The Cartografia Sonora Imaginária of Silvestre 26 was a particularly interesting challenge. It involved simultaneously a sense of reuniting and having to think very differently. We met again people with whom we built paths that led us to places we could not have imagined alone, and we also rediscovered the voice of the Earth, which has so often whispered to us where we should walk. Silvestre, Dance and Performing Arts Encounters is a project that “brings together performances, workshops, walks, films, and conversations that deepen the relationship between body, territory, and ecological awareness. Through practices of incorporating the surroundings, ancestral dances, listening, contemplation, and sharing, the festival proposes a contemporary ritual of co-presence in the forest, or from it, affirming the natural space as a place of encounter, creation, and regeneration. Concentrated at the Monsanto Interpretation Center and its surrounding forest, Silvestre invites you to slow down, walk, dance, eat, and think together, summoning an artistic and sensitive experience of relating to life that is more than human.” Creating a Cartografia Sonora Imaginária amidst trees, pine needles, birds, and with the city’s hum in the background initially seemed like a crazy idea, or at least difficult to carry out. But it wasn’t. It was “organic,” profound, and stimulating. A true experience of “tuning people, birds and flowers”.
Photos: Miguel Afonso/Ordem do O , within the scope of Silvestre 26
