A historic cocoon; a place called Évora, still to be discovered by many, has very significant religious, historical, and architectural importance. Reason that led UNESCO to grant it as a World Heritage Site in 1986.
The mystical Évora region has been settled since prehistoric times. Megaliths from around 4,000 BC lie just a few miles out of this magical city. In 80 BC the Roman city of Liberalitas Julia was founded here. Later, (c. 715) Évora was ruled by the Visigoths and then by the Moors. The city was recaptured by Christians in 1166 and became a favoured base for the royal court of the Kingdom of Portugal.

Today, this small and enchanting museum-town incorporates within its medieval walls a variety of architectural styles (Roman, Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance, Baroque), which reflect its dazzlingly rich history. It also holds a veritable maze of charmingly narrow and winding lanes all leading to these incredible architectural works.



Aside from its historic side, Évora is also a very lively university town, known in Portugal for its large amount of students who make it all the more entertaining and very much alive...



The Duchess de Cadaval, Lady Claudine – who had the XIV century family palace fully restored in 1994, jointly with her two daughters, took the initiative of starting an annual music festival. This event contributed even more to this special town, the festival was named, “Festival Évora Clássica”.



Formerly dedicated to a fully classical program, the festival today, featuring its XIV edition, encompasses a wide range of world and contemporary musical styles, turning itself into the nowadays called “Festival Évora Clássica – OS ORIENTAIS”, a direct sister festival to the “Les Orientales Festival” in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, France.



Another initiative that has been undertaken is a dynamic showcase exhibiting the finest in tradition, culture, music, life, and beauty based in Mozambique. A stunning country not sufficiently recognized yet for its musical arts but yet another epicenter of Africa’s rhythm and beats. Festival Évora Clássica is celebrating its first anniversary and that of the World Music Festival, which works on showing traditional arts and their re-appearance in the spirit of Africa.

As it expands, it is always in Évora, in this cornucopia of history and culture where the festival’s motherhouse is. Yearly they create a melting pot of culture, inviting diverse groups of artists and performers from all around the world and remote places to celebrate the richness and history of music, art and life.

We now present you to Alain Weber, our artistic director, and his note on this year’s very special edition and program, as to leave you stirring with excitement for what is to be expected!

Everyday and Eternal Rituals

This new edition, which once again sees acrobats, poets and musicians arrive in Évora like migrating birds, confirms the longevity of a meeting point that over the years has become a ritual. Like the pilgrimages of yesteryear, Os Orientais makes a break from the everyday; it renews our quest for the other; it brings about the immersion in other worlds. These shows provide us with the chance to cross rivers, oceans, mountains and deserts, thanks to these artists arriving from distant lands.

We celebrate this attachment to an ancient nature, through the veritable rituals of water and fire, which are some of the most extraordinary displays of Dravidian, animist and Hindu India.

During the Bhuta, a ritual originating in Karnataka, which is said to date back to the Neolithic era, the totemic masks of Pilli (the tiger god), or of Vishnumurthi (the lion god), appear supernaturally in the flicking torchlight, evoking the dread and fascination of shamanic man.

The sattriya art of the dancing monks of Majuli, a river island in Assam, surrounded by the benevolent waters of the Brahmaputra, embodies the order of the universe established by Vishnu.

The mark of the origins and the permanence of beliefs perpetuates the vibrant wealth of India…Wealth of which the Romany people bear witness, this “prophetic tribe with glowing eyes”, as Baudelaire described them, who had passed through numerous places, all the way from the Rajasthan desert, to that of Andalusia. Whether their way of rubbing the bow in Transylvania, or through the emotions sung by a Gypsy from Andalusia, the gypsies still retain part of the ‘Indianity’ and indomitableness, which we highlight to celebrate some of the last fluttering of the savage world.

Childhood will once again be represented to prolong our process of transmission. A transmission characteristic of Asian cities: that of the ancient splendour of Burmese Bagan, through a polished and acrobatic dance or that the courts of the Samarkand or Bokhara where the shashmaqam is sung.

Beyond religious beliefs, a sense of the sacred inhabits these traditions, which make us say, like French music lover and poet René Daumal:

The 2008 Festival Team

Festival President
— Duchess de Cadaval

Artistic Director
— Alain Weber

Administration
— Maria Emilia Ramos, Françoise Sellier

Production and Communication
— Alexandra de Cadaval, Princess Diana de Orléans

Artistic Coordination
— Edith Nicol, Alexandre Jomaron

Press
— Luís Bandeira

Graphic Design
— Juan Rodríguez

Technical Manager
— Carlos Ferreira

Decoration
— Team Casa Cadaval


Collaborators
— Soudabeh Kia, Betty Jovenet, Gazi Khan Barna, Denis Gontard, Nadine Delpech et Mathias Coulange, Filippo Bonini Baraldi, Sylvain Boughida, Enris Qinami, Vasco Sacramento, Prince Charles-Philippe de Orléans and Carlos Pissara


Special thanks to: Jean-Hervé Vidal and Zaman Arts, Thaike Oo, Gulnara Karimova, Association Préserver Majuli, Armand Amar and every volunteer.