Inaugurated on August 10, 2015, the exhibition Digital Imprint in Terras de Coura was promoted by the Municipality of Paredes de Coura and is on display at the local Regional Museum. It offers a perspective on the territory, landscape, and life in Paredes de Coura over recent decades.
THE EXHIBITION
The films we made, the photographs, and the texts by Cláudia Freire tell personal stories, evoking past and present experiences as well as future paths. Through many voices, the stories are diverse, coexisting and intersecting in the same timeframe, where each generation always brings something new, leaving its own “digital imprint.”
A collection of texts, photographs, documents, objects, and films are interwoven and complement each other, with the visitor invited to choose what to see and hear according to their interests and personal references, making connections as they see fit.
Filled with stories, objects from the past and present sit side by side, evoking either continuity or change.
The project benefited from the support of anthropologist Benjamim Pereira, who conducted fieldwork in the region during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
Several of the places studied and documented by Benjamim Pereira and Ernesto Veiga de Oliveira—founding members of the National Museum of Ethnology—were revisited. Ethnological study records from the Center for Ethnology Studies relating to some of these places are displayed alongside present-day records.
A noteworthy museographic choice is the use of installations in strategic locations within the exhibition, aimed at engaging visitors and stimulating reflection.
The exhibition begins right at the museum atrium with an installation that shows, via the Internet, the journey of the International Space Station, offering images of a boundless world yet to be fully known, shared in real time by all its inhabitants.
This is followed by six thematic sections: “Population,” “Territory,” “Education,” “Emigration,” “Celebration,” and “End of a World? New World?”
POPULATION
This section portrays a territory with different faces throughout the year. During spring and summer, many emigrants return to their homeland. The message is reinforced through audiovisual elements and a mirror that reflects the visitor, highlighting them as part of those who pass through this territory. These are present-day images revealing varied experiences across the geography of the region, both seasonally and intergenerationally.
TERRITORY
“Territory” covers multiple aspects such as geography and landscape, reflecting the transformation the municipality has undergone in recent decades. The river, in its many forms, is featured through an audiovisual installation.
EDUCATION
Access to education broke away from traditional ways of life, enabling individuals to choose different future paths based on their interests and motivations—an opportunity and freedom that did not always exist in the past.
EMIGRATION
This section presents stories of people who left Paredes de Coura in search of work and other life opportunities. The exhibition includes objects and films that testify to the emigration experience or life in other places, such as a moped used in Paris and a black-and-white television that traveled to various parts of the country.
CELEBRATION
“Celebration” highlights moments of (re)encounter that take place in the summer:
- The annual festivities mark the devotional calendar for the patron saints of the parishes and villages and also serve as family, neighbor, and friend reunions, often with the presence of many emigrants.
- The Paredes de Coura Festival, which dates back to the late 1970s and has been held annually since 1993, now gathers over one hundred thousand people, with significant local, national, and international impact.
The exhibition includes films related to these moments, particularly the Festival. integra filmes alusivos a estes momentos e, no caso particular do Festival.
END OF A WORLD? NEW WORLD?
The exhibition culminates with this question, emphasizing the coexistence of different times—past, present, and future.
End of a World? is the title of the documentary shown at the end of the exhibition in a dedicated space.
PHOTOGRAPHS, FILMS, INSTALLATIONS, OBJECTS AND DOCUMENTATION
The photographs, films, and objects on display were gathered during field research conducted by Cláudia Freire and myself between September 2014 and March 2015.
Cláudia Freire captured 280 photographic records that form the narrative backbone of the exhibition.
I was responsible for the audiovisual content—including sound, image, direction, and editing—which resulted in:
4 installations co-authored with Cláudia Freire, focusing on the themes: space station, population, river, and everyday life in motion.
43 videos, ranging from 3 to 7 minutes, with records and testimonies from the people of Paredes de Coura. These films are viewable on touchscreens distributed throughout the exhibition according to themes such as river, agriculture and livestock, routes, industry, emigration, education, celebration, and festival.
EXHIBITION AWARDS
Two awards were given to this project: one for the exhibition and the other for the documentary included in it, End of a World?
The exhibition received an Honorable Mention in the Innovation and Creativity Award by APOM – Portuguese Museology Association in 2016.
Co-authored with Cláudia Freire, the documentary End of a World?, presented at the end of the exhibition, won Best Short Documentary at the 2nd Edition of the Plateau – International Film Festival of Cidade da Praia, held in Cabo Verde from November 19 to 28, 2015.