Born in Funchal, Silvestre Pestana (1949–) is a poet, visual artist and performance artist. He holds a degree in Graphic Arts and Design from ESBAP and a Master’s degree in Art and Design Education from De Montfort University. He has been recognised since the 1960s for his pioneering use of video, installation and experimental poetry, exploring the intersection between art, the body and technology. Returning to Portugal in 1974 after several years in political exile in Sweden, he developed a unique visual grammar that frames the human body as part of a social, ideological and technological circuit. His politically charged performances, collages and photographs from the 1970s and 1980s use his own body to activate linguistic and non-linguistic codes, transforming poetry into a spatial and choreographic practice. Despite his long career, his first major retrospective exhibition took place in 2016 at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art.