Artivism was a path that imposed itself on my life. In 2011 I was diagnosed hiv+, which deepened a healing journey and also created an expansion in my professional path. Art and dance have been valuable ways to re-signify this journey. Being able to assume my health condition and activism, helped me to integrate the experience of coexistence with the virus and became a way to transform this challenge into a resource, to transform my vulnerability into strength, for myself and others.

My focus of action intertwines the theme of hiv, the virus as a metaphor & social transformation, and the importance of accepting and valuing difference. In my work, I not only defend the cause of hiv/aids, I defend women's rights and human rights.

What moves me is the construction of a space of diversity, through the dissolution of oppression, rejection, guilt, moralism, denial of pleasure and invisibility associated with certain bodies and experiences of the world.

I believe that only closeness and dialogue can dismantle fear and prejudice. Therefore, the vision of inclusion that I believe in goes beyond the “ghettos” that inclusive projects often become. What I propose is working with truly diverse groups, bringing the general public together with marginalized communities, believing that this is the only way to stimulate empathy. I believe in the creative process in dance as a very important context to develop this work, since, many times, there are certain attitudes that are not yet conscious, but already arise through our bodies in movement. Therefore, I defend the potential of the creative process in dance to build a world more receptive to differences.

VIRAL Collective

Founded by Teresa Fabião, Paula Lovely/ Paolo Gorgoni and Luca Modesti, VIRAL is the first artivist collective in Portugal around the theme of HIV/AIDS. VIRAL celebrates the visibility -and reclaim the centrality- of people living with HIV and reshape the collective imagery around HIV/AIDS through the arts.
publico.pt

Workshops
Art for Diversity

Workshops that bridge movement, expressive arts, body awareness and self-care practices. For the general public, different marginalized communities, rehabilitation contexts, community organizations, mental health centers, nursing homes, medical institutions, among others.

Urban Interventions

Performance flashmobs, community dance & other formats.

In this video, the Planetary Dance, community ritual held for 40 people in Spain.

Interview RTP3

Launch of IMUNE, a community project on the virus as an engine of social transformation.

Interview SIC

Participation in the program Curto Circuito presenting the community project IMUNE.

Interview Generador

Interview for the main cultural media in Portugal about Teresa's activism and the premiere of the UNA performance.
generator.eu

Conversation
"Community and Immunity:
the virus is innocent"

Moderated by actor and playwriter Ronaldo Serruya, talks in the context of the Cycle +positHIVe, a project by the Digital Museum of Contemporary Art ´Vozes Diversas´.
instagram.com

Lecture at the Seres Vulneráveis
event at MAAT/Lisbon

In a program organized by Andrea Bagnato and Ivan L. Munuera, several artists and activists come together to contextualize and question the material, political and performative transformations emphasized by the pandemic.
youtube.com

Roundtable
"Letters to tear down walls"

Conversation about the crossroads between art & hiv, with Lucas Koester (org), Carué Contreiras, Franco Fonseca and Teresa Fabião, moderated by Dadado de Freitas and Ronaldo Serruya.

Cocktail with Them

Talk about Teresa´s path as a woman artist living with hiv, moderated by Vanessa Campos and Rafuska Queiroz.

Feminist Talks on Sexualities

Organized by Gentopia - Association for Diversity and Gender Equality, Conceição Nogueira (moderation), with Carmo Gê Pereira, Teresa Fabião, Cristina Mesquita de Oliveira and Dani Bento.

A conversation about Pleasure's decolonization, about unlearning, re-learning, about how to keep Pleasure on the path of activism.
@gentopia.adig

Newspaper Article in Jornal Público

Learn a little about Teresa's journey, her healing journey with hiv and her first steps in activism.
publico.pt

Campaigns

Different contents around activism, education for citizenship and preventive health, focused on the theme of HIV/AIDS.

#ConMasAmorQueMiedos
/Spain

Get to know some issues related to the experience of women living with hiv.
mujeresvihvas.org

Lecture for Doctors

“Medicine in the First Person” (Minho University)
med.uminho.pt

Training for Young People

“Sex without Prejudice” Rede Ex-Aequo