António Lagarto
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.