TUTI MOMO
Over the course of three months, Luísa Mota inhabited the Teatro Rivoli and the surrounding streets of Porto with a living installation composed of mythical and abstract characters. These figures emerged in the foyers, corridors, and public spaces, performed by over 50 participants gathered through open calls and workshops. The project operated as an open-ended system of transformation, where narrative and behavior were improvised in real time. What emerged was a social and symbolic portrait of contemporary identity, shaped through public participation and emotional dissonance. Drawing guests, pedestrians, and collaborators into its orbit, the work invited intimate engagement with archetypal figures that questioned belief systems, power structures, and the performativity of self. It explored identity not as a fixed construct, but as a constellation of roles in constant flux — both personal and collective. Developed across performance, video, photography, and sculpture, Tuti Momo became a foundational project in Mota’s practice, generating multiple conceptual threads and characters later expanded in her studio work. It marked a significant shift toward immersive, durational installations that blend fiction and social reality.
Who wins the most souls?
Last iteration of the project consisted of all the characters interacting with each other in a scene reminiscent of a fair. For an hour, all the characters circulated around the space, approaching each other, whispering, and selling and buying souls reminiscent of a market. Throughout the performance, several characters left “souls” on the Altar as offerings to Tuti Momo. One character - “Pensamento Zero” picked up one offering and began to bite it, chew it, and spit it out.
| Artistic Direction | Luísa Mota |
| Commissioned by | Teatro Municipal do Porto |
| Co-produced by | Teatro Municipal do Porto |
| Production | Marlene Alberto |
| Production Assistant | Nelson Pereira |
| Documentation | Favo Studio, A Caixa Negra |
| Make-up | Mariana Fonseca |
| Costume Assistants | Sílvia Mota, Cláudia Queirós, João Pedro Fonseca, Abu Baker |
Cast
- Andreia Moreira
- Eva BastosInês Mondim
- Margarida Costa
- Cristóvão Sá Pimenta
- Idalina Tavares
- Ana Cardoso
- José Neto
- Tiago Fernandes
- Hélder Aires
- António Gonçalves
- Francisco Ramada
- Maria da Graça
- Clara Cardoso
- Isabel Sequeira
- Julieta Fonseca
- Urânia da Silva
- Miguelina
- Ângela Oliveira
- Carla Soares
- Ilva Otero
- Maria José Monteiro
- Sandra Silva
- Júlia Rodrigues
- André Almeida Rodrigues
- Filipa Duarte
- Jorge Pereira
- Joaquim Maia Martins
- João Baltarejo
- Joana Rafaela Moreira
- amongst others who unfortunately we can no longer identify but thankfully acknowledge their presence now and at the time