Play Bleu — Biography
Play Bleu is the artistic identity of a graphic designer, photographer and visual artist born in Braga, Portugal, in 1972. Working across graphic design, photography, video, sound and writing, his practice explores the intersections between nature, traditional culture and technology, investigating how images, sounds and visual narratives shape our perception of the world and our understanding of human history.
At the heart of his work lies an ongoing interest in the relationship between different forms of artistic expression. Moving between visual arts, music and contemporary dance, he approaches each project as an opportunity to experiment with languages, challenge established boundaries and create new connections between disciplines. His work often inhabits the space between the visible and the invisible, the material and the intangible, tradition and innovation.
Throughout his career, Play Bleu has collaborated with choreographers, musicians and artists from diverse backgrounds, including Maria Villasmil, Valentina Parravicini, Peter Dietz, Romulus Neagu, Paulo Henrique, Carlota Lagido, Jody Oberfelder, Carlos Zíngaro, João Foldenfjord and Rui Dias, among others. These collaborations have contributed to an artistic practice shaped by exchange, experimentation and the exploration of movement, sound and image.
His projects have been presented in Portugal and internationally, bringing together different artistic languages in performances, exhibitions and audiovisual works. In 2016, he collaborated with choreographer Valentina Parravicini and musician Fernando Ramalho on Rui(n)do, presented at Kanart Space in Lisbon, as well as in São Paulo and Italy, with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Following an artistic residency in Castelo Branco with Peter Dietz, he developed Green Man, a project that culminated in an exhibition and subsequently evolved into a dance performance presented at the 2017 Pedras Festival and in Funchal, Madeira.
In 2017, he created OFFTRACK, a video and music project developed with musician Rui Dias and presented as part of Gnration Ocupa 2, with the support of AUAUFEIOMAU.
His collaboration with Paulo Henrique has also led to significant artistic encounters. In Paris, they presented a performance combining music and video, supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Instituto Camões and Casa de Portugal. Their project Don't Look was selected for the Almada Festival in 2020 and the MIVSQ Festival in São Paulo in 2021.
His work has received recognition at the Fast Forward Festival, where he was awarded the Creativity/Share prize. In 2022, his video installation 4'33", developed in collaboration with Sara Silva and inspired by the work of José Saramago, received an award at Actum, in Braga.
In 2026, Play Bleu was involved in the organisation of Urban Echoes — International Festival of Music and Media Arts, in Braga, Portugal. Bringing together chamber music, contemporary digital art and the city's urban heritage, the festival creates a meeting point for artistic experimentation, architecture, technology and community. Through concerts, multimedia installations, workshops and collaborative initiatives, Urban Echoes invites audiences to experience the city through new artistic perspectives.
Across his practice, Play Bleu continues to explore the possibilities of visual and sonic expression, treating each medium not as an isolated discipline but as part of a broader creative language. His work is driven by curiosity, collaboration and the desire to reveal unexpected relationships between images, sounds, places and memories.
For Play Bleu, art is a space of transformation: a way of looking again, listening differently and discovering new meanings in the familiar.
