Work · installation
Unloop Collective
Unloop Collective: a collective by David Negrão and Sara Montalvão bringing dance, visual art and technology together in interactive performances. Its latest project is Rhîza (2026).
Unloop Collective was born in 2020 from the collaboration between visual artist David Negrão and dancer and choreographer Sara Montalvão. It brings dance, visual art and technology together, starting from interactivity to create game-like performances where audience and performers meet.
Memory, personal and collective, is the thread running through the projects: how it turns into visual signs, physical states and sound textures. Each project carries on the research of the one before and stays open to new versions, venues and partnerships.
The latest project is Rhîza, an interactive installation that brings body, sound, image and technology together with research in mycology and neuroscience from the University of Coimbra. It opened on 18 July 2026 in the Sala Sentina at Convento São Francisco, Coimbra, as part of Festival Dar a Ouvir, with an opening performance, and ran until 6 September.
- Year
- 2020–26
- Place
- Portugal
- Collaborators
- Sara Montalvão
- Role
- Co-founder and artistic direction · visual art and coding
- Credits
- Rhîza: created by Unloop Collective (Sara Montalvão & David Negrão) · sound Fernando Mota · scientific collaboration CNC – University of Coimbra · photography João Duarte
Rhîza · 2026
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Gallery
Timeline
- 2020
LOOP MENTAL ↗
An interactive dance film made during the first lockdown: the viewer's choices guide the path through body and image. Now also an installation.
- 2021
UNLOOP
The move to live performance: a game between performers and audience, created in residencies in Alentejo, with sound by Sérgio Walgood. It gave the collective its name.
- 2022
BIOLOOP ↗
Research with biosensors (EEG, heart rate, galvanic sensors) towards memory-driven game devices.
- 2024
RELOOP
An interactive solo performance at Artemis Gallery, Lisbon: memory translated into movement.
- 2026
RHÎZA
An interactive installation with mycology and neuroscience research from the University of Coimbra. Convento São Francisco, Coimbra.