"GRAY HERONS." AT FAZUNCHAR FESTIVAL, PORTUGAL

About the slow life, LONG travels and teamwork.
FOZ DE ALGE, PORTUGAL. 2022

August, vacations, trips, movement...

On the 13rd of this month I arrived driving from Madrid, together with Isabel, to Figueiró dos Vinhos. A small special village of white houses and red roofs in the center and deep Portugal. Surrounded by old and few pine forests that have been giving way to the well-known blue-leaved eucalyptus trees that mark the landscape like brush strokes.
This time we were traveling to participate in the Fazunchar (To do in Portuguese) art festival, curated and managed by Mistaker Maker. “Onde a Arte faz a festa”.
We spent 10 days there, where the pause, the art, the people and the well-doing were the axes on which we moved. And good fish, by the way.

During the first two days we dedicated ourselves to getting to know the place, getting to know each other and enjoying the landscapes, culture and community that surrounds Figueiro dos Vinhos. Cold baths, landscapes, walks, food, music and meetings. All this forged the basis of what would later happen during the festival.

On the third day we started to work. My wall was located a few kilometers away, in a somewhat smaller village called Foz de Alge and next to the riverbed of two rivers that met. A place of passage, bathing, sun and vegetation. A very small town with well-kept orchards, some tractors, cats and lots of grapes. And a small bar.

A long wall, not very high, with good views and lots of sun
A theme: movement and teamwork.

After 5 days of painting, lots of sunscreen, sundowners and some Portuguese food, we were done.
The animal chosen for this work was the Gray Heron. A bird that travels thousands of kilometers each year, from south to north and from north to south, linking Africa and Europe.
We chose it since one of its many stops along the way is in Foz de Alge and its lands bathed by rivers. Here they rest, replenish their strength and continue with the journey, always in a group.

"Flying far is complicated and doing it alone is almost impossible.
Traveling without stopping, without stopping, makes no sense. Gray herons fly long distances, thousands of kilometers each year. From south to north and from north to south.¡
They stop in wet areas to rest, such as Foz de Alge, and start their journey again. Always in company, always with someone. Instinct helps us to be and to be, it pushes us. But there is always someone, something that stops us and places us. What gives us that pause and time, and then continue.”

“Fazunchar is a slow journey, a team journey."

Tremendously grateful for having participated in Fazunchar 2022. Special thanks to Lara, Duarte and Bea for making everything so well and so easy.
It was a pleasure to share these 10 days in Figueiro dos Vinhos with such great people.

Photographs by Miguel Oliveira