If anyone thought Dua Lipa only knew how to rack up number one hits, they haven't been paying attention to her life offstage. The British star has proven to be an avid reader, transforming her passion into something tangible that goes far beyond a simple social media recommendation. Following the success of her platform Service95, the singer has decided to take a giant leap forward... open your own physical library in the emblematic city of Porto, a place that already breathes literature from all sides.
This new cultural haven, named the Manifesto Library, is neither your typical bookstore nor a space designed solely for taking pretty pictures. It's a full-fledged declaration of intent, a collaboration with the historic Lello Bookstore that seeks to focus on censorship and freedom of expression. At a time when access to certain stories seems to be under scrutiny in various parts of the world, the artist proposes a refuge for those stories that some sectors have tried to silence or hide from public view.
A space with history and cutting-edge architecture
The chosen location couldn't be more special, as the library is located inside the new cultural auditorium of the Lello Bookstore, a building that is UNESCO World Heritage Site and which attracts thousands of visitors each year with its impressive neo-Gothic style. To give a touch of modernity to this classic setting, the space was designed by Álvaro Siza, winner of the prestigious Pritzker Prize, who has managed to create an atmosphere that invites reflection and tranquility while browsing pages that, in their day, were considered dangerous by the established powers.
It's no small feat for a pop star to get involved in cultural management at this level, but Dua Lipa seems to have found the ideal setting in Porto for to materialize their editorial visionThe project officially opened at the end of June, coinciding with the BABELL – City of Books international festival, and has even featured renowned authors who have personally experienced the effects of the literary censorship. Visiting it costs approximately 16 euros, which is the general admission price to the bookstore, and grants access to this sanctuary where critical thinking reigns supreme.
Since founding her book club in 2022, the singer has built a community of over half a million followers who eagerly await her monthly recommendations. Now, that community has a permanent physical location where they can meet. around 5.000 copies of one hundred titles that the artist herself considers fundamental to understanding the conflicts and hopes of the world today. It is, in essence, the logical evolution of a platform that began as a digital newsletter and now has its own walls and shelves.
The proposal eschews commercialism to focus on what the organization calls "books that challenge dominant narratives." In this sense, the library functions as a a voice for marginalized voices due to issues of gender, race, or identity. The idea is that readers not only turn the pages, but also question why certain texts make control structures so uncomfortable, transforming the act of reading into something that, according to Dua Lipa herself, can be truly subversive.
Four key points for understanding literary resistance
The organization of the Manifesto Library does not follow the traditional alphabetical order, but rather is structured around four conceptual axes that help classify the impact of the works: Power, Control, Voice, and Memory. In the section dedicated to The ability to This section groups together texts that directly question who is in charge and under what authority social norms are defined. On the other hand, the section on Control It explores how technology, surveillance, and propaganda shape our thinking without us even realizing it.
The category of Voz It is perhaps the most moving, as it recovers stories from groups historically silenced or excluded from public discourse. Here, literature serves to to regain narrative authority of those who were never allowed to tell their own story. Finally, the core of the Conference proceedings It is responsible for safeguarding chronicles and testimonies that are at risk of being erased or rewritten by authoritarian regimes, wars, or collective traumas that have marked the history of different nations.
Among the 100 selected titles are names that are familiar to everyone, but which we often forget have been persecuted. Masterpieces like Gabriel García Márquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' which has been banned in school districts in the United States, or George Orwell's '1984,' are alongside contemporary texts like Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale.' The selection makes it clear that Censorship is not a thing of the pastbut a very present reality that affects both universal classics and new voices in LGBTQIA+ literature.
It is striking to see how books like 'Fahrenheit 451', which specifically criticizes book burning, have ended up being restricted in public libraries from countries that consider themselves democratic. This irony is what Dua Lipa is trying to combat, offering a space where these titles are not only available, but celebrated for their courage. Ultimately, it's about each visitor deciding for themselves what should be on a bookshelf and what questions they want to ask themselves after finishing each chapter.
The global context of a necessary project
The creation of this literary sanctuary is not the whim of a celebrity with time on their hands, but a direct response to some rather alarming statistics. In 2023 alone, more than 4.000 cases of books being removed from schools in the United States were recorded—a frightening figure that appears to be on the rise. In other countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Lebanon, legislation remains in place. criminalizing materials critical of the governmentThis demonstrates that the fight for freedom of speech is a global battle that has not yet been won.
Even established authors like Salman Rushdie and Olga Tokarczuk are part of this catalog of resistance. For Francisca Pedro Pinto, brand manager at Librería Lello, this project is vital because what's at stake is not only the future of reading, but the society's capacity to imagineIf we limit what we can read, we limit our ability to build a different future, and that is where the Manifesto Library wants to stand up peacefully but forcefully.
The singer's influence in this field will soon extend to the London Literature Festival, where she will serve as curator. It seems Dua Lipa has taken her role very seriously. bridge between popular culture and intellectualismShe has proven that one can be a pop diva and, at the same time, a committed activist defending authors who risk everything for their words. In Porto, her library has already become a pilgrimage site for those who believe that reading is, in itself, an act of freedom.
This literary haven offers a complete experience that blends intellectual debate with moments of relaxation, even organizing Portuguese wine tastings to accompany the book discussions. It's not just about browsing banned books; it's create a vibrant community Let him dare to speak about what others want to keep silent. After all, as the project description rightly states, removing a book from a library is never an innocent act, and having them all together in one place is the best way to protect our collective memory.
More than just a collection of titles
Upon entering the rooms designed by Siza, visitors encounter stories ranging from institutional racism in the American South to the most stark technological dystopias. What unites all these works, according to the organizers, is their ability to not be forgottenEach of the 5.000 available copies is a small victory against oblivion and an invitation to discover worlds that some would prefer to remain invisible to the general public, especially to the younger fans of the artist.
To complete the circle of this initiative, it is clear that the Manifesto Library is the result of years of work by the British singer to consolidate its more humanistic sidePorto now boasts a beacon of intellectual freedom, reminding us that the most powerful stories are often those that someone tried to silence at some point in history. It's a meeting place where the most mischievous and rebellious thing one can do is simply choose a book from the shelf, sit down to read it, and then share what one has learned with others without fear of reprisal.
