The University of Porto lauds Paulo Cunha e Silva as Towering Figure 2019

A little more than three years after his unexpected passing (he succumbed to an acute myocardial infarct), Paulo Cunha e Silva remains still a "luminous figure both for the city of Porto and the University of Porto", and this was the basis for his choosing as Porto University Towering Figure 2019.

The year 2019 is the "Caosar" year, as in "Chaos", which Paulo Cunha e Silva called "the world's most beautiful signature". This project is divided in 16 moments (Dobras), taking place in several venues of the city of Porto and at the University.

One of the highlights of the "Caosar" is the opening of the exhibit themed "À Volta do Ato Médico" ["Looping the Medical Act", free translation], on 3 April at the Rectory of the University of Porto. The starting point of such an exhibit is a script formulated in 2012 by Paulo Cunha e Silva himself regarding the care that a physician owes to his/her patient.

This event also marks the opening of the Rectory of the UP as a venue to hosting cultural projects in Porto, with a regular activities programme and running all year long.

Following the opening and a guided tour to the exhibition, there will be a round table with the participation of the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, the Rector of the University of Porto, António de Sousa Pereira, and José Barros, professor at ICBAS and Clinic Director of Hospital Centre of Porto. The moderator is Fátima Vieira, Vice-Rector of U.Porto for Culture.

The legacy and work of the physicist, professor, and cultural programmer will be the focus of a cycle of conferences and the publication of original research papers all through 2019. This tribute is organised by the University of Porto, and the main aim is to mobilise the academic community and the public at large, in the honouring of an outstanding individual that had an impact beyond national borders, as well as an extraordinary bearing in Portuguese society, but most especially in the city of Porto, both as Councillor for Culture and as a Professor.

"16 Dobras" to "Caosar" the city

The exhibit "À Volta do Ato Médico" ["Looping the Medical Act", free translation] will be on show at the Rectory of the UP till 9 May.
The Towering Figure Programme also includes exhibits, conferences, talks, concerts, performances and publications. 

The concert held on 23 March at Casa da Música by the Symphonic Orchestra of Porto marked the beginning of the tribute celebrations.

Noteworthy is also the first exhibit curated by Paulo Cunha e Silva, in 1990 at Casa Museu Abel Salazar, which will be on show from 15 April to 25 May - "As cores do Corpo", planned to celebrate the birth centennial of his greatest inspiration, the physicist, Professor and researcher Abel Salazar (1889-1964).

The FADEUP will play host to the exhibit "Pensamento. Performance. Conhecimento", on show as of 12 June, whose motto is one of Paulo Cunha e Silva most used expressions, "Ora vamos lá baralhar isto tudo" ["Let's stirr things up", free translation], as a way to intersect and promote the various art-related subjects towards a common understanding of the world.

The celebrations of the Towering Figure 2019 of the UP conclude in November and December, with the launching of two collections that will shed some light on the thought of Paulo Cunha e Silva and how he has built unlikely bridges regarding all these fields of knowledge, namely the book "Caosar: Pensamento de Paulo Cunha e Silva", which is a compilation of unpublished texts of his doctoral thesis and a special issue of the Faculty of Sport magazine, "Paulo Cunha e Silva: entre a indisciplinaridade e a transdisciplinaridade", to be released in December.

Moreover, in the framework of the homage, the A U.Porto will open applications from 15 April to 30 June to establish a memory repository of Paulo Cunha e Silva, which will serve as the basis for a site and a virtual exhibit.

Paulo Cunha e Silva

Paulo Cunha e Silva was a Professor at the FADEUP for over two decades and won admiration for his forward thinking, namely the establishment of the Chair in the subject of Introduction to Contemporary Thinking, but his activities rapidly expanded beyond the University.

In 2001 he was a leading programmer of Porto 2001 European Capital of Culture, and he was in charge of the areas of Thinking, Science, Literature and Cross-border Projects.

Between 2003 and 2005, he was Director of the Arts Institute of the Ministry of Culture. From 2009 to 2012, he was Councillor to the Portuguese Embassy in Rome. In 2012, he was Project Commissioner for the project "O Castelo em 3 atos" of the European Capital of Culture Guimarães 2012.

In 2013, he took on the most intense of his projects and became Councillor for Culture, upon invitation of Mayor Rui Moreira, and which he held this his death, on November 11th 2015.

In that same year, Paulo Cunha e Silva was elected Personality of the Year by Portuguese newspaper Público and one of the 200 most influential Portuguese by the magazine Visão.

Posthumously, Paulo Cunha e Silva was awarded the Porto Medal of Honour in 2016. Porto City Hall has also paid tribute to Paulo Cunha e Silva with the exhibition, which was later conveyed into a book, "751 Dias - O Tempo não Consome a Eternidade", [751 Days - Time does not Wear Out Eternity - free translation]. The book shares an overview of the several actions the former councillor for culture developed while in office.

The book was released at the Almeida Garrett Municipal Library auditorium, on 9th June 2018. This date is symbolic as Paulo Cunha e Silva would reach 56 years of age that very day. Furthermore, Porto City Hall established the Paulo Cunha e Silva Art Prize (PCS Art Prize) to honour his contribute to culture during his entire life.

The University of Porto joins Porto City Hall to honour the inspirational man who has touched everyone's lives, from the Academia to the city.

The thinking of Professor Paulo Cunha e Silva, ahead of his time, has deeply influenced the Academia and the Portuguese culture and has revitalised the culture of Porto.

The year 2019 is the time to celebrate the man who went above and beyond what was required in all aspects of his professional life, envisioning projects and nurturing them as no-one else could.