“Celebrating Portuguese Surrealism on the centenary of two Marios: Leiria and Cesariny” will bring forth the discussion on how Surrealism, or in which circumstances, appeared in the artistic scene in Portugal in the early 1940s. Moreover, 2023 marks the centenary of two major players in the Portuguese movement, Mario Cesariny (1923-2006) and Mario-Henrique Leiria (1923-1980). Both were multi-artists and intervened on the socio-political scenery of dictatorship that in Portugal lasted for almost half a century (1926-1974). A group of presenters from different backgrounds (English Literature; Portuguese Literature; and Portuguese Translation) will join forces to reevaluate the work of the two “Marios” and Surrealism in Portugal in the context of the arts and literature today. They will each have 15 minutes of presentation and the public, presenters, and attendees will have 30 minutes for unstructured discussion.

Mario Vitor Bastos will reflect on the contrasting relationship between Surrealism in France and in Portugal. The latter emerged nearly twenty years after the publication of André Breton's Manifesto of Surrealism (1924). Bastos posits that a younger generation of artists and writers generated a Portuguese version of surrealism, a neo-avant-garde and a different historical context. In Portugal of the 1940s, the movement was essentially "national". The oppressive political closure and the censorship to cultural forms coming from outside Portugal was imposed by an autocratic dictatorship. In the aftermath of World War II, Portuguese surrealists became more visible when the Salazar regime, for a brief time, appeared to tolerate an open civil society, but its development was deferred to a distant future. Portugal's society would only regain freedom of expression with the 25th of April of 1974 revolution, that is, historically, fifty years after the advent of Surrealism in the world.

Amanda Tracera will analyze Mario Cesariny’s essays, based on the fact that only recently critics have begun to pay closer attention the author’s non-fictional writings. Vastly known for his visual work and poetry, the Tracera will propose a sort of provocation: to read a painting as an essay. For such, she will base her analysis on theories of the essay and on Mário Cesariny’s own writings. This study will expand on the criticism of Cesariny’s works, while also recognizing that his paintings can be considered a kind of artistic manifesto of Surrealism in Portugal.

Rui Sousa will add to the argument of “uniqueness” of the Portuguese manifestation of Surrealism by proposing that since their first activities, Mario Cesariny and Mario-Henrique Leiria were prominent representatives of an “abjectionist discourse.” The concept of Abjectionism was developed with remarkable constancy and repercussion in Portugal through the texts of poets and writers such as António Maria Lisboa, Pedro Oom, Luiz Pacheco, Ernesto Sampaio, António José Forte, among others. Cesariny's perspective on Abjectionism has undergone important variations over the decades, including through decisive contributions to the constitution of the distinctive abjectionist discourse in his anthologies, Surreal-Abjeccion [ism] (1963) and A Intervenção Surrealista (1966).

All three presenters will add to the need for a better understanding of the phenomenon of Surrealism in Portugal with both, their work, and their presence in the conference, considering that other specialists will be in attendance. This will be a unique opportunity to expand on this field so understudied in the context of Surrealism in the world. The timing is also very convenient, considering that two major Portuguese artists are being celebrated for their centenary, and the centenary of the advent (or the adventure) of Surrealism itself will be celebrated (worldwide) in 2024.