Welcome.I'm a Creative Director. Plenty of other things, too.
I care about art, media, and brand strategy.I am the founder of Big Lisbon, Boxing Lisboa, and chumbo.Read more, or talk to me.Bissau, Praia, Lisbon, Macau, Hong Kong, Bangkok, London, Chicago, Amsterdam, Tunis, Brussels, Paris, Casablanca, Milan, Bujumbura - these are places I have lived in, been to, and would like to see again.I am now thinking mostly about games, synthetic biology, and ethics in the 21st century.You can read my newsletter at The Blind Machine.Thank you for being here.
FAQ — Yuri Lopes PereiraWho is Yuri Lopes Pereira?
Yuri Lopes Pereira is a Creative Director and writer working at the intersection of software studies, brand strategy, and contemporary art. He leads projects that bridge image, text, and politics, collaborating with artists, institutions, and companies across Lisbon, Brussels, Macau, Amsterdam, and beyond.What does Yuri Lopes Pereira specialize in?
Yuri Lopes Pereira specializes in creative direction, editorial strategy, and cultural innovation:
• Contemporary art — curating and producing exhibitions, books, and digital projects
• Brand strategy — shaping identities and narratives for organizations in Europe and the Global South
• Thought leadership — developing high-impact editorial platforms and speaking at international eventsWhat kind of projects has Yuri Lopes Pereira worked on?
He has led projects in:
• Art & publishing: founding chumbo and publishing award-winning works like PUNCH - a visual story, by German photographer Jurgen Burgin
• Technology & advocacy: building thought leadership programs for Usercentrics, and managing editorial strategy at EPWS
• Communications: directing brand, design, and multimedia campaigns in real estate, HR, and mediaWhat makes Yuri Lopes Pereira’s approach unique?
Yuri’s practice combines cultural depth with strategic clarity. He draws on:
• A background in communications and media studies
• Hands-on experience in gallery curation and publishing
• Proven success in corporate strategy, digital design, and storytellingHas Yuri Lopes Pereira's work been recognized internationally?
Yes. His projects have been presented in Lisbon, Brussels, Berlin, Chicago, and Macau. His publishing work received an Honorable Mention at the International Photography Awards 2023. He has also spoken internationally on privacy, technology, and culture.Does Yuri collaborate with institutions and companies?
Yes. Yuri has worked with:
• Institutions: EuropeanPlatform of Women Scientists, Radio Panik, and BBC Brussels, to name a few
• Companies: Usercentrics, RE/MAX, Brain Power, Big Lisbon
• Artists & collectives: creators from Europe, Africa, and the AmericasWhat is chumbo?
chumbo is a contemporary art platform founded and directed by Yuri Lopes Pereira. It began as a physical gallery in Lisbon and has since evolved into a hybrid space — combining digital curation, publishing, and speculative cultural strategy. chumbo works closely with emerging and established artists, with a focus on the Global South and Europe.What is Yuri’s connection to writing?
Yuri Lopes Pereira is the author of The Blind Machine , a newsletter where he explores media trends, aesthetics, and technology in lyrical and critical essays. His writing is marked by a cinematic style, blending theory with atmosphere, and has become a central part of his creative practice.Does Yuri Lopes Pereira give talks or workshops?
Yes. Yuri regularly gives talks, lectures, and workshops on topics including privacy, brand strategy, contemporary art, and the future of media. His approach blends deep theoretical insight with practical examples, making him a sought-after speaker for both corporate audiences and cultural institutions.Where is Yuri Lopes Pereira based?
Yuri splits his time between Lisbon and Brussels, with strong ties to Macau and other international hubs. This mobility shapes his global perspective.How can I work with Yuri Lopes Pereira?
You can connect through yurilopespereira.comYuri Lopes Pereira collaborates on:
• Creative direction for cultural and corporate projects
• Brand and editorial strategy
• Art curation and publishing
• Speaking, writing, and consulting
WORK
chumbo is a contemporary art gallery.It hosts and supports projects in Photography, Video, Painting, Performance, Music, and Software.
The European Platform of Women Scientists is a non-profit organisation that represents the needs and aspirations of more than 12.000 women scientists in Europe and beyond.
Big Lisbon offers bespoke services in brand strategy and cultural research.The world is huge.
Boxing Lisboa documents the practice of Boxing through event production and book publishing.
PORTFOLIO
ERSATZ is a year-long art project that explores the creative potential of the ideas of replacement and simulation in contemporary societies.It challenges the concept of authenticity in an age of endless mechanical and digital reproduction, biological simulation, distributed and chaotic identity formation.
FAULT / FALHA is a creative project that explores the fragmentation and discontinuity of space, discourse, culture, and community — everywhere in the world.I curated the full project from 2021 to 2023. We ran an international Open Call and hosted a series of Exhibitions with featured artists at chumbo.
"What does the internet sound like?" was an Open Call for sound art. I curated the call for stress.fm, a digital radio station based in Lisbon.***While we speak of clouds and are invisibly linked to them, a vast and heavy infrastructure is needed to support the internet: from transoceanic submarine cables to large data centers on the edge of town, from servers and robots to call center and factory workers. Global capitalism makes noise.When so many of the world’s decision processes are hidden from view, or recombined and filtered through the 24-hour news cycle, what is the role of sound in understanding contemporary politics?How can we decipher, reveal, or keep the world’s secrets by listening to its digital communication system?Computers talk to each other all the time, in code and in voltage, almost telepathically and at the speed of light. This is a conversation that excludes those of us unable to read between the lines or who are deaf to this soft music. To live in the world today is to be surrounded by a constant humming, the body electric, the senses extended and transformed by all that we own, all that we have built. We live inside the machines.What does it sound like?
Between June and September 2017, I curated a series of talks in Lisbon called #micronetworks.This was a public conversation about the future of networked communication - focusing on the way that blockchains, cryptocurrencies, tokens and their resulting networks of interest and investment represent the beginning of a new conversation about information architectures.
PUNCH is a photography book by Jürgen Bürgin. It's an intimate and revealing journey into the world of boxing in New York, Berlin and Lisbon.The book is an immersive and dark visual narrative that follows boxing fighters and clubs from the training and preparation phase to the thrill of the fight, and the moment of victory. A dramatic, evocative and emotional look into the vivid details of a classic sport with a universal influence on popular culture.Published by chumbo, 2022
128 pages, including a booklet.
Hardcover 30 x 25 cm / English
Boxing Lisboa: Archive is a photography book by Gustavo Lopes Pereira. It documents the Olympic Boxing scene in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area between 2015 and 2017.It's the first book of photographic and artistic documentation of Boxing in Portugal.Published by Boxing Lisboa, 2022
154 pages
Softcover Magazine 22 x 28,5 cm / English & Portuguese
Since 1997 - between Macau, Brussels, Chicago, Amsterdam, and Lisbon - I've been a musician, producer, manager, agent, promoter, and record label owner.
SELECTED WORKS
"Boxing Lisboa 2023" - Live show, Lisbon, 2023M.I.G. 27 "Neverlands" - CD and digital release, Amsterdam, 2008Reminder "Headlines" - DVD and digital release, Lisbon, 2004La Haine "SÃndrome Colonial" - Vinyl, 7", EP, 33 â…“ RPM, Limited Orange Edition, Macau and Strasbourg, 1997
I started working in radio at 15, in Macau. Hosting shows, designing soundscapes and practicing the lost art of listening carefully.In Brussels, I produced a show on Radio Panik. It got picked up by a couple of other stations and the Radia European network.Back in Lisbon, in 2013, I co-founded a digital radio station called stress.fm The current podcast wave is long and will continue to transform radio. I now host and produce various podcasts, for fun and work.
Radio Panik 105.4 FM / Brussels2009 - 2013
The Complex Days
A podcast about the fragmentation of space, culture, and community.Artists and academics discuss technological and social fractures in societies all over the world.
A podcast about love and relationships, trials and tribulations, humanity and all our lives.A Big Lisbon production.
Producing and directing moving images is both a passion and a vocation.
"À frente do tempo" ( Ahead of time ) is a 2023 short film about Time Banks. It was commissioned for the 20th anniversary of the network in Portugal. I co-directed it.
"Headlines" is a 2004 short film about hypermedia and cybernetics. It was written and produced by REMINDER, a creative collective based in Lisbon and Amsterdam.
I write newsletters, book chapters, and non-fiction articles.
SELECTED WORKS
The Blind Machine - Newsletter about business, culture, and technologyAfter attention: trust in the age of digital abundance - On the emergence of a new digital trust economy, 2025What is privacy? Rights, needs, and strategic choices - On the intersection of technology and consumer expectations, 2025The networked shape of future audio - On the trends shaping the contemporary radio industry, 20235 Teses sobre o Boxe / 5 Statements about Boxing - Boxing Lisboa: Arquivo/Archive, 2022The Internet of Kings - On techno-feudalism and global digital platforms, 2016How to talk like a machine - On how to impersonate digital systems in fiction and the real world, 2016Luz e Sangue - On biotechnology and pandemics, 2014
I consult with people, businesses, and institutions about their creative strategies.I lead multidisciplinary teams across different networks and sectors: European science, technology, real estate, human resources, finance, and contemporary art.
I speak with audiences about the links between culture, technology, and everyday life. Together, we explore how they intersect and impact one another across the world.Talk to me about informal discussions, structured talks, and collaborative workshops.