Aleksandra Stokowiec, Author at Atlas Lisboa

Flour, Water, and Salt: the Best Sourdough Bread in Lisbon

March 1, 2019

Italians like to tell an anecdote about a baker’s helper who, apparently suffering from a drinking problem, arrived to work with a bottle of beer and accidentally poured a drop of alcohol into the dough. The consequences couldn’t go unnoticed: loaves came out wonderfully big and plump. Since the chief baker wanted to know what […]

Defeated by Life: José Maria Eça de Quieróz

February 20, 2019

By 1863, Eça had become a member of a local Boheme and, influenced by new friendships, discovered the pleasures of exotic food and sophisticated clothing, started wearing a monocle, ceased to believe in God, and declared himself a romantic.

Food, Kittens, and Cuteness: Q & A with Abacaxi Lab

November 30, 2018

The duo behind Abacaxi Lab are two fabulous ladies: Aleksandra “Laura” Schedler and Vanda Aragão. As brave and colorful as their art, they talked with Atlas just before the opening of their first exhibition, sharing stories about their travels, inspirations, and hopes for the future. Let’s start at the beginning. What’s the origin story of […]

The Mischievous Storyteller: Paula Rego

October 23, 2018

In a well-lit room, a man sits on the edge of a bed. Around him, two women — daughter and wife — struggle to pull a jacket over his inert body. By a window, another child stands, with hands folded as if for prayer and her gaze fixed somewhere outside the canvas. In the background, […]

Flowers are her best lovers: Q&A with Weronika Anna Rosa

September 19, 2018

Polish artist Weronika Anna Rosa came to Lisbon and fell in love at first sight. When she moved here for good, the city’s light and colors — and the country’s azulejos — would shape her paintings as well. Atlas sat down for a chat.

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The Silent Lady: Maria Helena Vieira da Silva

September 11, 2018

When rebuked about not talking enough about her work, the modernist painter Vieira da Silva once retorted: “And what does one paint for? Isn’t it to make the canvas speak? The painter’s language is the paintings themselves!”

The Eccentric Englishwoman: Guilhermina Suggia

September 4, 2018

In her hometown, Porto, the cellist Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medin Suggia was affectionately known as “the eccentric Englishwoman.” This nickname, earned by someone who was, in fact, flesh-and-blood Portuguese, reflects the extent Suggia was ahead of her times — as a cellist and as a woman.