Pomegranates, figs, olives and grapes. The 12th letter of Maria |
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Dear Friends, Its October now and as I slowly submerge into this colourful and cold autumn, I remember with distance and closeness , intimacy and wonder, my summer, in a special place: a small village, Coriscada, in the Douro region, where the grapes that make Port wine come from, in Portugal. I was there for an artistic residency of 6 weeks called Vivificar, curated by Ciclo Art. I remember the village now as if it was a big orchard populated with stone houses here and there, because the village had pomegranate trees, fig trees, olive trees, and vineyards ... all over the place. Also a large vivarium in the centre, close to the village park, with birds that would sing loudly every morning. The village was hot! 40 degrees some days… |
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Close to the houses, on top of a hill, there was a small chapel, worshipping Santa Barbara. I went there many times, to photograph and to appreciate the sunset. It was beautiful to climb the hill and then rest, by the chapel. One day we all climbed and witnessed a storm approaching the village. Then, as night fell, Coriscada illuminated itself slowly, reminding me of a Nativity Set. In front of the chapel, there was a stone table and many more were spread through the hill. They were used by villagers, for picnics. But the one in front of the chapel, was decorated with two small metal plaques, with the symbol of the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. People would go up the hill regularly, because they had to. Something compelled them to go there. |
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The village was deeply religious … or shall I say, spiritual? Every household had a little tile with either Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary. People's lives were paced by the regular religious celebrations that had a pagan counterpart. They were like a big complex family, where everyone was very connected to each other and supported each other. While I was there an old inhabitant of the village died. Everyone went to their funeral, including the village cats and dogs. I followed Diana, an old Saint Bernard Dog, and she took me to the place where the community was gathered, in the graveyard. I heard the eulogy, and saw another special chapel, to the side of the graveyard: the home of the Holy Divine Lord of Good Hope. |
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It happens that when I was there, in August, people were preparing for the most important celebration of the year - The Divine Lord of Good Hope. It was connected with that chapel and always took place in the first week of September. It included a candle procession in the evening, and everyone in the community went. Families living abroad used to come on purpose to participate in the ritual and ceremony. The festival coincided as well with the opening of my exhibition. So that day, in the evening, I also walked with a candle, and saw how beautiful the village was, when illuminated by two moving beams of light, passing through each street. These were made up by people, walking slowly, holding lit wax candles, where a flame of many colours was shining. You see, people had faith, in the village. They had a direct relationship to spirit, and that relationship was not shy, or embarrassed, or intellectualised. It just was direct. Beautifully open. People would say: “I love God.” Or "I have faith" Or “HE has never let me down” And their eyes shined hopefully into the future. It is not that it was the perfect village. People fought with each other, gossiped, conspired, quarrelled about this and that. But they were friends, a big complex family, and despite the occasional feud, they stayed friends. During harvest they would help each other with grape picking. They knocked on old people's doors every day to check if they were ok. They shared vegetables and gifts. While there, I was given sweet wine, aubergines, onions, tomatoes, pomegranates, and "bola", a special bread with ham and all kinds of smoked meats. |
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Art ... with a heart The village made my heart grow. It gave me a precious gift: an authorization to explore openly, artistically, uncompromisingly, in my art, my relationship to spirit. My relationship to oneness. No wonder I‘d spent the year doing a course about ageless wisdom texts from all traditions ... including the one I was born into: Christianity. In this spring, inspired by the course, I decided to read the whole of the gospels, for the first time in my life. Little did I know that what I would encounter in the village was the book ... alive, Logos. The word made my body vibrate while walking through the olive trees or the vineyards. The same day of the candle procession, in the afternoon, during the opening of the exhibition, my friend Luisinha helped with the giving of white goat cheese and bread to everyone who came to the museum. As Jonathan played guitar, we all waited for each other to give the first bite, while making sure no one was lefted unserved. I had to give back. |
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Friends I am back now and I am enjoying London, which is beautiful during this season. The streets are covered in carpets of brown and yellow leaves and the park trees paint themselves in all the rainbow colours. But the mornings are cold and there is mist, which somehow fits the slightly more introspective mood of the season. And I remember my friend Maria, who surprised me, also living in the village. A Brazilian, she married a child of Coriscada, Mário, the friendliest and kindest politician I ever met, the "presidente da junta". One day, early on, she took me to Santa Barbara. And standing there, spontaneously, she climbed a bench, and opened her arms while praying with gratitude looking at the vineyards and the small hills: “Thank you God for everything you have given me. Life, surprise me.” Wow. Her courage hit my heart. She was reaching my will. “When our prayers can reach each other’s will, that is the most sacred act. Because from there, everything can be made new again. “ Orland Bishop |
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I am remembering now being with Jonathan and Luisinha, at the Coa Museum, looking contempatively, at the immense landscape of Douro Valley. All kinds of thoughts crossed my mind: I had thought I was going to do Community art, and help the region into attracting more population willing to go back to that desertified place of Portugal. How wrong I was. I was being liberated, as Lilla Watson, a Native American Academic, once poignantly said: “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” |
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The listening I learned once more, how to hear, while staying still, in silence, and again, I realised how when we listen, we engage in a healing process, which is mutual. Virgilio, the curator of this project, had mentioned how the aim of Vivificar was to transform... and to animate. In Coriscada I learned how when we look and connect to the anima of the place, we connect with ourselves, and ultimately, with the animas mundi, existent in any place. I remember Scotland, where I'd been in May, to learn about conversation, the exchange of the verb, and how to converse is to love, as Rahim said. That also happened in Coriscada. People opened their hearts and the words would stream like water, embodying the word. Trusting silence Sometimes I forget to trust, but the path is through trust. Because the "uni verse", is intelligent, and loving, but the words, need to be respected, acted on, and the listening, complete, present. As a Portuguese, I had spent many chidhood summers, in places like Coriscada, but I 'd never noticed its gifts. Living in a mutual gift, was Coriscada gift to my life. "To be human is to become visible while carrying what is hidden as a gift to others. To remember the other world in this world is to live in your true inheritance. You are not a troubled guest on this earth,you are not an accident amidst other accidents you were invited from another and greater night than the one from which you have just emerged." David Whyte. With love, Maria |
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Video testimony about ViViFiCAR project Below is my video testimony about my participation in Vivificar. Project vivificar ViViFiCAR is an immersive and transdisciplinary project that articulates photography, new media and architecture to promote exchange between Douro, national and Norwegian artists with local communities based on participatory strategies for the creation and exhibition of community-specific artworks. It is organised by ciclo art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAm_7N7m8vU The calendar of the soul Reading group. We will meet weekly as a group of friends, to explore together a small poem each week from Rudolf Steiner's book, "calendar of the soul" as we journey through the year, through conversation, drawing and poetry. Every Sunday evening, at 7.30/8 PM. The group attendance's is free! |
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Drawing and the soul: the tree, the home, the river, the labyrinth. A 8 week Heart/Arts based workshop on ancient wisdom and drawing. Begins 26th November with 2 week break for Christmas. More information here: https://www.marialusitano.org/drawing-river-tree-labyrinth-home Dream Workshop, available in Portuguese/English New Introduction to (art/heart centred) Dream workshop in November 7th. Working with others and with our dreams, is a deeply healing process that accelerates personal and spiritual growth. In this workshop, we will meet in the evening and help each other remember our dreams. We will learn the basic skills to improve our lucid dreaming, learn an introduction to Carl Jung theories on Dreams, and the basics of Dream Yoga, and conclude each session with a Meditation inducing participants into remembering the first dreams of the evening. Please check the dates and all the information below. https://www.marialusitano.org/dream-yoga |
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