Sónia Baptista A Cavalo [2026]

Photography by the author

A CAVALO

SÓNIA BAPTISTA

[PT] Partindo do capítulo das Viagens de Gulliver: A Voyage to the Land of the Houyhnhnms e de várias referências culturais e representações do Cavalo e da sua relação com os seres humanos – resultando num imaginário cheio de signos e significados, alguns problemáticos, outros idealizados – pretendemos refletir como esse imaginário equestre se traduz na linguagem das Artes Performativas, clássicas e contemporâneas, de uma forma experimental, surpreendente e lúdica.

[EN] Drawing on the Gulliver’s Travels: A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms, as well as various cultural references and representations of the horse and its relationship with humans — resulting in an imaginary world rich in symbols and meanings, some problematic, others idealised — this production seeks to reflect on how this equestrian imagery translates into the language of Performing Arts, both classical and contemporary, in an experimental, surprising, and playful way.

DIRECTOR Sónia Baptista CO-CREATION AND PERFORMANCE Sónia Baptista, Maria Abrantes, Joana Levi, Bruno Soares Nogueira SET DESIGN Raquel Melgue, Sónia Baptista SOUND Margarida Magalhães VIDEO/FOOTAGE Raquel Melgue, Lara Morais CREATION SUPPORT Mariana Ricardo, Maria Sequeira Mendes COSTUME Lara Torres, Sónia Baptista, Isidro Paiva Production management Maria João Garcia Production AADK Portugal SUPPORT BY Alkantara, Polo Cultural das Gaivotas- Boavista CO-PRODUCTION Fundação de Serralves/Serralves em Festa, Citemor, Festival End, Festival Paragem, and São Luiz Teatro Municipal PROJECT FUNDED BY República Portuguesa-Cultura, Juventude e Desporto | DGARTES- Direção Geral das Artes; Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Tiza Gonçalves, Inês Serra e Moura, Daniel Worm, Inês Gonçalves, Carlota Lagido-O Lugar do Meio

A CAVALO — Costume Collaboration for Performance

For A CAVALO, which premiered in the Winter Garden of Teatro São Luiz in Lisbon on the 19 June 2026, I developed a series of four collars inspired by Regency collars and cravats, reimagined through the lens of 1980’s ‘New Romantics’ aesthetics.

Drawing on themes of equestrian elegance, performance, and theatricality, each piece was created through a process of cutting, deconstructing, and reassembling second-hand scarves featuring horse-riding motifs. Fragments of these found textiles were appliquéd onto carefully tailored collar forms and embellished with hand embroidery using metallic threads, creating a dialogue between historical dress, ornament, and contemporary craft.

Natural avocado dyes were used throughout the collection, producing a palette of soft blush pinks and delicate pastel tones that evoke nostalgia. The collars move between historical reference and contemporary interpretation, transforming familiar sartorial details into expressive performative artefacts.

This collaboration was an especially rewarding exploration of textile storytelling, combining sustainable material practices with hand-crafted embellishment to create pieces that complemented the visual language and atmosphere of the performance.

Special thanks to Hannah Hatchard for her invaluable assistance with the appliqué and hand-embroidery work. I am also grateful to Victoria Jowett for generously donating the avocados used in the natural dyeing process and for her expertise and consultancy on natural and mature dye techniques throughout the development of the project.