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MT’s SPECTROLAB participates in the 16th FITA in Florianópolis with the show “Jantar”

  • 5 hours ago
  • 3 min read

The Cuiabá-based art collective SPECTROLAB is participating in the 16th International Puppet Theater Festival (FITA) in Florianópolis with the show "Jantar." The festival takes place from May 23 to 30, 2026, bringing together artists, companies, and researchers from Brazil and abroad for a program focused on puppet theater, visual arts, and the diverse possibilities of contemporary theater.




SPECTROLAB will perform on May 29 at the Garapuvu Auditorium, part of the Department of Culture and Events at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). The invitation came directly from the festival’s curators; the event is currently recognized as one of the leading gatherings dedicated to puppet and object theater in Brazil.


For SPECTROLAB—an independent collective founded in Cuiabá in 2017—participating in FITA means bringing elements of the landscapes, imagery, and creative inquiries born in Mato Grosso to a space for exchange with artists from diverse regions and countries. In recent years, the group has been developing work that blends puppet and object theater, performance, scenography, music, video, and visual arts, consistently seeking projects where matter, body, and space are in constant transformation.



The collective has produced works such as Resi(dual), What's Left, The Ox, Maiêutica, and Dinner, participating in showcases and festivals such as Palco Giratório, the Luiz Carlos Ribeiro Festival, and the Mato Grosso Amazon Theater Festival. Many of these works feature electronic waste, hybrid creatures, discarded materials, folk imagery, and landscapes that seem to exist somewhere between dreams, ruins, and fiction.


Within the context of SPECTROLAB France, the performance The Gap Between the Head and the Tail also stands out, having been presented at various international festivals, including Le Jardin Parallèle and Jardin Rouge. These encounters and travels also shape the group's creative processes, bringing together artists, references, and diverse approaches to performance.



Created by Douglas Peron and Millena Machado, *Jantar* weaves together masks, objects, the body, light, and sound into a non-verbal visual dramaturgy—one constructed far more through imagery and presence than through traditional narrative. The production is directed by Rakoo de Andrade, a member of the French team SPECTROLAB, thereby reinforcing the international exchange and collaboration processes the collective has cultivated in recent years.


The show’s dramaturgy stems from Caio Ribeiro’s anthropological research into the *Capelobo*, a mythical creature found in narratives from the Brazilian rainforest. Drawing on this figure, *Jantar* creates a universe where the monstrous, the animal, the technological, and the human blend together. On stage, circuit boards, wires, scrap materials, and object fragments coalesce into unstable bodies, mutant creatures, and landscapes that appear to be alive.


This participation was featured in the "VIDA" column of the newspaper *A Gazeta* in the May 10, 2026 edition.


The performance does not follow a linear narrative. Scenes continuously transform, as if the space were always on the verge of reorganizing itself. There is a sense of ritual, dream, and science fiction in the imagery crafted by the group. At the same time, many elements engage directly with contemporary issues regarding technological excess, consumerism, and the waste generated by society.


The Dinner project has been in development since 2021, receiving financial support for its creation through artistic residencies hosted by institutions such as Funarte, Alliance Française, the Mato Grosso State Secretariat of Culture, Sport and Leisure (SECEL-MT), Banco da Amazônia, and the Maison de la Culture de Grenoble (MC:2) in France. The production also benefited from the support of partners and creative spaces such as Labirinto Instituto Criativo, Cia Cena Onze, and Ecodescarte.


A significant part of the creative process took place during artistic residencies in Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and Grenoble (France)—the city where the show made its international debut in 2023. Since then, Dinner has toured various cities and contexts, expanding the group's dialogue with diverse audiences.



“For us, it is a very important moment to be able to represent Mato Grosso at a festival so significant to the art form of puppet and object theater—especially with a show that speaks so deeply to the imagery, landscapes, and themes present in our culture,” says Douglas Peron, a member of SPECTROLAB and one of the show’s creators. “There is something deeply symbolic about taking a work born of our own experiences, references, and artistic inquiries into a space where we can connect with artists from across the country and around the world.”



Participation in FITA also marks the arrival of new members to the show's technical team. Carolina Argenta and Everton Britto are joining the touring cast and crew of Dinner, accompanying this new phase of the production.


Images by Fred Gustavos

 

SPECTROLAB

 

FITA – Festival Internacional de Teatro de Animação

 
 
 

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