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U.Porto Memory

University of Porto Famous Alumni

Manuel Dias

Manuel Dias 1944- Sculptor and university lecturer

Manuel Ferreira Dias was born in Anta, Espinho, on 16 December 1944.

His vocation for the arts was soon noticed very soon in life; he was still a child when he received several awards in sand construction competitions.

Between the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s, he attended the Painting course (1957-1961) and the Preparatory Studies so that he could be accepted in the Porto School of Fine Arts (1961-1962), and in the Soares dos Reis School of Decorative Arts. He was taught by plastic artists António Cruz and Isolino Vaz.

He then studied Sculpture at ESBAP (1962-1967) and was enlisted in the Army in 1967. Like many young men at the time, he refused to go to the Portuguese colonies and sought refuge in Europe. First he went to Paris, where he enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts, and at the end of 1967, he moved to The Netherlands, living in The Hague and then in Haarlem.

In Holland, he lived and studied as a political refugee, accepted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Netherlands Delegation, and lived on a study bursary.

Following the advice of painter Constant Mevwenhuis, he applied for the Workshop 63 of Harleem, where he worked under the supervision of sculptor Carel Visser, between 1968 and 1971; he came into contact with new materials, such as blankets, sponges, glues, polyesters, etc. He was also able to contact with a new way of artistic education, which encouraged the student to find his/her new needs in order to create a new individual concept of artistic creation.

During the time he spent in Holland, Manuel Dias produced "Um percurso no chão" (a pathway on the ground) and several works of art for public buildings, for instance, Schippol Airport, in Amsterdam.

When he returned to Portugal after 25 April 1974, Manuel Dias attended a Seminar entitled "Algumas notas sobre design" (Some Notes on Design), in 1976, supervised by architect Sena da Silva. The following year, he returned to ESBAP to complete the complementary course in Sculpture, and immediately after that became Temporary Assistant - Sculpture Group. In 1979, he was promoted to Assistente Além do Quadro (Extra Assistant) at this school, and in 1981 he was promoted to professor with Aggregation - 6th Group.

His knowledge and interest in sculpture materials normally not used in Portugal afforded him a bursary from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1978) to research on plastics and its derivates; he also received a grant from the Dutch Ministry of Culture and Recreation to attend an intensive course on plastics at the Plasticks-WerkPlaats Research Institute, in Delft.

In 1984, his bursary status enabled him to attend the Post-Graduate Course at the Slade School of Fine Arts, of the University College of London, to order to start a Scenography subject.

At ESBAP, in addition to teaching Sculpture, Drawing, the Human Figure, the study of Medals and Tapestry, he was a jury member at several aggregation and master"s exams. He collaborated with the University of Aveiro, supervising and co-supervising master"s and PhD thesis. He has conducted the same type of collaboration work with the School of Artistic Technologies in Coimbra, where, since 1984, he has worked as a lecturer and planning Visual Art courses.

Reference must be made to some of his sculptures the actor/sculpture "Ardina" (1992), a bronze piece erected in Aliados Avenue near Santo António dos Congregados Church, in Porto, in tribute to the old and practically inexistent newspaper sellers; a scenic work designed for Vila Nova de Cerveira, and the "Monumento ao 25 de Abril", made in green marble from Viana, in Espinho (1998).

In addition to the teaching activity and the production of sculptures, Manuel Dias has designed many commemorative medals ("Medalha Comemorativa da elevação de Amarante a cidade"; "Medalha Comemorativa dos 70 anos das Tintas Cin"; "Medalha ao Professor Ribeiro Soares", Vila Meã; "Medalha alusiva à ARCA-ETAC" and "Medalha comemorativa dos 75 anos do Sporting Club de Espinho"), has developed scenarios, models and accessories for several theatre companies, he cooperates with Círculo Portuense de Ópera (an opera circle) and with the Conservatório Regional de Gaia (music school) and produced scenarios for television programmes.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2009)