The Coliseu do Porto in the Posters of Cruz Caldas. Fragments of an Imaginary City

Abstract

The preliminary study outlined in this paper contributes to a broader project undertaken by Passeio (Platform for Urban Art and Culture of the Communication and Society Research Centre/University of Minho; https://www.passeio.pt), which connects memory, visual culture (graphic design and outdoor advertising) and urban space. For this particular work, we have selected a sample of 39 graphical objects (predominantly posters, but also programmes and illustrations) designed by the publicist António Cruz Caldas (1898–1975) for the Coliseu do Porto from 1941 to 1969. Based on this corpus, we propose to prompt a discussion on the cultural dimension of advertising, reinterpret the memory value of the archive document, create new representations of the imagined city encapsulated in these documents, and, ultimately, challenge the contemporary role of the poster in an era marked by hyperstimulation. The analysis of the selected sample draws upon the classification suggested by Abraham Moles (1969/1987), specifically focusing on "information", "seduction", "education", "aesthetics", and "creation". Comparing the initial objectives with the conducted analysis, we can conclude that the posters created by Cruz Caldas with an originally effective purpose (to promote the cultural events at the Coliseu do Porto) simultaneously condense an aesthetic current (modernism), an individual expression and a representation, at once real and imaginary, of the city's cultural life, thus mirroring the cultural dimension of advertising. Bringing these documents into the present unveils not just their formal and content-related value but also transforms them into instruments for questioning contemporary practices. By immersing us in the city's daily life as depicted by Caldas, the advertising poster prompts us to reconstruct and fictionalise the urban space. Moreover, these examples demonstrate a convergence of diverse artistic talents (showcasing manual skills, adeptness in drawing, influences from illustration, and geometric concepts of movement and spatiality). This amalgamation emphasises their status as works of art, prompting contemplation on the transient nature of the poster today and sparking speculation about how their memory will endure in the future amid the volatility of current media.