The Academy of
Interdisciplinary Success
A Community of Makers
The academy of interdisciplinary success offers a unique opportunity to experience and enhance your personal skills and discover your talents, while relaxing and meeting new people. We believe that art and thinking are methods of self-empowerment.
We offer courses by experienced artists and professionals from all fields of art and life who share this view.
The academy is a vault for the knowledge gathered during collective experiences, which has generated a network of dedicated artists that spreads over 5 continents. Together, we strive to expand and preserve a shared knowledge that derives from many independent projects we have organized together over the last few decades.
We are not a regular school, and we have no fixed curriculum. As such, we do not require any prequalifications. We believe that every human has a creative mind, and we specialize in activating these hidden energies. We call it “yoga for the mind”.
Unlike other remote rural retreats, we are situated in a historical 16th-century palace on the main square of the town of Beja.
Our cozy rooms and spacious communal spaces are designed for you to feel at home. Our walled Andalusian garden provides peace and quiet, which will make you forget that you are staying in the very centre of the provincial capital of South Alentejo.
Creative Program
Visiting professors Fall 2026
Michael and Samantha Steiner, from Zurich
Visiting professors Fall 2026
Valério Romão, writer and playwright, from Lisbon.
Meet the People Behind the Academy
Beja-Vu is shaped by a changing community of artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, performers and creative thinkers from across Europe. Some return every year. Others join us for a single workshop, residency or special event.
Together, they bring a wide range of perspectives, disciplines and experiences into the house.
Rather than traditional teachers, think of them as practitioners, people actively creating, experimenting and sharing their work with others. Every workshop is different because every artist brings their own process, personality and way of seeing the world.
Mark Divo
Founder
Beja is an important historical city, and behind the crumbling faces of the buildings, many a historic gem is hiding. We will take our students for a walk through the old town to discover the remnants of the different civilizations that passed through Beja. We will encounter Romans, Visigoths, and Almohads. After the walk, we will take a look at a collection of historical artefacts housed in the collection of the academy.
Valério Romão
Writer and playwright
Valério Romão is a writer and playwright, having published several novels, collections of short stories, and plays, as well as a book of poetry. Valério will host a creative writing workshop at the academy on the weekend of the 12th/13th of September. Based on the analysis of a short story by Cortázar (The House Taken Over), the reader/participant is invited to reflect on the surrounding space, specifically the residence where the workshop takes place, and to suggest either a continuation of Cortázar's text or a transposition of the theme to the building of the residence and its surroundings.
Thomas Haemmerli
Author, filmmaker, and political activist
An acclaimed author, filmmaker, and political activist, Thomas Haemmerli has received national and international praise for his documentary films. His voting advice platform, votez.ch, serves as an influential tool for shaping public opinion and safeguarding democracy in Switzerland. At the Academy of Interdisciplinary Success, Haemmerli will host a workshop demonstrating how to produce a successful documentary using only a mobile phone.
San Keller
Performance artist
San Keller is one of the best-known performance artists in Switzerland. He has shown his work in coutlaêss exhibitions in Museums and galleries all over the world. San is known for his performances that involve the audience and the unsuspecting public. Currently, he is the head of BA K++V at the prestigious Lucerne art school HGL.San Keller will perform a workshop in Beja, where participants will create a self-portrait. These pictures will be exhibited at the Academy of Interdisciplinary Success and will form the backbone of the portrait gallery at Beja vu.
Michael Steiner
Film director
Michael Steiner is Switzerland's best-known and most successful film director. He has directed numerous feature films, documentaries, and TV series. Among his vast catalogue of work, Sennentuntschi and Grounding stand out. The horror-thriller Sennentuntschi is one of the most commercially successful Swiss films ever made, while Grounding is an award-winning semi-documentary about the collapse of the national carrier, Swissair. Steiner, a master coordinator, will host a cooking workshop alongside his wife, Samantha, featuring celebrity Mexican chef Carlos. Participants will learn the secrets of fine dining and how to master the art of making tortillas.
Piers Landseer
Czech British theatre director
Czech British theatre director Piers Landseer has organised countless projects all over Europe. His irresistible charm lets him direct amateurs and professionals in a unique way, bringing out the best of all participants. Piers hosts the Landseer Summer School at Narrow Water Castle. At the academy of interdisciplinary success, participants will be offered the possibility of being part of one of Piers' pieces. During one week, we will write, rehearse, and successfully execute a theatre piece that will be shown to the public in the house at the end of the workshop.
Louis Armand
Science fiction writer and art activist
Louis Armand is a prolific science fiction writer and art activist from Prague. He has published and authored countless books and is ordained as a professor at Charles University in Prague. His expertise and wide knowledge of the European subculture movements after the fall of the Berlin Wall have made his lectures at the Prague University one of the most frequented and popular courses among international and Czech students. Armand will talk about his upcoming books and how his string of events with the title " Talk Like an Alien " became a success within the expat art scene in Prague and inspired others to follow in his footsteps.
Ajana Calugar
Performance artist
Ajana Calugar has organized countless performances and art actions in Zürich. She was also part of the legendary squatting of the Cabaret Voltaire in 2002, which forced the city of Zürich to fund yet another boring museum dedicated to Dadaism. Her talent show, "Chaos Stage," is legendary, attracting a large and ever-growing audience. Her magical stage presence inspires even the most introverted people to showcase their talents in front of a packed room. At the academy of interdisciplinary success, she will host a workshop enabling participants to become successful performers.
Teresa Pereira
Visual Artist
Teresa Pereira is a visual artist born in the Azores and living in Zürich since 1989. Over the years, she has developed her unique style, combining painting with installations. In sculpture, she uses ephemeral materials with which she creates magical spaces with a minimum use of materials and effort. Her latest show at Archipelago, an arts centre in Ribeira Grande in the Azores, was met with great interest. Teresa will present her ongoing sketching project at the Academy of Interdisciplinary Success. During this course, students will learn how to combine realistic scenes of life with abstract forms.
Information for teachers.
The principle is simple: an artist comes and gives a course.
If guests register for this, the artist in charge of the workshop will receive 15% of the income we generate from the participants that the artist invites. The course can last from two days to a week.
We can accommodate approximately 10-14 course participants.
Accommodation options range from a simple mattress on the floor to luxurious suites with 5-meter-high ceilings, covered in frescoes.