A conversation about sound and light, and their power to transform perceptions and expand the boundaries of artistic experience. 

This public talk brings together percussionist and composer Pedro Melo Alves and artist Cerith Wyn Evans to explore how sound and light shape our perception of space and time.

Known for his exploratory approach to percussion and cross-disciplinary collaborations, Melo Alves meets Wyn Evans’s luminous, language-driven sculptural practice in a dialogue on process, intuition, and experimentation.

Together, they open a shared space for audiences to reflect on the sensory and conceptual possibilities that emerge when different artistic grammars intersect, inviting us to consider how sound and light can unsettle, attune, and transform experience.

Information and tickets

Date: 31/01/2026

Schedule: 15.30–16.30

Location: MAAT Gallery

Language: English

Capacity: max. 80 people

Price: Museum admission ticket and all applicable discounts

• Access is subject to capacity, so those who wish to attend must collect a wristband from the museum’s ticket office (MAAT Central).
• Wristbands can be collected 1h30 hours before the event. 
• MAAT Friends benefit from free entry to the museum, but must also collect a wristband.

About the artists
 

Cerith Wyn Evans 

Cerith Wyn Evans (1958, Llanelli, Wales) is known for his diverse artistic practices, including sculpture, installation, photography, film and text, and for his unique approach to art, often exploring themes such as language, perception and temporality. Having studied at Saint Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, Evans collaborated with Derek Jarman, who had a significant influence on his career. Although he used film and video in his early works, neon lights and text came to play a major role in his production, often incorporating literary and philosophical references and creating immersive and provocative experiences. 

In 2003, Cerith Wyn Evans represented Wales in the country’s debut as a national representation at the 50th Venice Biennale, where he also participated in 1995 and 2017. His artistic career is marked by participation in major international exhibitions such as Documenta 11, Kassel (2002), the Istanbul Biennial (2005), the Yokohama Triennial (2008), Skulptur Projekte Münster (2017), and the Liverpool Biennial (2021), and solo exhibitions at prominent institutions such as Tate Britain, London (2010), the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (2006), and the Serpentine Gallery, London (2014). Recent exhibitions include his solo show at Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2018), Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan (2019), Aspen Art Museum (2021), Sogetsu Kaikan, Japan (2023), Centre Pompidou-Metz (2024), and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney (2025).

Cerith Wyn Evans' works are held in several prestigious collections, including the Tate Collection, London; the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; the Fondation Louis Vuitton; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Pedro Melo Alves

Pedro Melo Alves is one of the most prominent drummers and composers on the avant-garde music scene in Portugal in recent years. An explorer of the expanded possibilities of percussion, improviser, composer for small and large ensembles, and curator, his work is known for its exploratory attitude and ambitious crossing of aesthetic circuits, from jazz and classical to electronic and experimental music.

His work has been awarded with several prizes (Bernardo Sassetti Composition Prize, El Intruso Newcomer Group 2021, Giorgio Gaslini International Award) and he has collaborated with artists such as Tony Malaby, Sun Ra Arkestra, Ingrid Laubrock, Peter Evans, Leo Genovese, Mark Dresser, Jim Black, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Joe Morris, Meg Stuart, Vera Mantero, and Gaya de Medeiros. He has performed on stages such as The Public Theatre (USA), Jazzahead (Germany), 12 Points Festival (Ireland), Europe Jazz Conference (Portugal), Saalfelden Jazz Festival (Austria), Ljubljana Jazz Festival (Slovenia), Suoni Per Il Popolo (Canada), Südtirol Jazz Festival (Italy), and Jazz em Agosto (Portugal).

Born in Porto in 1991, Pedro Melo Alves studied Jazz Drums (ESMAE, Porto, 2011), Jazz and Classical Piano (ESTAL, Lisbon, 2014) and Musical Composition (ESML, Lisbon, 2015). He leads and composes for projects such as his Omniae Large Ensemble, The Rite of Trio and In Igma. He was artist-in-residence at Galeria Zé dos Bois with the improvisation cycle Conundrum, plays in percussion duos with João Pais Filipe or Pedro Carneiro, and is part of several internationally active projects such as HIIT with Andrea Grossi and Simone Quatrana, Luís Vicente Trio, Alma Tree with Ra Kalam Bob Moses and Vasco Trilla, Surma and Memória de Peixe.

In parallel, Pedro composes for theatre, dance, cinema, classical music commissions and has curated music cycles at Água Ardente (Lisbon).