Monica Gagliano, PhD is a Research Associate Professor in evolutionary ecology at Southern Cross University where she directs the Biological Intelligence (BI) Lab as part of the Diverse Intelligences Initiative of the Templeton World Charity Foundation. She has pioneered the brand-new research field of plant bioacoustics, for the first time experimentally demonstrating that plants emit their own ‘voices’ and detect and respond to the sounds of their environments. Her work has extended the concept of cognition (including perception, learning processes, memory) in plants, re-igniting the discourse on plant subjectivity and ethical and legal standing. She applies a progressive and holistic approach to science – one that is comfortable engaging at the interface between areas as diverse as ecology, physics, law, anthropology, philosophy, literature, music and the arts, indigenous wisdom and spirituality. Her latest book is Thus Spoke the Plant (North Atlantic Books, 2018).
Dancer and choreographer, he was born on the island of Tenerife where his curiosity and interest in physical movement and scenic expression began. In addition, during his artistic training he graduated in Psychology, which has been very present in his choreographic works through careful poetic symbolism.
As a performer, he has developed his work in different companies and dance and theater groups on the national scene such as Provisional Danza and Matarile Teatro, and as a creator, he has a long creative career drawn by more than sixty productions, which have been seen in more than 40 countries, where they have been recognized by critics, the public and various awards, founding their company in 2004, Cía. Daniel Abreu.
At the same time, he continues to be close to other creative realities, such as directing projects for other groups and creators such as Fattoria Vittadini, Zagreb Dance Company, Compañía Nomada, 10 & 10 Danza, Proyecto Titoyaya and Teatre Tanca Zawirowania, among others. In 2011 he joined the prestigious group of artists that make up the European Modul Dance program.
Among the recognition garnered throughout his career are the 2014 National Dance Award in the category of creation, awarded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports; the Award for Best Direction at INDIFESTIVAL de Santander 2010; the Jury Prize for Choreography at the XVIII Choreographic Contest in Madrid (2005); the AISGE Foundation Award for an outstanding dancer, to attend the American Dance Festival (2005) received within the framework of the XVIII Choreographic Contest of Madrid (2005) and the mention as Most Outstanding Dancer of the IV Maspalomas Choreographic Contest (1999). In 2018, his work La Desnudez received the Max Award for Best Choreography, Best Dance Show and Best Male Dance Performer, and in 2019, his work Abisal received the Replica Award for Best Dance Show.
Adriana Queiroz, began her training as a dancer with the teacher Margarida de Abreu, completing her studies at the International Academy of Dance in Paris, directed by Ivette Chauvieré. In Portugal, she was accepted as a classical dancer in the Companhia Nacional de Bailado where she remained for 9 years. Shortly after, she joined the Gulbekian Ballet under the direction of Jorge Salaviza, where she was prima ballerina for 8 years. After leaving the Gulbenkian Ballet company, she developed other artistic facets such as that of a singer and actress, as well as a dancer, working in the Olga Roriz company, in theater she has worked with Germana Tánger, João Grosso, Adriano Luz, Fernando Heitor, Raul Atalaya , Rita Loureiro, Carlos Gomes, Fernando Gomes, Miguel Moreira, Diogo Infante, Ana Luisa Guimarães, Isabel Abreu and Antonio Pires, among others.
In the cinema he has worked with Fernando Vendrell, Luís Galvão Teles, Sandro Aguilar, Tiago Guedes and Federico Serra. In 2001 she founded and directs CAL Centro de Artes de Lisboa, and has been a teacher at the Chapito and Etic schools of arts. She published her first album ARIADNE in 2011, her second album TEMPO was released in 2015 and his third album, MULHERES DO SUL, has just been released, in which he collaborates with Luanda Cozetti and Javier Patino.
António Lagarto is a prestigious Portuguese set and costume designer and artist. Graduated at St. Martin’s School of Art (Sculpture) and the Royal College of Art (Environmental Media), he has developed his work between Lisbon, London and Paris. He has been Director of Teatro Nacional D. Maria II (Lisbon’s National Theatre), he has also been Director of Festival Internacional de Teatro – FIT (Lisbon’s International Theatre Festival). Since 2007 he is in charge of the Department of Set and Costume Design at Lisbon’s Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (Theatre and Cinema School).
Lagarto started his career in performance art and environment / installations. His work has spanned from installations to photography, film, illustration, graphics and interior design. In 1978 he initiated his professional activity in set and costume design. Between 1975 and 1981 he collaborated in several art and design projects with architect Nigel Coates.
His set and costume designs for theatre, dance, ballet and opera have been seen at the Opéra National de Paris, Opera di Torino, Teatro María Guerrero and Teatro de la Comedia in Madrid, at Teatro SESC/Vila Mariana in S. Paulo, at Portuguese National Theatres (Teatro Nacional de São Carlos Opera House, Teatro Nacional D. Maria II, Companhia Nacional de Bailado, Gulbenkian Ballet, Centro Cultural de Belém all in Lisbon and Teatro Nacional de S. João in Oporto), at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, Theatre Royal and Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris, amongst others.His work has been exhibited at Serralves Museum (Oporto), Luís Serpa Gallery (Lisbon), Art Net Gallery (London), Galleria Zona (Florence), amongst others. He was present at (P)Portugal 1990/2004, Architecture and Design, at Palazzo della Triennale (Milan 2004). His generous contributions have helped in the creation of the Museu Nacional do Teatro e da Dança and Museo Nacional do Traje in Lisboa.
Maite Mompó is Director of the STOP ECOCIDIO campaign in Spain and Coordinator for the Americas, a campaign whose exclusive objective is to make ecocide the fifth universal crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Maite was born in Albacete in 1967 and has dedicated her entire life to human rights, peace and the environment. She has been directly involved in different causes and with various organizations, especially with Amnesty International (she was the founder of the volunteer group in her hometown, and there she served as a spokesperson for several years) and with Greenpeace (where she was a volunteer, worker, activist and sailor of his fleet). As a result of almost a decade aboard the ships of this eco-pacifist organization, she became aware of the level of environmental destruction on a planetary level and wrote the book “Rainbow Warriors, Legendary stories of the Greenpeace ships”, which serves as a tool for dissemination and of awareness on the main ecological problems of the last decades.
Maite has a degree in Law (University of Castilla-La Mancha) and a Specialization Diploma in Ecological Ethics, Sustainability and Environmental Education (DESEEEA – Polytechnic University of Valencia). She has spent years giving monothematic lectures on environmental issues and conducting a project of environmental awareness talks for educational and social centers. Since 2019 he has been part of the Stop Ecocide team, the campaign developed by the international movement of Protectors of the Earth.