OSSO is a collective that includes artists from different areas and since 2012 has been developing its activity around supporting creation, research, programming and training, predominantly transdisciplinary, in collaboration with other artists and collectives, supported by public and private partnerships. Their projects seek to explore artistic practices in conjunction with critical, aesthetic and political thinking that takes into account the specificity of the contexts and territories in which they operate.

OSSO is also a place. After having been at Fundição de Oeiras (2012-15) and at the headquarters of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale (2016-17), in 2018 it moved to a new space in the village of São Gregório Caldas da Rainha, where it has been developing a program of Artistic Residencies, comprising the reception of OSSO associated artists and other guests. This program is the center of a set of activities in the areas of creation, training, programming and artistic research in conjunction with local, national and international partners, always attentive to the rural community where it operates. OSSO thus intends to be a meeting point for artists, actively dialoguing with the local community, always aiming at the continued construction and maintenance of a place where artistic creation processes are the foundations of a social, political and ecological project of community origin.

João Pimenta Gomes (Lisbon, 1989) is a visual artist and musician who lives and works in Lisbon. In his artistic practice, he addresses references mostly linked to music and explores the relationship between space and the body through the manipulation of modular synthesizers, images and objects, providing encounters between the analogue and the digital, the sensorial and the conceptual. Of his exhibitions, Poly-Free, MAAT Museum, Lisbon, 2022; Clouds, Kunstraum Botschaft, Berlin, 2021; Winter Work, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, 2021, as a member of the Matéria Simples group, with which he also made A Ilha de Calipso, Appleton Garagem, Lisbon, 2020; and Micro Resonances (Appleton Box, Lisbon, 2020).

Nuno Morão (1976)
Drummer, percussionist and multi-instrumentalist.
His current main musical projects are Som Alvo, The Selva, Space Sextet, Medusa unit, and Madalena Palmeirim. Other recent projects include Hamar Trio, Wednesday, Love that Lava, PARQUE, Pinkdraft, Torres + Faustino + Morão, Variable Geometry Orchestra, IKB and Ensemble JER. He was senior partner and sound engineer at FISGAstudio/Scratchbuilt (Lisbon-based recording studio) and he is, since 2020, the technical director at OSSO Cultural Association. His musical collaborations have been published by Clean Feed Records, Shhpuma, Creative Sources Recordings, Universal, jerverlag, Boca and OSSO. He’s also a member of Improvisors Without Borders, a network of european artists.

Pedro Tropa, Santarém, 1973. Pedro Tropa is an artist and photographer. He studied Drawing and Photography at Ar.Co – de Arte e Comunicação Visual, and received a scholarship from the Luso-American Foundation for Development / Institute of Contemporary Art, at the School of The Art Institute of Chicago, USA. He received a scholarship from Fundação Oriente in 1998, 1999 and 2004, collaborating in the magazine Oriente and Grande Reportagem. He specializes in documentary and museum photography, collaborating with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Serralves Museum, EDP Foundation, Culturgest and the Ministry of Culture in various editorial projects, including the catalog of the official Portuguese representation at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. in several publications with Assírio & Alvim and Documenta.

He has been a professor since 2007 and is currently in charge of the Photography department at Ar.Co – Centro de Arte de Comunicação Visual. In addition to the pedagogical program, he develops the school’s graphic and editorial project. He has been exhibiting since 1992 and is represented in several collections and editions, including: Drawing, Assírio & Alvim/Fundação Carmona e Costa, 2003; Photography How to Use, Documenta, 2015; Sim Zut, Quadrado Azul Gallery, 2016; The surveys [to Photography and Territory], CIAJG, 2016; Mayflies, Market, Antenna, Obelisk, Appleton Square, 2020.

Since 2009, he has been a member of the group of artists at Galeria Quadrado Azul. His work in photography, drawing, text and sound is strongly linked to his practice as a mountaineer. He has been a collaborating artist since 2018 with Colectivo OSSO, integrating the projects Invasor Abstracto, Eira and Escola dos Labirintos. He is a founding member of the Matéria Simples project, with Teresa Santos and João Pimenta Gomes, creating a cross between sound and visual arts. His work was documented in the film Quatro by director João Botelho and in 2022 he was awarded the FLAD Drawing Prize.

Ricardo Jacinto (1975) Musician, visual artist or architect with artistic and academic research focused on the relationship between sound, improvisation and territory in transdisciplinary practices. He is a founding member and artistic director of the OSSO collective and holds a PhD from the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queens University Belfast. Since 1998 he has presented his work in individual and group exhibitions, concerts and performances in Portugal, Europe and Brazil.

With a vast interest in collaborative processes, he has developed numerous projects with other artists, musicians, architects and performers. His recent musical projects include MEDUSA (unit and solo) and THE SELVA. He promoted, directed and supported the development of collective creation projects such as PARQUE (2001-2015) or INVASOR ABSTRACTO (2019-22).

He was co-organizer of programming projects such as ECOS: Escuta e Lugar (2013-14) or EIRA: radio platform for artistic residencies (2020). His music has been released by Clean Feed, Shhpuma Records and Creative Sources, and his installations are present in several national collections. Within a collaboration with architech and painter Pancho Guedes he co-represented Portugal at the 10th Venice Architecture Biennale 2006 and his work was presented in venues such as Culturgest_Lisbon, Serralves Foundation_Porto, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation_Lisbon and Paris,

Palais de Tokyo_Paris, Mudam_Luxembourg, Maria Matos Theater_Lisbon, Vostell Museum_Cáceres, Casa da Música, CCB, Manifesta 07_Roveretto, Galeria Vermelho_São Paulo, Frac Loraine_Metz, OK CENTER_Linz, among others. More information: www.ricardojacinto.net

Rita Thomaz (1979) lives and works in Lisbon. In 2007 joined Ar.Co – Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual where she completes the Advanced Course in Visual Arts, finishing in 2014. In the same year she joins Ar.co teaching staff (drawing and painting course) until June 2019. Currently she is responsible for OSSO Associação Cultural Communication. Studied Business Administration and Management at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (1997/2002) and Interactive Design at the Miami ad School in São Paulo, Brazil (2004/2006). Worked in Project Management at Ogilvy Interactive, Lisbon (2002-2004) and at 10’Minutos Interactive, São Paulo, Brazil (2004-2006).

She has participated in several exhibitions of which stand out: “New Skin For the Old Ceremony” solo exhibition at Casa da Avenida, Setúbal (2021); “INVASOR ABSTRACTO #4”, OSSO colectivo project at TBA, Lisbon (2021); “Livros de Artistas de Artistas de Mulheres”, Collection of Artist Books from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, (2021); “INVASOR ABSTRACTO #3”, OSSO colectivo project at gnration, Braga (2021); “INVASOR ABSTRACTO #2”, OSSO colectivo project with Oficinas do Convento at Galeria Municipal de Montemor-o-Novo (2020); “CANTO”, at Appleton Box (2020); “INVASOR ABSTRACTO #1”, OSSO colectivo project at Convento São Francisco, Coimbra (2019); “ARCHE II” Cidadela art district, Cascais, (2019); “Play is a Serious Matter” at the Portuguese Communications Foundation (2019); “ARES”, at the Geological Museum of Lisbon (2016); “notas surdas” (2016) at Espaço AZ Lisboa (2016).

Her work is represented in the Contemporary Art Collection of the Portuguese State; Carmona e Costa Foundation; Artist Book Collection of the Art Library – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; Portuguese Communications Foundation, Fernando Ribeiro Collection, among other private collections.

Teresa Santos, Lisbon, 1969. She trained in Photography at Ar.Co, completing the Advanced Course in 1994, continuing her studies at the Royal College of Art, London, with a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. She received a grant from Fundação Oriente for research and photography projects in 1997, 1998 and 2004. In 2011/12 she coordinated Culturgest’s educational project for traveling exhibitions of works from the Caixa Geral de Depósitos Collection, Zona Letal, Espaço Vital, on display in the museums of Elvas, Tavira and Leiria. From 2013 to 2017 she is Coordinator of the Educational Service of the Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar. He has been working in documentary photography for Artes Plasticas since 1998, collaborating with artists, galleries and museums. Exhibits regularly since 1999; The Deer, National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon, 2006; City of the Dead, 211th Avenue, 2008; Harpea, Espaço Avenida, 2011; Catalog, residency at the Museu de Arte Antiga / Fundação EDP, 2015; Marketplace, Appleton Square, 2020; exhibition included in the festival, P de Dança – Gulbenkian and Dance in Portugal, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. She is the founder of the Matéria Simples project, with Pedro Tropa and João Pimenta Gomes, creating a cross between the sound arts and the visual arts, highlighting A Ilha de Calipso, Appleton Square, Lisbon, 2020, Winter Work, Quadrado Azul , 2021. He is currently a member and responsible for coordinating OSSO Colectivo’s educational project.