Between March and May 2024, I was part of and co-created the project Artista na Comunidade, in the area of Mértola (southern Portugal), in collaboration with the cultural organisation boa CRIAÇÃO. The main goal of the three-month residency was to develop various artistic activities in the area, establishing connections between the local community and contemporary creation. Based on the valorisation and the contact with the place, the local population, its history, traditions and cultural characteristics, the project aimed to exchange experiences and ways of life, thus promoting mutual awareness and sensitisation. The project was supported by Câmara Municipal de Mértola.
activities / projects
Retrospective reflections on the project
My stay in Mértola, the collaboration with the cultural organisation boa CRIAÇÃO and the focus of the project arose as a result of a reflective phase on a personal and professional level. The questioning of the dynamics in the music scene/market of which I am a part, and doubts concerning, among other things, the belonging to a place and my role in it, triggered in me an urgency for change and re-orientation. On this basis, I engaged in this experiment in the Alentejo region, directing my artistic research towards an unusual context and aiming for a direct relationship with the circumjacent characteristics.
When I arrived in Mértola, I had drawn up a vague plan of activities, but I didn’t know what I was in for. I was amazed not only by the beauty and diversity of the terrain and the welcoming and communal attitude of the people I met, but also by the depth of the Alentejo and the Alentejanos – which I knew about but had never experienced with such closeness and intensity. I experienced that there is an intimate relationship with the territory, with memory and tradition, which gives rise to an extraordinary sense of identity, so different from the restless and ephemeral world I am used to and dependent on.
In this sense, and with some distance after the completion of the project, I consider it a great success, above all because of the effect of mutual sensitisation and dynamisation. It is moving to see what can emerge through collaborative energy, through observation, listening, absorbing, in short, through total dedication to the relationship with the Other.
There is also a voice that questions this intervention. It was an extremely brief contact, seemingly just a touch on the surface – how realistic and feasible is this attempt to bring together these two contrasting worlds? To what extent was it really an additional benefit for the Community or just a stimulating project for me? In any case, I believe that it is the genuine motivation and commitment that may have left a mark on a deeper level, which is what ultimately motivates me to continue.
Finally, it is a privilege to be able to act and reflect freely on such matters, which is why I try to assume a posture of gratitude and progressive energy.
My special thanks go to:
Rita Sales; Pedro Bravo; Rosinda Pimenta e Câmara Municipal de Mértola; Lígia Rafael e Museu de Mértola – Cláudio Torres; Grupo Coral da Mina de São Domingos e Reinaldo Seno, Zé Brás e Zé Parrinha; Grupo Coral Guadiana de Mértola e Jorge Salvadinha; Grupo Coral de São João dos Caldeireiros; Paróquia de Mértola; Jan Michálek; André Carvalho; Susel Gaspar; Guilhermina Bento; Adriana Gil; Hiroatsu Suzuki; Cina Tanzarella.
– July 2024
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Photo by Cina Tanzarella
SAMUEL GAPP 