osaka to “develop various activities during the six months of the Expo”.

“When it was revealed that the Portuguese Pavilion would be designed by a Japanese architect, the first reaction was one of incomprehension, especially because architecture is probably one of the cultural manifestations produced in Portugal with the greatest impact on the world”, begins by saying Ricardo Carvalho, architect with atelier namesake. Architect Ricardo Back Gordon also admits to having been “surprised” by the choice and says: “what we can think about is whether we want to prevent this from happening in the future…”

However, both tell the Observador that they will be in Osaka as they are part of a headline exhibition Related Path. “The general commissioner invited Alexandre Vicente, a Portuguese architect, to live in Japan, and this architect chose four Portuguese offices: Aires Mateus, Ricardo Back Gordon, Ricardo de Carvalho”, explains Ricardo Carvalho. “Each of us will show four recent works that seek to express a culture that seeks to position itself at the forefront of a global debate on how a discipline can contribute to the common good.” But this will be just one of the initiatives related to architecture, as the dossier shared with the media includes more than two dozen names and photographs of architects and workshops.

Asked by the Observer about whether the emphasis given to architecture in representing Portugal in Osaka is a response to the controversy surrounding the choice of the architect responsible for the pavilion, Joana Gomes Cardoso responds: “I wouldn’t say it was a response [a isso]but it was a response to the fact that we have an architect who is not Portuguese. In other words, we didn’t want to stop supporting and promoting Portuguese architecture.”

Luís Montenegro, who took advantage of the launch of Portuguese participation in Expo2025 Osaka to announce that he will visit the space on May 5th, made a point of saluting the “good decision” of “having chosen a Japanese architect to design our pavilion”. And he explains: “I believe it was a good decision for us to be able to say that we are available to welcome Japanese investments in Portugal. And we know that Japan is also available to welcome Portuguese investment in Japan”.

The Prime Minister highlighted that “it is not by chance” that AICEP (Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal) and Turismo de Portugal are part of the project. Portugal’s participation in Expo2025 Osaka, in Japan, is organized by the two entities.

Portuguese Pavilion in Osaka: Portuguese architects speak of a “feeling of favor” in the competition. Commissioner says it was “rigorous”