Founded by the Custom Circus – a transdisciplinary theater and visual arts company, this 3-hectare venue pioneered the Portuguese avant-garde scene by introducing several successful projects. For its inspiring irreverent path has been attracting visitors, nationally and abroad, most due to the original theme upcycling architecture and it´s outdoor art gallery. Being the main attractions the artistic sum this place consolidated through hundreds of shows, concerts, exhibits and events .
National
Portugal
oeiras municipality
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2019-09-20
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Nirvana Studios Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Daniela Last name of representative: Sousa Gender: Female Nationality: Portugal Function: President Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Nirvana Studios, Estrada militar de valejas Town: Oeiras Postal code: 2730-226 Barcarena Country: Portugal Direct Tel:+351 938 236 620 E-mail:daniela@nirvana.pt Website:http://www.nirvanastudios.pt
Nirvana Studios - The first Portuguese alternative cultural center - the amazing Custom Circus headquarters established as a post-apocalyptic artistic compound.
Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Nirvana Studios is currently a trend factory in the cultural avant-garde scene and simultaneously an oasis for independent artists. Deactivated since the 1980s, this former military barracks was acquired and rebuilt by the custom circus theater company, based on upcycling construction techniques and reuse of materials, with a variety of multipurpose studios, ateliers, rehearsal rooms and 2 hectares of areas common for outdoor events or interventions, Nirvana Studios annually hosts and manages hundreds of events that constantly interact with each other, creating numerous synergies in the course of its projects and it´s relaxed atmosphere attracts audiences and visitors year-round.
Nirvana Studios spread its wings on several directions aiming other strategic and innovative projects on the cultural field, such as:
- Custom Café theater - multidisciplinary performance venue
- Band Boxes - Rehearsal rooms for musicians
- Strange – Blackbox 360 multipurpose Art Gallery
- Nirvana Boulevard – Indie Movie and Video studios
- Custom Ville – Upcycling Architecture Artistic Residences
- Project UR – Upcycling Architecture Ateliers and Workshops
- Art Express – A container-based platform of micro studios designed for the creative import/export of artistic concepts
All the above linked to several other cultural partnerships which are also propelling Nirvana Studios artists to other projects, collectives and venues.
In addition to the theatre, music, dance, plastic arts, design, multi-disciplinary performances, cinema and TV components, associations dedicated to extreme sports and adventure, artisans, motorcycle clubs, restaurateurs, classic clubs, producers of ecotourism events, eco-recycling movements, and various promoters of more positive and active lifestyles.
cultural center
shows
Art exhibitions
outdoor lifestyle
upcycling sustainability
More than their technical spectrum, it has been the Upcycling architectural philosophy of the Custom Circus that has earned them the stamp of differentiation, and the proven proactivity of the ecological sustainability of the this project that they have built in Portugal - Nirvana Studios.
Starting from the very ruins of its military barracks from the 1940s, they managed to carry out its reconstruction, respecting the legacy of that warlike past, but simultaneously, in harmony with its faithful environmental ideology in the face of the present and the future.
Thus, since 2003, they have achieved this constant challenge thanks to their enterprising and adventurous attitude. Not just in a theoretical way, but above all in an empirical way, visible and usable in all aspects in which these projects were conceived.
In order to respect their sensible beliefs, based on the advantages of Upcycling architecture, they resorted, always in line with current laws, to a series of viable solutions. Although extremely divergent from conventional architecture, mostly based on the use of concrete. In the transversal case of this company, its constructive actions, or restoration, favor the use of materials and structures considered obsolete, in order to give them another extension of their useful life.
In this sense, hundreds of maritime and refrigerated containers, vehicles, beams, industrial, naval and aeronautical structures have been recovered; also counting on a vast use of recycled wood, among other raw materials recovered for architectural and decorative purposes - even if purposely ephemeral in some cases.
It is this vast route of reuse that has given the authenticity of the Post-Apocalyptic nature in the productions of this company. Whether in his scenographic installations markedly embedded in his imagination; whether in emblematic buildings such as the Custom Café Theater.
In the vast sphere of visual arts and design, the company's work extends itself in a pluridisciplinary way, dialoguing uninterruptedly with the diverse creative strands that tile its path. Based on this philosophy, this troupe has been making use of the potentialities of aesthetic plasticity. Be it through the minimalist two-dimensionality of the painting, making its own compositions, adaptations, materializations, and fusion of everything they use in it´s visual art and performances or even the three-dimensional extravagance of their reinterpretations emerging from industrial archeology.
The Nirvana Studios Outdoor Exhibition, reveals the history, not only of Nirvana Studios, but also of Custom Circus and the Paiol Barracks itself before the arrival of this company. At the same time, it also covers factology about its geolocation, namely the Military Road and the National Defense Belt. Through this permanent exhibition platform, the tour covers the artistic movements that pulsate in this community, thanks to a multifaceted path of cultural, sociological, and museological interest.
Nirvana Studios offers to the local public in general an anual Festival called Nirvana Studios Open Day, that is the culmination of the annual cycle that brings together the artists of the Alternative Cultural Center, held uninterruptedly in open day mode, since the creation of this community. As a free admission alternative festival, it has offered a diverse cultural program, mostly centered on less conventional arts and gathers more than 5000 people every year.
The Nirvana Studios Supporters collective emerged from a spontaneous phenomenon cemented by the ideals of this community. Thus emerged a charismatic group that reinforces the social action agenda of the Alternative Cultural Center; annual stage for many non-profit events and national and international humanitarian causes.
Nirvana Studios has remained open 365 days a year, with free visits; and that this tour is always available online in Portuguese and English.
Since 2004 Custom Circus started to create a hosting bridge for their artistic intersections. In this way, both the sum of international and national receptions have been relevant. Mainly in the scope of concepts, or projects, that due to their alternative characteristics are not compatible with conventional spaces. With this in mind, it has been obvious how Nirvana Studios has been the sanctuary of several multidisciplinary artists and experimentation. Creators, who would otherwise have found it very difficult to realize and present their art; if not impossible.
The Alternative Cultural Center has made its facilities available for various outdoor sporting and recreational events. A path, known as the Nirvana Studios ecopista bicycle path, was created by Custom Circus in 2008 to provide a more ecological and healthy experience for the artists in the community.
With a strong humanitary sense and due to their democratic ideals, 2 days after the Russian invasion, Custom Circus decided to turn the Custom Café Theatre into a support base called Hangar SOS Ukraine, to help provide rapid aid to refugees and popular militias on the resistance front. Which means, that before and after each show, the troupe reactivated this operational side of the theater; just as it had done several times before on other occasions for other causes. In other words, that the World can - and should - remain united by the sacred Human freedom, regardless of the symbologies, colors, beliefs or forces that wish to deny it to the inhabitants of this planet.
This company's example of entrepreneurship is remarkable. Mainly in the relevance of their pioneering cultural projects in the Portuguese geography, and in some cases, even at a European level. In its long line of projects, another noteworthy factor has been the troupe's ability to create those same projects from scratch, financially speaking. They have managed, case by case, to honor the bank commitments agreed upon for the purpose. This has given them a unique experience in the management of all their cultural and artistic platforms.
The fact that the founders of Nirvana Studios have also been tutors since 2008 in internships at various educational institutions with courses related to arts and culture has created an international link. After hundreds of internships carried out under their supervision, including several occasional Erasmus placements from various institutions; in 2021 Custom Circus chose to create a structure exclusively dedicated to this European platform.
Nirvana Studios, strongly framed by music and visual arts, has conveyed many interconnected concepts with relevant messages. Among which we highlight that the Today's normal was not always normal, because in truth, what we take for granted today, was previously considered inappropriate, disturbing, controversial. Until social sifters became familiar with the idea. This alternative cultural centre based on its platforms of multidisciplinary experimentation and crossover of concepts, where the public - in addition to concerts, theater, dance, exhibitions and artisans' free shops - wanders between volumetric installations, immersive activities, and structural elements, from which ecological concerns stand out.
This artistic project carried out in partnership with the Foundation of the National Railway Museum, the Entroncamento City Hall, the Oeiras City Hall, the CP, the Infraestruturas de Portugal, among many other institutions and companies.
Throughout these twenty years, thanks to this flexibility of fusion, it has found a way to share its contents in various types of audiences, events and trends. A chameleonic capacity that has allowed it to convey its art in less likely circuits, even in the most conservative spheres of government agencies, town halls, foundations, and multinationals. In these parameters, the international connections that the troupe has privileged, at the same level of what it performs nationally, are also noteworthy.
The invitation from ERIH - European Route Of Industrial Heritage, a very important European cultural platform based in Germany has led to the integration of Nirvana Studios in this route that brings together the most prestigious cultural spaces of industrial origin. The international tourism side of this integration is invaluable, since from this network, hundreds of cultural connections in diverse artistic, historical, and sociological strata branch out, whose national legacies can be quickly exported, and made available, to any other partner in the European geography.
Nationally, Nirvana Studios is officially recognized as a Space of Municipal Cultural Interest. Internationally, they have already been recognized by several cultural and touristic organizations, and hundreds of projects and entities, national and international, have presented their concepts, messages, events and art at the Alternative Cultural Center; from artists, collectives, public and private institutions, brands, companies and NGOs.
The important artistic components in the company's path, converge mostly towards the category of scenographic installations. Although, others have different objectives. They are three-dimensional realizations that usually appear interconnected with the Post-Apocalyptic imaginary of the troupe, materializing it from a still distant future. The link that unites them is undoubtedly the Upcycling philosophy of the artistic techniques used. Other particularities of these installations, are their alternative tourist side. Especially in the areas of industrial or military archeology; and its obvious facet of the company's fantastic literature, with connection to the movement itself. Through a repertoire of performances, sculptures, installations, and contraptions by the troupe, this content presented live or streaming is focused on the consumerist slump of global society.
In the artistic plan, the aesthetic spectrum of this company radiates from a quadrant where several subcultures, subgenres and avant-garde movements live. From this troupe's point of view, present trends are as volatile as the times that create them. Chronologically, they have preferred to dedicate their artistic lives to the speculative fiction that has always moved them, traveling paradoxically between a future and a past marked by specific patterns that they have already theatrically codified. Thus, it is no accident that their two great aesthetic catwalks are, on the one hand, the Post-Apocalyptic; and on the other, The Cabaret Rock. Both embraced by a solid bridge forged by the shadows of Steampunk, Gothic, Dieselpunk, Bizarre Chic, Cyberpunk, Techno-Industrial-Martial, and Dark Wave.
The Custom Circus' artistic liturgy, undeniably materialized with performing arts, visual and plastic arts, music, literature, architecture; but always crossed and programmed for a final videographic register.
This former military barracks, until 1984 served as the Army's logistical base for the convoys of trucks that crossed this road with shipments of bombs and ammunition, but the barracks entered a process of degradation that worsened over 19 years. In 2003, this venue was bought partially in ruins, by Custom Circus, with self-financing, and this complex project gave birth to the first Portuguese Alternative Cultural Center.
Nationally, Nirvana Studios is officially recognized as a Space of Municipal Cultural Interest.
Internationally, has already been recognized by several organizations as the Innovate World platform, that recognizes notorious cases of entrepreneurship and innovation in the 4 corners of the world, came to Oeiras in 2021, dedicating by direct invitation two pages to the history of Nirvana Studios, in its premium book.
Based on the advantages of Upcycling architecture, they resorted, always in line with current laws, to a series of viable solutions. Although extremely divergent from conventional architecture, mostly based on the use of materials and structures considered obsolete, in order to give them another extension of their useful life, developing a circular industrial ecosystem.
The range of intervention of the Alternative Cultural Center expands far beyond culture and the arts, also embracing and crossing its concepts and platforms in the areas of Sports, Laser, Social Action, International Diplomacy, Environment and Ecology, Education, Tourism, History, Industrial Archeology, Science, Sustainable Technologies, Digital Revolution, Traditional Commerce and Handicraft, Gastronomy, Sociology and Media.
As the alternative cultural center, Nirvana Studios achieved the following firsts in Portugal´s Cultural innovation:
IN THEATRE:
- 1st Professional Troupe with Post-Apocalyptic aesthetics (since 2002)
- 1st Custom theatrical vehicle train (since 2002)
- 1st Company to develop shows with its own contents of Theatre, Visual Arts, Music, Literature, Architecture, Video and Alternative Live Acts (since 2004)
- 1st Paradoxical Crossings (Performative-Literary-Industrial-Museological) carried out by a Theatre Company in partnership with IPM - Portuguese Institute of Museums (since 2020)
IN ARCHITECTURE:
- 1st Alternative Cultural Center (since 2003)
- 1st Cultural complex built with upcycling architecture
- 1st Military Barracks converted into an artistic community (since 2003)
- 1st Hub of studios in containers for hosting artists (since 2008)
- 1st Theater dedicated to Cabaret Rock, Bizarre Chic, Steampunk, Cyber, Custom Culture, Goth, Electro-Industrial, Dieselpunk, Wasteland, Desert Rock and Fantasy (since 2012)
- 1st Platform for temporary artist residencies, in eco bungalows with Upcycling architecture (since 2016)
- 1st residential Hub and support base, exclusively prepared for the rotation of large groups of the Erasmus + European Mobility program (since 2022)
IN MUSIC:
- 1st Macro collective of musicians and rehearsal rooms (since 2006)
IN THE VISUAL ARTS:
- 1st fully experimental multi-purpose gallery in 360-degree black box (since 2004)
- 1st Roadshow exhibition of Post-Apocalyptic art (since 2016)
- 1st Resident Performative Street Theater Scenic Installation (2019)
THEMATIC CONCEPTUAL PHYSICAL PLATFORMS:
- 1st Art Space designed in Retro Futuristic aesthetics (since 2003)
- 1st Wall of Fame (since 2008)
This company has lived a relentless journey on the edge of the boundaries of a nostalgic past and a challenging post-apocalyptic future. As a former nomad company, at the wheel of their colossal classic trucks or riding on their spartan Harleys, watching their meandering theatrical caravan with a crew of adventurers in the rearview mirrors, Custom Circus has plowed mile after mile, in the four cardinal points, the artistic plains they have chosen to sow.
During their trips, thew had a common passion that thew called industrial archeology due that they always looked for beautiful pieces and structures that were in the past useful for a specific industrial task and that were part of our industrial history, and that no longer were valueated.
With a big collection of artefacts, when the company settled in Nirvana Studios, they started to reuse those historical pieces and transforme them in visual and plastic art, with a strong commitement with the sustainable philosofy of the upcycling techniques.
This approach also gives the company the possibilitie of creating a construction plan of the rehearsal rooms and ateliers with a sustainable and low cost view but also with a strong highlight and concerns by the aesthetics and design, that includes the project of the complex in the category of scenographic installations.
With a original and positive mystic, the company also prioritized
that Nirvana Studios would be the perfect place to families and general public to visit and stay appreciating their amazing art sculptures and installations that make the Nirvana Studios Outdoor Tour ehxibition.
On the other hand, other main goal of Nirvana Studios, was to create conditions for musicians, artisans and other artists to work and develop their art, a place where they could work with no restrictions and with a huge collective of artists allowing the birth of new ideas by interacting with other artists from different styles or art disciplines.
Nirvana Studios as the alternative cultural center based on sustainable and inclusive pratices, is a project and a concept, that can be replicated in other locals, in former military barracks or degraded historical buildings, for exemple, as it can be adapted as well to other places with other different enviroments.
Valuing the Upcycling philosophy in all the construction or reconstruction architecture techniques, The main concept ideally requires implementing the same essencial main cultural projects and services:
Band boxes – rehearsal rooms
Workshop ateliers for artisans
Theater Custom Café
Outdoor custom circus upcycling art exhibition
Temporary artistic residences
Multidisciplinar studios
The artist exhibitions and the scenic structures would be produced in Nirvana Studios and send to the new local and all the information, projects and concepts of consctrution would be supervised by Custom Circus team.
Since the implementation of Nirvana Studios, it was easy to understand the extent of influence such project brought to the immediate local environment. Thus hundreds of its inputs/outputs started to be an active and available part of the county’s creative scene. The Pop side of this equation was strong enough to propel its own hub of proximity artists, producers, technicians and artisans. But furthermore, the academic response to its existence was up most important, naturally requiring several proposed main fields of action. Like bringing the personal experience of belonging to this very same community, so far as the Erasmus European context in a constant and solid basis. Though, not operating as a school, but instead as a transdisciplinary cultural compound, open 24/7 for those who seek learning perks, directly from professionals around events, art, showbusiness and entertainment fields. The impact of this ideology among the local work market and its significant unemployed persons, has been a positive key factor all along. Thus, Nirvana Studios have been acting like a crossroads meeting point, channeling hundreds of carriers and boosting strongly independent, autonomous, uncomplicated, free spirit and participative minds, in order to convey the own particular sharing and helpful vibe of this community. Unmistakably, this is a holistic project which add a lot to the local richness, in human terms mostly, as well as cultural, sociologic, ecological and historical. Since its simple inspiration, spreads residents and visitor’s imagination and skills, towards global creation and communication. It’s really the kind of place witch desires to learn from everyone who enters through its gates and where all efforts to dodge language barriers are welcome. Striving with a complex carpe diem artistic life, paced by many daily chores related to the community’s maintenance and management, also helped to create strong trust bonds between local workers, companies and providers.
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